Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to rise in support of this report into smart ICT. As other members have noted, it was a fascinating inquiry to be part of, and I am particularly proud of the recommendations that have been made. I want to acknowledge the work of the former chair of the committee who chaired this particular inquiry, the member for Ryan. She was a very effective chair. I acknowledge the work of the member for Hinkler as well and other members on that committee. It was a very bipartisan approach to the inquiry and I believe the body of work that has come out of that is a testament to not only the work that was done, the cooperation that we saw on that committee, but also the strength of those who gave evidence and provided submissions. The recommendations fit into the government's innovation agenda, and there is certainly a lot for the future of Australia contained in this report. We know that smart information and communications technology has the potential to transform the way we plan and manage infrastructure. This is part of the report.

BIM, Building Information Modelling, brings the construction industry and other industries into the digital age. There was a definition given by Autodesk. They said:

In BIM processes, these intelligent, 3D project models serve as the principal means for communication between project activities and collaboration between project teams, as well as the foundation for advanced analytics, simulation and visualization to optimize designs to achieve desired outcomes.

They went on to say:

This model can be shared between the design team (architects, surveyors, civil and structural engineers), then handed to the main contractor and subcontractors, and finally the owner/operator. Each team adds discipline-specific data to the project model.

So it reduces costs, it reduces information losses and it will provide more extensive lifestyle information for the owners of the particular piece of infrastructure.

I was very pleased with all of the recommendations and I encourage the government to adopt them. One of the things I found particularly useful in smart ICT is the development of disaster planning and emergency response systems. If this information were available to those who were managing, perhaps, the emergency of the floods in Brisbane they may have known the point at which every front door was going to flood. What an opportunity that would provide in managing such an emergency situation.

The committee recommended that the Australian government lead the formation of a smart infrastructure task force, led by Infrastructure Australia, on the model of the UK BIM Task Group. That would represent governments at all levels, academia and industry, providing coordination and implementation of smart ICT in the design, planning and development of infrastructure, as well as the maintenance and optimisation of existing infrastructure. The lifetime management of infrastructure is quite critical and a lot of cost is in that space. I see smart ICT as a critical component of managing those costs.

The committee also recommends that the Australian government require BIM to LOD500 on all major infrastructure projects, exceeding $50 million in cost, receiving government funding, including projects partly funded in partnership with state, territory or local governments. It focuses on tendering mechanisms that will basically facilitate this outcome on a project-by-project basis with a view to ultimately establishing BIM as a procurement standard. That is a very practical recommendation. We also recommended that the Australian government appoints and resources the National Archives to oversee the development of a whole-of-government strategy for the collection, management, storage and security—which is a critical issue—of data related to design, planning, operation and management of infrastructure. The recommendation to work with state and territory governments to develop a national approach to the application of smart ICT in the design and planning of infrastructure is another key recommendation.

I would like to reflect on the comments of one of the witnesses from my electorate, BCE Surveying, on their mobile laser scanning. I would recommend this one—it is a state-of-the-art, vehicle-mounted system combining high-resolution photography with highly-accurate laser and a very highly-accurate GPS system. This is innovative technology. It is a major advancement and has the potential to change significantly the way that people capture this type of information. From the beginning of the life cycle they can be used in anything, from smart cars to automated transport systems, automated vehicles and mine site automations. This is of some of the evidence we had from BCE.

Of course, this system is incredibly accurate. Through refinement and development, BCE has been able to achieve survey-grade accuracy with a mobile laser scanner—survey grade! That is an incredible piece of technology. Mr Purcell from BCE said that it is the solution waiting for some problems. You can just see it being used in the capture of as-built and as-constructed information, for inventory assessment, inspection audits, encroachment and dilapidation, and for analysis and asset management. There are many applications, and as a government we really need to facilitate the use of this type of technology.

We heard how BCE, using a mobile laser scanner, can survey a one-square kilometres site that previously would have taken 16 hours in just two hours. And there is the practical side of it on the roads: the data is captured with no impact or disruption to road users. Surveyors are no longer required to venture into traffic and there is no need for lane closures and other controls. And the data capture is rapid, which minimises effort and exposure in the field. This really is transformative technology that needs to be used by the government.

Our conclusion is that smart ICT not only has the potential to transform many aspects of our daily lives but it is actually in the process of doing that. The modelling with BIM can achieve savings and improve the efficiency of construction processes, and it reduces waste of time and materials and increases productivity. It can manage the facilities after construction, to be more efficient in maintenance and upkeep and in day-to-day use.

As I said, disaster planning is a very key part of this. Smarter ICT offers a range of opportunities for efficiencies and improvements in a broad range of sectors—not just for transport networks and infrastructure but also in urban and rural planning, agricultural productivity, water, energy, local government services and in construction. It has enormous potential.

In the time that is left to me, I really want to thank the witnesses and thank the other members of the committee, who brought open minds to this process. I thank the secretariat for their work and I commend all the recommendations that have been made by the committee to the government in full.

Debate adjourned.

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