Januar 13, 2022

Smarter, Safer, Greener – Existing Mantra Revisited

Smarter, Safer, Greener

In a world with exponential development spearheaded by digital revolution and underlying technology like IOT and AI, it seems like the mantra of DNV GL: Safer, Smarter, Greener^[1] can be implemented and freely translated across multiple business verticals, defining both direction and priority of value propositions. Not the least when taking into consideration that development and business growth face challenging demands of being sustainable, environmental-friendly, and socially responsible. It seems possible to meet the mantra and still be able to deliver on the classic business case components:

Cost reduction
Higher quality (data and insights)
Higher safety

On top of this, companies in most of the world are challenged by decline in the desired workforce to keep momentum within development and production. As Roy Maurer describes it for SHRM online: “For the next several years, as the last of the Boomers retire, it’s hard to see how the labor force will be replaced and jobs will be filled. We will have to get better at utilizing the labor we have“^[2]. The implementation of drones and robots on cloud platforms like the Lorenz Hive^® provides an answer to this challenge while adhering to the Smarter, Safer, Greener mantra. Intelligent drone solutions enable specialists to stay at central locations and inspect or survey sites and locations far away in real-time, optimizing the work effort in a highly efficient way and reducing the need for additional workforce.

Smarter may cover the entire digital process where “going more digital” enables an organization to work focused with large amounts of data, share the most relevant dataset between internal and external stakeholders and finally keep track of infrastructure development using digital twins. To put it brief, if you know more, you see more, and you maintain lower cost by identifying problems in due time before they grow out of hand. Safer can refer to the reduction of risk for employees on ground due to the prevention of them having to climb high parts of infrastructure and buildings to conduct frequent inspections. Greener is a natural result of this, because of the reduced need to drive and sail around vehicles and vessels to perform the tasks now taken over by the drones and robots.

Business case example, Port ^[3]

On ports, autonomous drones are utilized for frequent quay inspection on a cloud software like the Lorenz Hive^®, which provides:

Smarter – Digitalization on ports through real-time live video stream and full video documentation with incident marking feature available directly in the cloud platform.
Safer – Let technology do the work and avoid accidents by creating a safer work environment. Using drone technology, the staff is less exposed to dangerous situations such as going out on a boat for inspections or climbing high structures.
Greener – Reduced emission of CO2 when using a drone compared to completing the same task with a car and/ or boat.

Business case example, Security ^[4]

Überwachung of large perimeters with certain areas which are hard to access (for example rooftops, forests, lakes etc. on the premises).

Permanent surveillance of critical infrastructure and pharma production plants calls for 24/7 guards on site. To optimize the security delivery, drones on the Lorenz Hive^® have been included in the service as security drones. Several pre-programmed route flights with optical and thermal camera during day and night provide:

Smarter – The cloud platform receives and shows the real-time live stream from the drone with sub second latency to the guards and their SOC for improved insight. The live stream from the drone can be shared immediately with first responders (police, fire brigades etc.) and all flight live streams are documented in the archive function for later evaluation and incident marking. The drone and camera can be controlled by both the operator on site and SOC on any given location.
Safer – The drone provides valuable insights and creates an overview of the designated area before the guards may enter to intervene.
Greener – The reduction of CO2 emissions is substantial as driving around the perimeter with a car is reduced.

Besides these two specific examples there seem to be a huge potential for obtaining the same Smarter, Safer, Greener advantages by including drones and cloud platforms in other business verticals. Further examples based on our own experience are buoy inspection in near coastal waters for maritime authorities, where we create a digital way of providing and sharing data without having to move in a large vessel. Or cases where we use drones to deliver and document exact georeferenced trenches for fibre cables on orthophotographs (stitched picture maps). All in all, it seems that drone technology delivers on the mantra – Smarter, Safer, Greener.