The rapid pace of digital-led innovation is driving an evolution from modern connected buildings enabled through smart technologies to a new level of technological sophistication through cognitive infrastructure, with 4Sight Holdings and Zutari partnering to pioneer this journey for local and international customers.
“Cognitive infrastructure refers to an interconnected network of technologies and systems that enable machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to reason, pre-empt requirements and initiate actions in a way that mimics human decision-making,” explains Jeandre du Randt, Business Director: Data Enablement at 4Sight Holdings.
Where smart buildings are designed to monitor performance across various metrics using IOT sensors that provide data and connect with solutions to unlock insights and optimisation opportunities, cognitive infrastructure goes further by providing intelligent solutions and ecosystems that are self-learning and self-optimising, contextualising data to constantly readapt in an interconnected manner without the need for human intervention.
Through a strategic partnership, 4Sight Holdings, which positions itself as an industry leader in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, people and data-focused solutions, is combining these core competencies with the deep engineering, sustainability and advisory domain expertise and technical skills at Zutari to harness the power of digital technology to transform the built environment for multiple blue chip local and international customers.
“Our combined competencies deliver a compelling value proposition to the market, which has attracted interest from international and local customers on the cutting edge of property design, development and management,” says Martin Smith, Design Director at Zutari.
A flagship project for the 4Sight and Zutari partnership is the world's first cognitive city under construction. Unlike traditional cities, the resulting city will have no cars, streets or carbon emissions. It will be powered by renewable energy and is designed to house millions of residents and visitors.
“4Sight, in partnership with Zutari, was tasked to develop a comprehensive Cognitive City Framework Guideline for numerous assets within the city,” explains Smith.
The scope included developing a strategy for the integration of a robust data infrastructure into the cognitive city stack for data management and system analytics across various assets, including theatres, museums, galleries and concert halls.
“The focus was on leveraging advanced technologies, including data analytics, AI and the potential of quantum computing in an architecture that empowers stakeholders with invaluable insights and personalised recommendations, facilitating seamless interaction across all levels,” adds Du Randt.
The cognitive architecture serves as a dynamic and data-driven framework ideally suited to the customers’ vision across key cognitive themes, and creates urban environments that are environmentally friendly, resource-efficient and resilient to climate change.
Using world-first concepts like segment-of-one, user-tailored experiences, individualised sustainability scoring, sentiment analysis and real-time biometric payment enablement, 4Sight and Zutari developed concepts that enhance the user experience (UX) and create a world-first experience.
“Nothing like this has ever been done anywhere in the world. Our architecture is designed to accommodate the sensors and applications that collect the data needed to maximise the UX,” elaborates Du Randt.
The exceptional acclaim from the customer and its proponents that stemmed from the formulation and development of the Cognitive City Framework garnered widespread interest, attracting project briefs from local companies looking to build out smart and cognitive infrastructure capabilities.
These projects included a smart building concept for a prominent property management company that aimed to digitise operational systems for improved sustainability performance, efficiency, visibility and actionable insights in its built environment.
4Sight and Zutari embarked on a comprehensive project to digitise two critical operational systems for the company, including a tenant billing system and a building management system.
“The tenant billing system captured essential data on the water and power usage of each tenant in the customer’s marquee retail property, while the building management system controlled the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system and collected data regarding all operational set-points and data streams,” explains Smith.
Integrating these systems created a unified data model that enabled cross-system analytics, providing the customer with a holistic view of its building operations, and the overall sustainability performance.
“The seamless data integration from different on-premises silos into a unified cloud-based view enabled advanced analytics, time series analysis, tenant and section drill-downs and advanced visualisations, offering deep insights into daily operations,” adds Du Randt.
“By replacing the cumbersome data collection and manual analysis with automated smart data collection capabilities, the customer realised a significant immediate saving on wastage by more accurately billing electricity consumption to retail tenants.”
Additional benefits included enhanced fault detection via a dedicated dashboard that highlights system issues, enabling timely interventions and reducing downtime.
“This proactive approach ensured that problems were addressed before they could escalate, enhancing operational performance,” continues Du Randt.
The accompanying data audit also sanitised data, which improved accuracy and enhanced visibility into the operation, enabling the property management team to leverage advanced analytics to make informed decisions, improving overall operational efficiency and performance.
These projects showcase the transformative power of smart building technology and the potential that cognitive infrastructure holds to improve operational efficiency and deliver a return on investment in green technologies.
“By digitising operational systems and leveraging advanced analytics, 4Sight and Zutari can enhance building operations, improve efficiency, achieve sustainability targets and empower building owners and operators to make informed decisions to extract full value from their investments by ensuring assets function optimally throughout their life cycle,” says Smith.
Implementing smart or cognitive infrastructure unlocks real-time monitoring capabilities that provide customers with live feedback on performance.
“The role and relevance of smart and cognitive infrastructure solutions will only grow in prominence as more building owners and managers look to optimise their built environments to create more comfortable working conditions to boost workplace wellness and performance, and improve resource consumption to minimise costs and align with shifting environmental regulations on their journey to net zero as responsible corporate citizens,” concludes Du Randt.
For more detail, contact 4Sight at sales@4sight.cloud
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