Roads & Infrastructure sits down with Teletrac Navman’s James French to discuss the real meaning of ‘sustainability’, and how smart data can make a big difference.
In any industry circle, ‘sustainability’ is a familiar term. But it’s one with an extremely broad – and growing – range of interpretations.
James French, Application Specialist at Teletrac Navman, says you’ll get a different answer to ‘what is sustainability?’ depending on who you ask and when.
“Everybody talks about the environmental component, but there’s a lot more to it than that,” he says.
“Sustainability is also about community, education, health and safety, knowledge sharing, and more. And technology fits in with all these components.”
A big part of French’s job is helping customers in the construction, infrastructure, and transport sectors harness data to optimise the operation of their businesses – both for today, and the future.
In this industry context, French says it helps to interpret and address sustainability more holistically – incorporating smart, environmentally, economically, and socially conscious practices.
“This helps businesses grow sustainably, foster a fulfilling work environment to maximise employee retention, and ultimately deliver projects that will support future generations,” he says.
This also means digging deeper – going beyond investment in zero-emissions vehicles and equipment, planting trees, and building with recycled materials.
As valuable as these elements are, French says, they are pieces of a broader sustainability puzzle.
In Australia and New Zealand, the Infrastructure Sustainability Council’s IS Rating Scheme for infrastructure projects considers a broad range of economic and social factors – not just environmental ones.
“Knowledge sharing and education on construction methods and technology is also an important part of sustainability,” French says. “Sharing information with another company for the purposes of education and the betterment of the industry can be factored into sustainability ratings.”
Sustainability also extends to the makeup of the workforce, particularly in an industry that has traditionally been considered male-dominated, and intertwined with certain stereotypes.
French says investing in and prioritising the culture of a business, as well as thinking laterally about how it’s put together, can pay dividends.
“If you’re trying to run a business where everybody agrees with everybody, it just becomes an echo chamber,” he says.
French says bringing together a team with a diversity of experiences, with different ideas, and who are comfortable voicing them, can only help set up a business for sustained success.
“You don’t want 11 football managers running your football team – they’ll all have the same kinds of answers to any problem,” he says.
“But if you bring in the perspective of psychologists and fitness trainers for example – people who will question things that don’t make sense – then that’s building something more sustainable.”
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Building with data
With the skilled labour shortage facing Australia, retaining staff has never been more critical.
In the transport industry, technology also has a big role to play in both supporting and empowering employees to do their best work – while also prioritising safety and wellbeing.
French says the use of telematics platforms such as Teletrac Navman’s TN360 can provide a range of benefits to drivers, including fatigue management, data-driven coaching, and simplified reports.
The same data is also valuable for fleet managers trying to optimise fuel burn, and even manage the impact of a project on the community.
“TN360 can bring that data in from multiple subcontractors on a single job – which makes it easy to see where everything’s coming and going,” French says.
“As well as giving you the confidence that subcontractors are managing fatigue and maintenance properly, there’s also an audit trail that can be followed when it comes to chain of responsibility.”
GPS data and geofences can also be leveraged to track wear and tear on roads, as well as to avoid areas of environmental or cultural significance.
“This can help if you’re dealing with community objections, for example,” French says. “You’re able to demonstrate that all your trucks are tracked, and you can quickly and easily retrieve that data.
“If you take an infrastructure project in the middle of the city, it’s going to have a range of impacts – from the people who live in the area, the traffic, and the local businesses. The addition of technology such as TN360 can help mitigate risk across the spectrum.”
Industry insights
While capturing large volumes of data is a relatively simple matter, it is only made valuable with the ability to interpret it effectively.
“The data itself is of no great interest to us a company,” French says. “But the integrity of the data, and the ability to present it in a usable format is what’s important.”
French says it helps that the Teletrac Navman team pools expertise from across industries, including construction, transport, and heavy machinery – it’s not all software engineers. This industry knowledge helps the team make real-world sense of large banks of collected data – and make it easily available to even the most tech-averse customer.
“It’s these insights that can have a real impact on the overall sustainability of a business, whether it’s improving workflows, health and safety, or profitability,” French says.
Data accumulated over periods of months or years can also prove valuable when a contractor is bidding on future projects.
“One of the big benefits of the use of technology is the ability to aggregate both live and historical data to produce a comprehensive history of a project,” French says.
“It’s about painting that bigger picture – not just in economic terms, but the impact a project is having on the environment, the community, and the people driving the trucks.”
This article was originally published in the March edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.