Greenfield, Brownfield Substation Projects Reap Design, Collaboration, and Construction Benefits from BIM and Reality Modeling

Whether designing greenfield substation projects from the ground up or performing brownfield design associated with existing substation infrastructure, intelligent 3D substation design employing BIM processes and reality modeling demonstrates cost and time saving benefits. 

In a greenfield project in Cambodia, PESTECH undertook a project for Diamond Power Limited for the conceptual design through commissioning of the 230-kilovolt Kratie and Kampong Cham Substation and Transmission System. The project will support the growing population and tourism industry. The Kratie 230/22-kilovolt substation will connect with the Sesan hydropower plant, which is under construction in the upper Mekong area, and also serve as a major collection center of power from several mini hydropower plants, connecting to the national power grid of Cambodia.

Visualization of the 3D substation design was essential to prepare and plan work before and during construction. The site was located far from the town within forest and hilly roads and visualization of the design with accurate dimensions was a significant challenge, which was successfully overcome using Bentley Substation and Bentley Navigator. ProjectWise was used for collaboration across departments on-site and offsite including procurement, management, engineering, and construction. The project is expected to be completed in November 2017 and PESTECH will also be responsible for operating the power transmission system for a concession period of 25 years.

The design of past projects was done manually, via hand-drawn and manual calculation of components and third-party CAD software. This approach was prone to human error, time consuming, and resulted in inconsistent quality. PESTECH’s engineering team reported many benefits of Bentley Substation from the unified design environment facilitating cross-discipline collaboration, automated design drawing and reports, enforcement of engineering standards, and more. These included cost savings in procurement, reduction in errors, and substantial time savings. A detailed analysis comparing the use of Bentley applications with previous methods estimated time savings of up to 70 percent were achieved. 

In contrast, approximately 95 percent of Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) annual USD 1 billion substation budget is spent on existing brownfield substations. Since 2016, PG&E has been pioneering the use of a combination of aerial equipment such as man lifts, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and on-ground photo equipment to capture images of existing substations. Bentley’s ContextCapture is used to process these images and produce accurate 3D reality meshes, which can be referenced into Bentley Substation to complete the entire substation design in 3D. ContextCapture models allow effective collaboration between the Transmission Line, Land Planning and Zoning, and the Electrical and Civil Substation Engineering departments. ProjectWise is used to manage the models and facilitate collaboration. With up-to-date 3D models, all stakeholders can clearly see the impact of each department on the project, avoiding costly conflicts in the field and allowing for more streamlined, effective, and sustainable long-term planning.

For community and government relations, this method can be used to capture and retain historical infrastructure in 3D before new construction takes place. In areas where thick ballistic walls for security are required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC), realistic renderings of the existing substation and new security walls in 3D helps to gain community acceptance. 3D models generated by ContextCapture can also be utilized as a mesh to generate quick and low-cost digital terrain models and enables PG&E to identify and categorize existing substation assets for condition-based maintenance substation asset inventories.

PG&E expects to reduce cost spent on recreating existing substation equipment in 3D by 50 percent, a reduction from 120 hours to less than 60 hours on average. Improving captured 3D model’s accuracy to within inches will eliminate field measurements on cleared and energized equipment. PG&E also expects a 50 percent reduction of substation personnel travels to and from substation facilities.

Ralph Hansen, construction supervisor, PG&E, said, “Having a complete 3D model at the time of constructability review allows us to measure electrical and physical clearance in real time, which helps eliminate costly conflicts during the construction phases. With today’s increasing substation complexity and decreasing substation footprint, having a 3D model is a must.”

The South Street 115/11.5/23-kilovolt Indoor Substation project executed by TRC for National Grid involved rebuilding South Street Substation in Providence, Rhode Island, converting the existing three 115-kilovolt overhead line supply circuits to underground cable circuits, and re-routing the existing 23- and 11.5-kilovolt underground feeder getaway facilities. To complete the project on time and on budget required TRC to integrate existing conditions to the new construction while the substation remained in operation. This project was also in a highly visible and congested area, which caused concern over the aesthetics of the site and building.

The project had a very complicated building design and required incorporating a large number of subcontractor files in third-party formats to a single master design model for cross-discipline checking. These files were placed in ProjectWise and provided an indisputable record of what was received from subcontractors. Bentley Substation was used to integrate these different formats into the Bentley Substation models by TRC staff in design centers across the country. As a result, TRC identified issues before construction or fabrication that would have led to delays at the site and cost overruns. Bentley Substation was used to do full 3D client walkthroughs for interior and exterior design reviews and the 3D models were also used in the renderings for the planning board and for public comment. 

Jason Poissonnier, TRC ProjectWise administrator, said, “Bentley Substation along with ProjectWise was instrumental in successfully completing the South Street project, which was in a congested, highly visible area. TRC utilized resources from several offices who collaborated on over 2,000 CAD files as well as Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, PDF, TIFF, and other files. The ability to incorporate different types of design files from subcontractors into the 3D model made the design reviews truly all-encompassing and resulted in identifying many areas that needed redesign, thereby avoiding costly changes later during construction.”

Subhash Chandra Foundation Launches the ‘Esselerator’ Program to Mentor Indian Start-ups

With a firm commitment towards capacity building of the nation, Rajya Sabha MP, Subhash Chandra had launched the Subhash Chandra Foundation to commemorate 90 years of Essel Group and had pledged Rs. 5000 crore of his family wealth towards philanthropic initiatives of the Foundation. Today, the Subhash Chandra Foundation announced the launch of its first-of-its kind initiative - the ‘Esselerator’ program to identify and mentor entrepreneurs. The program has been launched in association with the Essel Group, one of India’s largest diversified business conglomerates, and will be powered by TiE Mumbai, a non-profit global community.

The program has been launched to identify and mentor entrepreneurs across start-ups in the fields of Media & Entertainment, MediaTech and EduTech. Driven by a desire of #LetsFuelIdeas, the program aims to co-develop and nurture ‘early & growth stage start-ups’ that have the potential to grow into successful companies in the future.

Commenting on the launch, Subhash Chandra, Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman of Essel Group said, “Essel Group’s journey of 90 years has been marked by a series of milestones, which have been driven by a pioneering vision and an undying entrepreneurial spirit. As we move ahead in this journey, our aim is to carry forward the entrepreneurial legacy of the Group and with this objective in mind, we had launched the Subhash Chandra Foundation earlier this year to help budding entrepreneurs and educationists, by not just providing them with funds but by creating a chain model.

Under the aegis of the Subhash Chandra Foundation and in partnership with TiE Mumbai, we are proud to launch our initiative - the ‘Esselerator’ program which promises to identify and groom the next generation of thinkers and innovators, who through their unique business models will play a significant role in building the capacity of the nation.”

Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, ZEEL said, “The ‘Esselerator’ program has been launched keeping in mind, Shri Chandra’s vision to nurture and grow entrepreneurs and create capacity for the nation through business models that will bring about change, increase effectiveness and provide growth opportunities. The focus of the ‘Esselerator’ on media, entertainment and education is at the heart of Essel’s business and leadership in these sectors.”

Anand Desai, President - TiE Mumbai & Managing Partner, DSK Legal, said “The Media & Entertainment space is highly fragmented and entrepreneurs face a number of challenges. This is a positive step towards nurturing the start-up eco-system by getting corporates involved. The Subhash Chandra Foundation along with Essel Group's focus on MediaTech & EduTech is the need of the hour. Through this partnership with TiE, the Esselerator program will allow us to create a more mature ecosystem."

With the expertise of the Essel Group and the vision of the Subhash Chandra Foundation, the program aims to give the founding teams access to Essel resources, networks and platforms to test and grow their start-ups into viable businesses. The selected teams will be mentored by the eminent leadership of Essel Group including Subhash Chandra, the Chief Mentor, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, ZEEL and Amit Goenka, CEO – International Broadcast Business, ZEEL, and senior management of Essel Group, along with Industry experts from different fields.

The shortlisted teams will benefit from comprehensive knowledge and guidance from the best minds in the industry, and training across technology, consumer insights, fund raising and social media tools. Along with TiE Mumbai’s strong mentorship and global network, start-ups passing through the Esselerator program will benefit tremendously.

The program will allow Early and Growth Stage start-ups to apply into the program and go through a selection process through a panel of experts. Start-ups involved in IoT, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), Cognitive Computing, Virtual/ Augmented Reality, Blockchain, etc. and willing to look at business opportunities in the media & entertainment or education space, can also apply.

The first round of applicants will be shortlisted through their online applications. The second round will include interviews with the accepted applicants which will be jointly conducted by Esselerator & TiE Mumbai. 

Atos May Acquire Gemalto to Create Global Leader in Cybersecurity, Digital Tech

Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, announces that it has made a formal proposal to acquire Gemalto [Euronext Amsterdam: GTO] by way of a public offer for all of Gemalto issued and outstanding shares. Atos invited Gemalto’s Board of Directors to engage discussions and review collaboratively this potential transaction. On November 28, 2017, Atos has delivered an offer to the Board of Directors of Gemalto which is friendly, compelling, and which addresses the interests of all stakeholders. Since then, Atos has reiterated its friendly intentions. Considering increased risk that could impact Gemalto’s shares, and for the purposes of market information, the Atos’ Board of Directors has decided to make its proposal public while affirming its willingness to engage into discussions with the objective to come to a transaction recommended by the Gemalto’s Board of Directors.

Key terms of the Atos proposal:

•       Intended all-cash offer of €46.0 per Gemalto share (cum dividend), representing a total consideration of approximately €4.3bn.

•       A premium of c. 42% to Gemalto’s last unaffected closing price as of December 8, 2017, and c. 42% and c. 34% premium to Gemalto’s 1-month and 3-month volume weighted average trading prices, respectively.

•       The proposed transaction will strengthen Gemalto’s businesses and will create a leading Group in cybersecurity technologies and digital services to the benefit of all stakeholders going forward.

•       The acquisition of Gemalto shares will be entirely financed with Atos’ existing cash resources and fully committed external debt.

Thierry Breton, Chairman and CEO of Atos said: “Atos has been following closely, and with a lot of interest, the evolution of Gemalto as a leading player in digital cyber security, IoT and payment and has long admired its global presence and strong customer and technology portfolios. We believe that a combination of Atos and Gemalto would result in enhanced global leadership in cybersecurity, digital technologies and services and in the strengthening of our positioning as a leading European payment services provider. Atos has carefully considered the interest of the stakeholders of the two groups, shareholders, employees, and customers which will all benefit from the proposed friendly transaction. In addition, Atos comes forward with a long track-record of successfully integrating management teams, employees and businesses”

A powerful industrial combination in three high-growth markets

Strategically, the combination of Atos and Gemalto will lead to enhanced global leadership in cybersecurity and digital technologies and services, with highly complementary offerings, technologies, and commercial footprint:

•       Reinforced capabilities in digital cyber technologies and services and homeland security: the combination will lead to the creation of a worldwide leader with total revenue amounting to  c. €1.5bn. Gemalto’s offerings in identity and access management, data encryption and crypto management strongly complement Atos’ capabilities in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, High Performance Computers, and cloud orchestration.

•       Enhanced capabilities in IoT/M2M by leveraging Atos’ Codex data analytics and AI, deep industry knowledge and long-standing customer relationships, with c. €1bn in combined revenue.

•       Consolidation of the Group position as a leading end-to-end European payment services provider: as a global leader with approximately €1bn in revenues in 2016, Gemalto has gained unique and deep expertise in payment solutions. The synergies between Worldline, Gemalto, and Atos businesses will benefit from end-to-end capabilities across the value chain and many substantial geographic, technology and services complementarities.

The combination will reinforce the two groups in Europe as well as in the United States of America, first market for the two companies and where the new group will be a key player in term of investments and jobs creation.

Strong fit in the interest of both Atos and Gemalto stakeholders

Atos and Gemalto have long shared a common DNA, which is expected to serve as a strong foundation for bringing the two companies together. Both groups have a long-standing heritage of technological and scientific excellence. Both are client-centric organizations, relentlessly focusing on customer needs and satisfaction. Atos and Gemalto both put enormous emphasis on attracting, developing and retaining the very best talent, in an increasingly competitive and global environment. Finally, Atos and Gemalto share a long-standing experience in cybersecurity for its clients in both private and public sectors.

Atos has demonstrated in the past its integration capabilities, in particular with the successful integration of the 33,000 employees of the Siemens Information Systems, the 9,300 employees of Bull and the 9,600 employees of Xerox ITO, transactions which have been beneficial to all stakeholders involved. The integration methodology of Atos will notably entail – with due respect to the social dialogue framework of both companies – to:

•       Immediately and fully mobilize the employee base of the two groups in order to sustain the continuity of operations and develop a shared strategic vision in key markets that Gemalto is operating in;

•       Welcome Gemalto’s employees as soon as the proposed transaction is completed and foster a joint culture of technological and scientific excellence, teamwork, and shared pride in being part of a strengthened global group ideally positioned to face future market challenges;

•       Open up new opportunities for Gemalto’s employees by allowing them to participate fully in the various programs of the Atos Group.

It is key for Atos to retain Gemalto’s talents within the combined group. With the cooperation of Gemalto’s management, Atos is very confident in its ability to implement a smooth and successful integration of Gemalto’s employees. By way of background, Atos hires more than 10,000 engineers annually, and has obtained multiple awards as a great place to work across countries. Atos will obviously respect all the existing employment terms of the employees of Gemalto.

Regarding Gemalto’s clients, Atos believes the combination will greatly enhance the breadth and depth of existing commercial relationships. Clients will obviously benefit from continued and relentless focus on their needs, but also from a broader set of capabilities contributed by Atos (e.g. holistic approach in digital security, deep industry expertise in IoT/M2M, positioning across the full payments value chain, new technology expertise in AI, Big Data, High Performance Computing, cloud orchestration) but also from the increased scale and stability of the combined group.

Significant value for Gemalto’s shareholders

Atos believes this proposal presents an opportunity for Gemalto’s shareholders to realize extraordinary value for their shares in Gemalto. It provides them with a premium valuation and the opportunity to receive substantial and immediate cash consideration. The proposed offer price represents a premium of  c. 42% to Gemalto’s last unaffected closing price as of December 8, 2017, and c. 42% and c. 34% premium to Gemalto’s 1-month and 3-month volume weighted average trading prices, respectively.

Strong financial capability

Atos has strong financial capabilities and intends to finance the all-cash offer using existing cash resources and fully committed external debt. For this purpose, Atos has secured financing for the transaction with two major international banks which have agreed to underwrite the full amount of the offer. The financing package including the credit agreement is all agreed in final form and actionable. Moreover, the leverage contemplated after completion of the proposed transaction will preserve financial firepower for the combined group to expand further and participate in future steps of industry consolidation.

Commitments to R&D effort and Gemalto’s brand

Preservation of Gemalto’s strong R&D capabilities and skills is also key to Atos, consistent with its culture of technological and scientific excellence. By joining forces, the two groups will benefit from increased scale and relevance and create a formidable innovation powerhouse, notably by capitalizing on the adjacencies between digital security, payments, machine learning and quantum computing.

Atos will also expect the combined group to capitalize on Gemalto’s recognized brand, viewed as a strong asset.

Management

Atos appreciates the achievements of Gemalto’s management team, in particular in transitioning its business model. Atos expects key executives to remain involved and help drive the combined group’s strong ambition, in the same way Atos successfully included Siemens’, Bull’s and Xerox ITO’s key people in its development.

* * *

Atos, in conjunction with its financial and legal advisors, has devoted significant time and resources to analyzing a potential combination with Gemalto and is confident in its ability to execute and complete the proposed transaction and to swiftly obtain all necessary regulatory approvals, in particular for anti-trust regulation which has already been deeply assessed.

Atos has submitted a friendly proposal to Gemalto to combine their respective businesses by way of an allcash public offer for all issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Gemalto. The proposed offer will be subject to pre-offer and offer conditions customary for transactions of this nature, including but not limited to a minimum acceptance level and required regulatory clearances. Atos will determine and confirm the conditions to the offer in accordance with applicable laws in the Netherlands and in France.

Atos will file its offer with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM) and wishes to move swiftly with the negotiation of a merger agreement, with a view to come to a recommended transaction. Atos expects such merger agreement to be customary for transactions of this nature, including in particular with respect to non-financial covenants relating to employees, integration and strategy.

No agreement has been reached and there can be no assurances that any transaction will result from this proposal. Any offer will be made only by means of an offer memorandum, approved by the AFM. Atos will make further announcements if and when appropriate.

Winners of Infosys Finacle Client Innovation Awards 2017 Announced

Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a product subsidiary of Infosys has announced the winners of the Infosys Finacle Client Innovation Awards for 2017. In its fourth year, the awards recognize banks that deliver breakthrough innovations in banking products, customer service, process design and distribution channels capitalizing on Finacle solutions.

Over 160 nominations were received across eight categories such as Product Innovation, Channel Innovation, Customer Service Innovation, Process Innovation, Innovative Custom Components, Project Management, API based Innovation and Emerging Technologies-led Innovation. The nominations were evaluated on the following three criteria – degree of innovativeness (35% weightage), benefits reaped (40% weightage), and complexity of the initiative (25% weightage).

Commenting on the awards, Sanat Rao, Chief Business Officer and Global Head of Infosys Finacle, said, “Digitization, coupled with the influx of new players, is leading the emergence of new business models and accelerating the pace of innovation across the banking industry. In its fourth year, the Infosys Finacle Client Innovation awards program recognizes the innovations by our clients, in developing differentiated products and delivering a world class experience to their customers. It is heartening to see the Finacle suite of solutions lending itself well to our clients’ aspirations to reimagine banking and cement their primacy in their customers’ financial ecosystem.”

List of awardees and initiatives:

PRODUCT INNOVATION
Large Bank	Winners – Emirates NBD for ‘Liv: first lifestyle digital bank in UAE for millennial’ Winners – Bancolombia for their digital banking platform ‘Nequi: Highly Commended – ICICI Bank for ‘Government Internet Banking (GIB)’, ‘Samsung Pay’ and ‘Truecaller Pay’ Highly Commended – Bank Muscat for ‘bm Wallet’
Mid-size Bank	Winners – Wema Bank for ‘ALAT by Wema, a fully digital bank’
Small Bank	Winners – Société Générale for ‘Advanced global trade finance operations’ Highly Commended – MauBank for ‘Cardless Transactions’
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES LED INNOVATION
Large Bank	Winners – ICICI Bank for ‘Automation of trade finance and remittances leveraging blockchain’ ‘Robotic Process Automation’ and ‘CHATBOT Services’ Winners – Emirates NBD for ‘Automation of trade finance and remittances leveraging blockchain’
Mid-size Bank	Winner – Bank Sohar for ‘Insights driven banking’ Highly Commended – Hatton National Bank for ‘HNB Fitness App’
Small Bank	Winners – Nations Trust Bank for ‘FriMi – Sri Lanka’s first digital bank’ Highly Commended – The Industrial Bank of Kuwait ‘ Hyper converged virtualized solution
API BASED INNOVATION
Large Bank	Winners – ICICI Bank for ‘Automated Advisory Platform’, ‘API led business partnerships’, ‘’Day to day real-time process automation’ Highly Commended – Union Bank of the Philippines for ‘Rafa, the banking chatbot’
Mid-size Bank	Winners – IndusInd Bank for ‘Instant account opening leveraging APIs’
Small Bank	Winners – RBL Bank for ‘API based trade finance solution for corporates’ Highly Commended – PMC Bank for ‘Hot Marking ATM/Debit Card Using Mobile Banking App’
INNOVATIVE CUSTOM COMPONENTS
Large Bank	Winners – Standard Bank for ‘Offering value added services on channels’ Highly Commended – Stanbic IBTC Bank for ‘Developing a centralized pricing architecture’
Mid-size Bank	Winners – IndusInd Bank for ‘Genlimo service - parallel processing of transactions Highly Commended – Fidelity Bank for ‘Teller Enhancements
Small Bank	Winners – Cosmos Cooperative Bank ‘Custom components for enhanced operational efficiency’
CHANNELS INNOVATION
Large Bank	Winners – ICICI Bank for ‘Insta banking integration’ Highly Commended – Equity Bank for ‘Eazzynet EquiLoan – a paperless loan processing platform’ Highly Commended – Standard Bank ‘Instant Money’
Mid-size Bank	Winners – RAKBANK for ‘Convergence project: building a digital banking platform’ Winners – Kotak Mahindra Bank for ‘Digital account opening’ Winners – Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank for ‘Building a digital banking experience’ Highly Commended – Housing Bank for Trade and Finance for ‘International remittances on mobile app’
INNOVATION IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Large Bank	Winners – DBS Bank for ‘Core transformation for Hong Kong Operations’ Highly Commended – Standard Bank for ‘Golden Eye’ project, ‘Africa core banking and digital channels transformation’
Mid-size Bank	Winners – UCO Bank for ‘Anybody can code’ program Highly Commended – Bank Sohar for ‘Digital Banking Transformation’
PROCESS INNOVATION
Large Bank	Winners – United Bank for Africa for ‘Teller process optimization’ Highly Commended – Union National Bank for ‘Automating limit monitoring process’
Mid-size Bank	Winners – Kotak Bank for ‘Cash Management System Platform’ and ‘DIGI service requests automation’ Winners – The Federal Bank for ‘Instant Account Opening’ Highly Commended – Andhra Bank for ‘Optimizing credit card issuance process Highly Commended – Bank Dhofar for ‘Driving Business Excellence through Lean Six Sigma’
Small Bank	Winners – Golomt Bank for ‘Delivering brilliant omnichannel experiences’
CUSTOMER SERVICE INNOVATION
Large Bank	Winners – Axis Bank for ‘Providing class leading customer experience with advanced wealth management offering” Winners – Union Bank of India for ‘Re-engineering customer service’ Highly Commended – United Bank for Africa for ‘Email Moni’
Small Bank	Winners – Asia Green Development Bank for ‘AGD Pay’ Winners – Cosmos Cooperative Bank for ‘TABBANC MicroATM

Low Adoption of Industrial Cyber Security Measures: Honeywell Survey

Honeywell has released a new study showing industrial companies are not moving quickly to adopt cyber security measures to protect their data and operations, even as attacks have increased around the globe.

The survey – Putting Industrial Cyber Security at the Top of the CEO Agenda – was conducted by LNS Research and sponsored by Honeywell. It polled 130 strategic decision makers from industrial companies about their approach to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and their use of industrial cyber security technologies and practices. Among the findings were:

·         More than half of respondents reported working in an industrial facility that already has had a cyber-security breach.

·         45% of the responding companies still do not have an accountable enterprise leader for cyber security.

·         Only 37% are monitoring for suspicious behavior.

·         Although many companies are conducting regular risk assessments, 20% are not doing them at all.

“Decision makers are more aware of threats and some progress has been made to address them, but this report reinforces that cyber security fundamentals haven’t been adopted by a significant portion of the industrial community,” said Jeff Zindel, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security. “In order to take advantage of the tremendous benefits of industrial digital transformation and IIoT, companies must improve their cyber security defenses and adapt to the heightened threat landscape now.”

The study suggests these three immediate actions for any industrial organization to capture the value of the new technologies:

1.    Making industrial cyber security part of digital transformation strategies;

2.    Driving best practice adoption across people, processes and technology, from access controls to risk monitoring, and tap external cyber expertise to fill gaps

3.    Focusing on empowering leaders and building an organizational structure that breaks down the silos between IT and OT.

“Cyber security needs to be part of every CEO’s agenda to ensure the effective, immediate and long-term deployment of strategies and technologies such as IIoT,” said Matthew Littlefield, president and principal analyst, LNS Research. “In short, in order for a business to succeed on its digital transformation journey, it needs to succeed with industrial cyber security.”

LNS Research is a global leader in research and advisory for digital transformation of industry, delivering technology insights for business executives. Its analysts focus on identifying the metrics, leadership, business process, and technology capabilities effecting change.

            Honeywell’s industrial cyber security technologies and expertise address many of the issues identified in the LNS Research study.