Lynas Rare Earths has achieved $185.9 million in sales revenue after strong demand for the company’s neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxide during the June quarter of 2021.
The company produced 3778 tonnes of rare earth oxide (REO) for the quarter, including 1393 tonnes of NdPr.
Lynas chief executive officer Amanda Lacaze said its REO production demonstrated the company’s resilience to COVID-19 challenges in Malaysia.
“Sales revenue of $185.9 million and sales receipts of $192 million were both records for the company,” Lacaze said.
“This result reflected sustained demand for Lynas NdPr products and strong market pricing, as end users and governments around the world continue to recognise the need for a diversified supply of responsible rare earth materials.
“NdPr production of 1393 tonnes was a slight improvement on the preceding quarters. This is an excellent result given continuing challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic, particularly in Malaysia.
“The achievements of our Malaysian team have been absolutely outstanding over the full duration of the pandemic and in the past quarter in particular.”
Lacaze said demand for NdPr had strengthened to pre-COVID levels with the average China domestic price reaching $US69.90 ($94.86) per kilogram in June due to increased activity from the automotive and fluid catalytic cracking sectors.
Lynas has also continued to advance its 2025 project strategy, which includes its rare earth processing facility in Kalgoorlie and United States-based rare earths processing facility.
Information requested by Western Australia’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for the Kalgoorlie facility was submitted during the quarter along with an updated environmental review document.
Lynas is preparing the Mt Weld rare earth deposit in Western Australia for its next mining campaign after it commissioned the second stack cell in late June and installation of a second concentrate dryer.
According to Lynas, the concentrate dryer will improve rare earth concentrate quality at Mt Weld with it expected to be in operation next quarter.
Australia has well positioned to benefit from the rise of critical minerals, according to the federal government’s Outlook for Selected Critical Minerals Australia 2021 report.
Released by the Office of the Chief Economist in the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, the report detailed the prospect for market growth in metals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, vanadium, and rare earth elements like neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium.
Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said Australia must take advantage of its privileged position in the market.
“Australia is blessed with abundant resources and a highly-skilled workforce which is ready to transform these minerals and elements into the kinds of products the world needs,” Pitt said.
The report credited Lynas Rare Earths – an Australian mid-tier mining company – for being the largest non-Chinese supplier of rare earth products.
“Australia’s mined production of rare earths is forecast to grow by 9.1 per cent per annum over the outlook period (2020-2030), largely as a result of investment by Lynas at their Mount Weld operation,” the report stated.
Highly considered by the report was the market conditions surrounding electric vehicles and associated battery storage technology.
The global fleet size of electric vehicles is expected to grow by 30 per cent by 2050, leaving the battery storage market to lag behind.
This has occurred due to heightened investment by auto manufacturers, according to the report.
“Auto manufacturers have invested heavily in the transition from internal combustion engines (ICE) to electric vehicles (EV), and therefore it is in their interests to recoup their investment as quickly as possible,” the report stated.
“Currently, auto manufacturer’s planned capacity increases to 2025 exceed the requirements of announced government policies.”
Pitt said the Australian Government is supporting the development of the necessary minerals for electrification.
“Australia is already the world’s top producer of lithium, and the Government’s Critical Minerals Facilitation Office is supporting the development of other resources, downstream processing, and helping to diversify global supply chains,” Pitt said.
“Australia also has a stable investment environment and stable governance arrangements that make Australia an attractive location for critical minerals investment and development.”
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm has declared the company plans to spend more than $1 billion on Australia’s minerals supply to cater for growing electric vehicle (EV) demand.
Denholm, who spoke at the Minerals Council of Australia’s minerals week, said each electric vehicle has around $5000 worth of minerals with Australia capable of supplying almost all of it.
“Australia is the only country in the world with resources in all three of the critical battery metals, as well as other minerals required for the clean energy transition,” she said.
“By 2030, the value of the global lithium-ion battery market is forecast to be $400 billion. That’s eight-times the revenue generated by Australia’s coal exports in 2020.”
Tesla has also valued Australia’s environmental social governance (ESG) practice and investor confidence in mining.
“In short, a values-led mining industry has greater value to Tesla and to an increasing portion of the global marketplace,” Denholm said.
“…Australia has the potential for some of the lowest emissions resources in the world.
“This is critically important over the next 30 years, because manufacturing as a whole has to decarbonise very quickly and this means that low-carbon minerals will be at a strong advantage in the new supply chains being created for renewable energy.”
According to Denholm, Australia has a competitive opportunity to enhance its environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices for the future.
“Tesla is the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles and battery storage systems,” Denholm said.
“At the heart of everything we do in our quest to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy is the lithium-ion battery – one of the most important technologies of the century.
“There is a global transition to sustainable energy underway and this presents a huge opportunity for Australia.”
Denholm said Australia should also prioritise onshore refining of its lithium to save costs and reduce emissions.
“There’s another reason for Australia to prioritise onshore refining; it’s a huge economic opportunity,” Denholm said.
“Tesla estimates that last year, Australia supplied approximately 49 per cent of the world’s lithium ore – spodumene – but zero per cent of the refined product suitable for battery cells. That lithium sold for about $100 million US Dollars – but if it was processed on shore in Australia the value would have been more like $1.7 billion dollars.
“So that’s a $1.6 billion annual opportunity and growing.”
National Manufacturing Week (NMW), held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 14-17, will highlight the continuous growth and change the industry is experiencing.
NMW will feature a theme of ‘Industrial Evolution’ throughout the four days of the conference program and exhibition with a specific focus on driving further innovation in local manufacturing, continuing the evolution of the industry advanced technology solutions, sharing insights to stay ahead of the game, while celebrating Australian manufacturing’s resurgence.
NMW exhibition director Robby Clark said this year’s event promises to support the continuing high-tech and highly integrated evolution of the industry.
“There’s been a resurgence of late in Australian manufacturing, which is being generated by the industry’s collective realisation, active progression and evolution to being technologically advanced, highly integrated, automation and high-level engineering.
“Equally, we’ve also seen Industry 4.0 or the Internet of Things become a reality from technological forecast, which for manufacturing has manifested in operations – for example in smart factories where sensors are providing actionable intelligence or underpinning greater automation.
“Knowledge gathering and solution sourcing are critical steps for manufacturing professionals looking to navigate this industrial evolution that is currently underway. The exhibitors for this year’s event will provide manufacturers with the latest range of products and solutions designed to improve operations and operational performance, increase efficiency and resolve challenges, while the content within the conference program will offer specific advice and visibility into how industry leaders are managing change,” said Clark.
At National Manufacturing Week 2019, the exhibition floor will feature more than 200 leading industrial suppliers of game-changing solutions, new technology, advanced manufacturing products and operational services.
Visitors will be able to take advantage of six designated product zones to navigate through the exhibition floor, which segment the extensive range of products and solutions into key operational categories. The six product zones for 2019’s event are automation and robotics, engineering, Industrial Internet of Things, safety, welding technology, and manufacturing solutions.
Key exhibitors across these six product zones include:
Industrial Internet of Things – Epicor, ECi Solutions, Cadgroup; Safety – Vanguard Wireless, Atom, Axelent;
Welding Technology – BOC, Lincoln Electric and Supagas.
There will also be an extensive conference programme that will feature a line-up of more than 70 industry speakers and panellists, who will share their exclusive insights about current industry challenges and recommendations for operational success. With the program’s sessions segmented across two streams, each with their own dedicated theatre, of “Industry 4.0” and “Connected Manufacturing”.
“This year’s conference program will be our most extensive and in-depth to date, with delegates offered unprecedented access to industry leaders with the expertise, knowledge and understanding to develop the strategies and practices for generating further growth,” said Clark.
Must-see theatre programs
The Industry 4.0 Theatre program will offer attendees the latest opinions, developments and research about the impact of Industry 4.0 on businesses and operations. A key highlight of this program will be the opening keynote, which will be delivered by Australia’s chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, followed by an innovation and collaboration stories series run by the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC).
Across days 2-4 of this stream’s conference sessions, other noteworthy speakers include Swinburne University director of Factory of the Future Dr Nico Adams, CSIRO Data61 principal research consultant Dr Elliot Duff, Innovative Manufacturing CRC CEO David Chuter, Siemens head of digital enterprise Christopher Vains, and AMCG managing director Dr Jens Goennemann.
The Connected Manufacturing Theatre program offers expert advice about business management, design and industrial challenges.
Conference sessions within this stream will focus on industry topics, including environment and energy policies, process improvement and optimisation, safety innovation, safety policies, safety management and culture, mental health and well-being, marketing and sales, additive manufacturing and design, and government grants and tariffs.
Industry leaders who will feature in some of these sessions, include Efic Business Development Director Philip Smith, Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation CEO Brooke Donnelly, and Fonterra Cooperative Group HR Systems Owner Toni Kennington.
Clark said this year is NMW’s most extensive program ever, in both speaker volume and industry experience. “We are really looking forward to seeing the best game-changing, innovative and high-tech solutions that our industry-leading exhibitors are planning to demonstrate and display.”
Industry support is key
Strategic partners and industry associations supporting NMW in 2019 include Weld Australia, AMGC, Innovative Manufacturing CRC and Engineers Australia. These respective partnerships strengthen NMW’s depth and relevance of insight sharing and cement the event’s status as a key hub for the manufacturing community to come together.
As a strategic partner of this year’s event, Weld Australia will have an interactive presence on the exhibition floor offering visitors deeper insight into the latest welding skills training available. Weld Australia marketing and communications manager Donna South said Weld Australia will have an advanced welder training hub on the exhibition floor. “[This] will showcase the augmented and virtual reality technology that is revolutionising welder training here in Australia, and around the world.
“Attendees will have the chance to see and try a range of different welding simulators, which are making welder training and upskilling safer, more cost-efficient and engaging for new and experienced welders,” said South.
Improving business by understanding challenges
With NMW featuring a variety of Industry 4.0 applications that are helping lead the way for a strong future for the manufacturing industry, Clark said implementing smart solutions is a must.
“Manufacturing is no different from any other industry, in terms of needing to understand the change and challenges ahead, develop strategies and acquire the knowledge or capabilities to manage these changes or evolutions, while ensuring their customer service and productivity are not detrimentally impacted during this management of change.
“IoT is understandably forcing rapid change across the industry from operational practices and execution, to higher integration, reconsideration of approaches to production or task completion and the requirement to plan for future change, which are typified by the increasing level of ‘smart factories’ or factories with smart solutions.
“Therefore, we know businesses within the industry are actively considering and working to improve their operational practices and refine their approach or strategy for continued success. Because improving a business isn’t a process where ticking a box or achieving that next milestone is the measurement of success.”
To stay ahead of the game, Clark said manufacturers should acquire the latest insights, and collaborate and engage with industry peers.
“Whether your objective is to improve efficiency, productivity or increase quality, it’s crucial to take advantage of opportunities like NMW that support your business in its pursuit of future growth, by providing a forum to engage with industry leading solutions and operational experts.” said Clark.
Registration is now open for the 20th edition of National Manufacturing Week (14-17 May 2019), with free registration available at: www.nationalmanufacturingweek.com.au.
Today we live in constantly evolving and technology-driven world. For mining operations specifically, adoption of digitalization is crucial for industry impact and success. Often overlooked by mining organizations because of its focus on smart products and engineering-driven manufacturing, Industry 4.0’s principles have much to offer the mining sector regarding:
Interoperability
Information transparency
Decentralized decision making
Technical augmentation
Among asset-intensive companies, better operational performance is the top reason for investments. The mining industry is no different mining companies must turn to Industry 4.0 and asset performance management implementation to improve safety, financial performance, and increase overall agility.
Read the E-book to learn how you can enhance your operations by capturing the Industry 4.0 payoff.
Liebherr is ready to strengthen the reputation of the R 9100/R 9150 excavators when its B versions of the machines arrive at Australian mines this year.
As the R 9100 has proved to be a worthy successor to the R 984 C excavators over the past seven years, Liebherr is convinced the B versions will add further benefits.
Liebherr delivered widespread improvements on the R 984 C with the R 9100 and R 9150, and set similar expectations during development of the new models.
The original versions have, however, provided a strong foundation for Liebherr to build on.
Liebherr launched the R 9100 in 2010 and the R 9150 two years later. Since 2012, the OEM has sold machines for operation in 21 countries over six continents.
The excavators have operated for more than one million hours at the mines, with a third of the machines recording more than 15,000 hours each.
They are used across operations for numerous commodities, including gold, coal, iron ore, copper, nickel and manganese.
Australian miners and contractors are amongst the users of the machines, including Blue Cap Mining, which operates two R 9150 excavators at gold sites in Western Australia and Queensland.
Blue Cap general manager Paul Allen says the R 9150 has many notable qualities that have made it suitable for the small hard rock operations where they are in use.
“We have seen both excavators perform well at different sites with different challenges,” Allen tells Australian Mining.
“Part of the reason we went for the 9150 was the specification and capacity of the machine, its hydraulic system and the additional power you are pulling in that unit – it has 565kW.”
Blue Cap pairs the excavators with haul trucks in the 100-tonne class, a match that been a strong fit for the designs of the pits at the gold sites.
Another key factor that helped the R 9150 stand out for Blue Cap was the technology Liebherr included on the machines, Allen continues.
“It was (at the time) more about some of the newer technology that Liebherr embedded around productivity and fuel efficiency,” he says.
“We are seeing around 15-20 per cent more efficiency out of this digger compared to some competition.”
With the success of Blue Cap’s R 9150 excavators, Allen has taken a keen interest in the updates incorporated on Liebherr’s updated models.
The B-version excavators were launched in January and the first machine in Australia will be received this month.
Liebherr senior product manager – mining excavators George Barturen backs the new excavators to drive productivity at mining operations, whatever the environment.
“Such systems are robustly designed and will be very well suited to the Australian mining environment from our extensive experience over the last five decades,” Barturen says.
“The B series machines, as was the R 9100 are suited to all mining and quarrying operators as the machine brings a competitive advantage regardless of the mined commodity with a reduced cost per tonne.”
Blue Cap’s R 9150 at the Red Dog site. image: Blue Cap Mining.
Stepping up operations
Liebherr’s updated hydraulic excavators have been developed to provide a step forward in performance and reliability, while lowering the cost per tonne.
Both models have received upgrades across the machine, including the latest generation of Liebherr’s D9512 engine, which offers an increased lifetime target of 15,000 hours, and other features that support maintenance efficiency.
The B versions include the exclusive EVO Bucket Solution, maximising loading capacity and ensuring optimal penetration efficiency.
With contoured sidewalls and augmented depth, the EVO Bucket has a 7.5m3 capacity on the R 9100 B and 8.8m3 and 9.6m3 on the R 9150 B, the latter being available on machines configured with a shorter boom.
The buckets match the excavators with the Liebherr T 236 truck, as well as other articulated and rigid trucks in the 50–100-tonne class.
Liebherr has positioned the R 9150 B directly between the 100-tonne and 200-tonne class machines with its bucket capacities. The R 9150 B begins to challenge the productivity of larger machines in the 200-tonne class with 12m3 buckets.
Barturen says incorporating the patented EVO Bucket design to the new machines is the most significant advance that increases productivity.
“This has brought about an increase in bucket payload with a reduction in bucket weight, whilst maintaining the same fast cycle time,” Barturen says.
“Additionally, the EVO Bucket for backhoe machines Liebherr is introducing several patented innovations together with machine functional control systems to provide the operator with semi-automatic functions increasing the overall efficiency and productivity of both machines.”
Barturen, a Liebherr employee since 1991, has worked closely with the company’s mining excavator team on the development of the B versions.
Alongside fellow Liebherr product manager Michel Runser, Barturen has guided the excavators through their final stages of development before launch.
“The main drivers in the development process were to improve the machine as a whole, enhancing machine safety, improving reliability and productivity KPIs and introduce operator comfort options, both active and passive.” Barturen says.
“The Australian mining industry drives continuous improvement of the machines through the different standards, guidelines and mining industry associations.
“Additionally, Liebherr has an internal global reporting system, which brings feedback directly into the factory from the field, speeding up the implementation and introduction of suggested improvements to suit the market, which is continuously driving improvement.”
Updated Liebherr engine
This series of Liebherr excavator was the first to introduce the OEM’s own diesel engines, a milestone reflected in the B versions. The R 9100 B and R 9150 B are equipped with Liebherr’s latest D9512 V12 diesel engine, which exists in Tier 2 and USA/EPA Tier 4 final version.
Liebherr Australia executive general manager, customer service, Tony Johnstone says the company’s service team has updated its skillset to support the new engine since its introduction.
Johnstone believes this has led to a new approach for the team, which has previously serviced and maintained engines from other OEMs.
“For us the challenge has been the development of our service technicians to be ready to work on the machines, understand the systems and be able to provide the best services that are required for customers,” Johnstone says.
“We’ve also had the challenge of upskilling our technical trainers so that we could train all of our service technicians in the Liebherr engine.”
Liebherr’s Australian-based technicians completed training on the engines in the company’s Switzerland engine factory certified training centre, with focus on control systems, maintenance and diagnostics.
In addition, customer training will be provided by Liebherr certified trainers at the new technical training centre at the Para Hills West facility in Adelaide.
The company has also ensured it has widespread availability of the unique service and maintenance parts for the engine.
“We had to stock appropriately for parts and for the future which we are working on now; we are enabling our remanufacturing centre to rebuild and run the D95 series engine,” Johnstone says.
“It has been a ground up approach because it was the first Liebherr engine in a Liebherr mining excavator.”
Liebherr’s preparation for the change of engine has the services team well placed to support the B versions once they arrive in Australia.
The R 9150 B will also be available in electric drive.
The updated features of the B version machines. Image: Liebherr.
Comfort and safety first
The B-version machines feature an upper structure that is accessible via a robust fixed ladder or 45-degree access stair in option. It integrates one large central platform equipped with slip resistant surfaces.
Liebherr has designed the new arrangement with wide catwalks to facilitate maintenance and to ensure comfort during operations.
“Included in the upgrade was the integration of hard safety systems – an improved catwalk on the left side of the machine, together with a handrail installation on the counterweight for added safety during machine and engine maintenance tasks,” Barturen says.
“Integration of HEPA filtration of the operator cabin is available should the requirement be needed.”
The cab, updated with improved ergonomics and operator attenuation, provides the ideal working platform and optimal comfort for operators.
Liebherr’s resiliently mounted cabin on ISO mounts reduces vibration, while a new cabin interior liner provides a two decibel decrease in noise levels in the cabin for the operator.
Technology advances
Liebherr has shown its awareness of modern connectivity needs, equipping the B version machines with GSM data transmission, together with the ability to transmit on customer site networks to provide operating parameters, error codes and machine faults.
Machine end users can access the data through the Liebherr Mining Data (LMD) platform, and generate custom reports to track and analyse machine data.
Barturen says the excavator product team focused on Liebherr’s six pillars of mining: safety and environment, productivity, efficiency, reliability, customer service, safety, and environment when enhancing the machines with technology.
“Improvements to the machines’ operating systems provides enhanced machine operational efficiency. Together with the integration of machine data management and analytics, the B series will enable customers to increase the effective utilisation of the machine in lowering the cost per tonne,” Barturen says.
“Customer service is enhanced by on board systems for the management of the machines’ maintenance and reliability interfacing with the Liebherr developed Troubleshoot Advisor.”
The data collected by the connectivity kit is recorded in a worldwide database for processing and assessment by Liebherr.
Aluminium is displacing classic steel, the shortage of skilled workers is to be compensated for by progressive automation, and environmental protection is increasingly becoming a priority – this is only a small part of the topics that will dominate the foundry industry this year and in the years to come. We present you with five trends that you should keep an eye on this year.
1: Aluminium instead of steel
Ever more products are produced with the material aluminium. There are numerous reasons for this: The automotive industry is just as pleased as the avionics sector when it comes to lighter components. However, the stability of aluminium is also a major factor. In mechanical engineering, this material is also used for mechanically demanding tasks.
In 2017, approximately six per cent more aluminium was produced than in the previous year. The higher price of the material becomes an ever smaller argument against this metal: The price of the finished product decreases due to advanced manufacturing methods and state-of-the-art machinery. Raw material prices have been comparatively high for years, but they are not affected by as many fluctuations as metal.
Fewer and fewer people are working in the foundry industry. Harsh working conditions and falling training figures suggest further declines. In order to remain competitive, companies rely on semi-automated or completely autonomous systems to maintain or even increase their production.
By no means does this lead to further job cuts. Quite the opposite: Employees are able to invest more time in designing or testing instead of pressing buttons on machines, transporting raw materials or filling molten metal at high risk. At the same time, this increases the interest of younger generations to get involved in the design or the development of the foundry industry.
3: Digitisation and Industry 4.0
Sensors, linked machines and smart controls have no fear for the foundry either: Numerous production sites are already centrally connected. Not only foundries, but also customers and potential clients benefit from the data. Processes can be optimised with big data and possible bottlenecks and errors in the system can be detected at an early stage. Manual adjustments in the operating procedure are less necessary.
New technologies like virtual reality help companies to present themselves to the outside world. Thus, a virtual tour of the production halls becomes possible for everyone. Safety concerns are no longer necessary – furthermore, a presentation of the company is possible everywhere. Thanks to augmented reality, technicians can easily adjust or repair machines with a superimposed virtual image. Also virtual learning becomes easier with the new technologies. Meanwhile, numerous CAD programmes can also be used by way of 3D glasses to make prototyping more efficient.
Foundries are considered to be amongst the most energy-hungry industries in Germany. The plants, which are often fed by coal, use around 16 per cent of the total electricity produced in Germany and 12 per cent throughout Europe. A study by the Federal Environment Agency proves that the majority of foundries could get their energy requirements from renewable energies. For this, however, energy storage devices are necessary that can meet the enormous requirements for continuous day-night operation.
Through the use of more efficient casting moulds, fewer raw materials are required, which also do not need to be transported. The energy requirement can be further reduced by using more efficient furnaces in order to make the entire production process more environmentally friendly.
Particularly for smaller cast products, things could change soon: More and more 3D printers are managing to deal with metals. Selective laser sintering (SLS) applies metal layer by layer in order to produce small components cost-effectively, quickly and more accurately than with conventional processes. Depending on the individual application, additive manufacturing offers various sizes ranging from half a cubic metre to entire warehouses that can be converted.
The innovative technology is already being used in projects that require only a small quantity of the final product. Structures, which would not be possible in normal casting, pose no problem for additive manufacturing either. For large quantities and parts with larger dimensions, not much will change for the time being.
The Australian government has struck a deal with IBM to provide a $1 billion five-year technology service to accelerate the uptake of blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing in the public sector.
The R&D program will be driven through three hubs in Melbourne, Canberra and the Gold Coast. It is part of an innovative, cross-government technology service deal, inked by the Turnbull government with the US business tech giant, that gives all federal agencies access to IBM’s cloud infrastructure, cyber-security practice, applications and system software.
The highly strategic whole-of-government service agreement will enable the $450 billion big Australian public sector access to IBM’s technology platform. IBM is a heavyweight in the enterprise space, in particular in financial services, and already has major agreements with Canberra’s digital giants, Human Services, the Australian Taxation Office, Home
This agreement enables the 900-plus long tail of medium to small government agencies to also tap IBM’s deep capability in data system design and application deployment, while giving the government’s big four tech shops more flexibility to explore innovative technologies and applications and cost benefits on existing contracts.
The deal, led by the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA), is the highest-value tech contract negotiated by the Australian government, and reflects the long-term anticipated value of the agreement.
The agreement represents a much more assertive approach to the big tech vendors, using the federal government’s $6-10 billion annual tech spend to leverage with IBM an ambitious embrace of three emerging foundational technologies, which many digital leaders expect will be deeply transformative for government.
Under the deal, IBM’s AI and cloud technology can be used by Australian agencies to quickly bring more self-service, automation and digitisation to government services. IBM and the Digital Transformation Agency will convene government and industry leaders to prioritise the introduction of new technologies to citizen services.
Announcing the pathbreaking agreement, Minister for Digital Transformation Michael Keenan said the all-of-government service agreement would save money and would help drive the deployment of simpler and easier services. He said it is a major step towards the government’s aggressive goal to be one of the top three digital governments by 2025.
“The deal has also been structured to enable small and medium-sized firms to engage with IBM through ‘channel partner’ arrangements to ensure they also benefit,” Keenan said.
Rapid access to emerging technologies
Keenan is also Minister for Human Services and earlier this week made an impassioned plea to take a positive view of data sharing and integration within government. Keenan declared data is not “a four letter word“, citing early examples where integration of data sets was supporting predictive applications in drug and weather data.
New DTA chief executive, Randall Brugeaud, said the five-year deal would save about $100 million over that period.
IBM’s Australian managing sirector David La Rose said this will give Australians rapid access to emerging technologies as they are developed, while helping the government re-engineer its platforms to protect and encrypt citizen data against modern-day cyber-security threats.
“This agreement is a testament to our 40-year partnership with the Australian Government. It shows trust and belief in our ability to transform and provide world-leading capabilities, leveraging our investments locally in AI, blockchain, quantum and cloud. We look forward to helping the Australian Government to redefine the digital experience for the benefit of all Australians.”
The government’s R&D accelerator programs are to be driven through three hubs in Melbourne, Canberra and the Gold Coast.
IBM has major research infrastructure and capability embedded in the Melbourne University health ad bio tech precinct, leading the world in the real-world application of AI to melanoma. This is expected to be the foundation of a research team to accelerate the application of blockchain, AI and quantum computing across the emerging public sector platforms.
Separate units of expert computer engineers and developers will also be based on the Gold Coast and Canberra to work on leading cyber-security solutions for data protection and the application of super-computing for government services.
Blockchain enables transactional data to be trusted, without the need for complex centralised control systems. Public sector pilot projects around Australia are expected to begin mature-to-early operational applications in the coming year, but technologists believes blockchain could underpin the virtualisation of major government controlled or funded systems in the health, finance, transport, safety, energy, education, regulatory and communications sectors.
AI offers the government the opportunity to deeply learn from its huge data pools sitting in its major revenue, payments, service, and safety systems and automate many of the manual systems still deeply embedded in state and federal tech platforms. AI applications are rapidly being deployed to enable computers to learn from case files what are the most effective solutions and offer a major opportunity to empower human service frontline workers by enabling them to learn from the vast amount of knowledge sitting in case management files.
‘As profound as the rollout of electricity’
Quantum is an uber powerful computing technology that promises to power up many of the heavy data processes that will come as federal, stare and local governments seek to integrate major life services, like an easy solution to wind up the affairs of a deceased family.
Quantum computing evangelists believe it will be as profound as the rollout of electricity. The Australian government has already made a $25 million investment in the UNSW Quantum lab in Sydney. The same lab also has multi-million dollar investments from the NSW government, Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank.
IBM has once of the world’s leading quantum computing labs, located outside of New York City.
The government is also negotiating with other major tech vendors to drive a better all-of-government result. Outside of the big defence primes, IBM and Telstra dominate the tech vendor space in Canberra, but with major relationships with Fujitsu, SAP and Oracle.
Keenan said the coordinated procurement process allows for better oversight of contract delivery and greater accountability of how public funds are being spent. Since 2008, whole-of-government agreements have saved the government about $1.2 billion.
The DTA agreement with IBM comes as the government’s fifth chief digital officer in just over three and half years, Randall Brugeaud, takes over as chief executive of the DTA from former NAB executive Gavin Slater, who is going back to the private sector after 12 months in the job.
The deal represents a major recovery for the US tech giant. IBM had to negotiate a major compensation deal with Treasury, after the first all-digital census was forced to be shut down for two days in 2016, when ABS chief David Kalisch took the call not to risk the suspected infiltration of census data. IBM provided the census solution.
This article was originally published on The Mandarin. IBM is a partner of The Mandarin.
Drone usage on construction jobsites is growing—as is another trend related to drones. Many construction companies are foregoing training their workers on how to operate drones, and as a result, they are outsourcing the task.
DRONE OUTSOURCING OPTIONS
One new example of this comes from DroneDeploy, which recently announced its Drone on Demand solution, which lets customers plan a flight mission using DroneDeploy’s cloud platform and then request a certified professional pilot from DroneBase.
The company will then go to the site, perform the flight, and collect aerial data. After planning a flight and requesting a pilot, photos, maps, and 3D models appear within 72 hours. This enables construction companies to make informed decisions based on the data—without actually having to fly the drone themselves.
As another example, Measure, a drone-as-a-service company, is providing turnkey and toolkit commercial drone solutions to acquire, process, and deliver actionable aerial data to enterprise customers.
Looking even further down the road, perhaps construction companies won’t need to outsource this area of the business at all, rather the drones will fly themselves autonomously. Skydio recently announced a self-flying camera for consumers. A service like this just might be invaluable to the construction industry as well.
Until that time, there are a number of services available for construction companies that want to outsource flying drones on projects.
In the face of progressing technology, it can be easy to become cluttered and confused when trying to communicate. A phone full of confusing or only partially understood apps can seriously slow down productivity and overall workflow.
Tess Vismale of DAHLIA+ agency spoke at CONEXPO/CON-AGG 2017 on some of the most helpful productivity apps to keep the workday on schedule and even keep personal habits healthy.
Here are the top seven mobile apps for taking control of workflow:
Productive tops Vismale’s list as a brilliant tool for forming good-habits and prompting the completion of tasks. By inputting desired tasks and goals, Productive reminds the user at convenient times of their habits, whether they be professional, personal or even medical.
Slack combines the convenience of email with the flexibility of social media to create a powerful, all-in-one messaging service. Users can organize their conversations by project, department, or simply by individual, allowing for individuals to be easily added and dropped from different threads. Slack additionally provides a subscription service, in which one user can allow other users to ask common questions.
MobileDay is a conference call app that combines a user’s schedule with call functionality, allowing them to connect to everyone in the call with one button. Additionally, MobileDay can send alerts for upcoming conferences calls and allows users to notify other members of the call if they are running late.
Clarke.ai is a text-to-speech app that can be invited to conference calls or meetings to take notes and record all conversations for later use.
Outlook is an email app designed for efficiency on mobile phones; for example, a user can schedule the appearance and disappearance of emails in their inbox to allow them to focus on the most important ones when necessary. It also includes features that used to be limited to desktop computer, like integrating with Dropbox and Google Drive.
Unroll.me can organize an email inbox based upon a user’s subscriptions, sending updates on received emails either daily or weekly to cut down on distraction and wasted time. For example, a user could opt to not read their Instagram email until Friday at noon every week, to condense the amount of time spent.
Evernotecreates notes with a myriad of extra features, such as stylus compatibility, document scanning and an image search engine. This means that any scanned or photographed document can be searched by the text printed on it, effectively digitizing printed business cards and spreadsheets.
The sheer volume of available apps and their many functions can seem overwhelming, but these tools can provide the edge and make the difference between a productive work week and an exhausting one.
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