By: Damien Cutcliffe, DTP Leadership Team and Director of Business Development and Growth, Digital at WSP
DTP were delighted to be in Perth the week before last for our WA Launch Event and once again we were delighted by the energy and level of engagement in the room. Hosted at Jacob’s wonderful new office, we were joined by an enthusiastic group of 50 collaborators across industry.
After the morning rush for coffee and some networking, our host Adrian Day from Jacobs kicked things off with the welcome and acknowledgement to country.
Gavin Cotterill then provided an overview of the vision for the DTP and some reflections from our launch events in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, leadership team updates, and news regarding the DTP Working Groups which have been formed and are focused on capability, community, and advocacy. From the outset we had a high level of interaction from the crowd, it was clear that Perth was keen to shape the DTP narrative.
After some robust discussion Gavin handed over to Adam Beck to set the scene before leading into our panel. Joining us was Darren Mottolini from Landgate and our very own Kate Williams on the panel. Adam had some high calibre knowledge and experience to leverage.
Adam got things underway by giving Darren the opportunity to provide an update on Landgate’s objectives as part of its Spatial WA Program. Darren highlighted Landgate’s already mature approach to data custodianship and the fact that Spatial WA was a logical next step. Darren went on to touch on some of the challenges that the WA market is facing, namely resource and capability constraints. Kate went on to share her insight from her experience working closely with the east coast states who are all at various stages with their respective digital twin programs.
With Adam leading the way our panel went on to engage with our attendees in a lively discussion, part of which was framing and recognising the characteristics making WA unique and very well placed to rapidly advance its digital twin maturity. Darren and Kate emphasised the need to drive impact by realising and demonstrating value early, across a wide range of stakeholders. There was also a focus on the importance of collaboration and partnering, with digital twin capabilities having the ability to cross discipline boundaries and bring together diverse groups.
Throughout, the panel were joined by a passionate group of attendees highly keen to interact, Adam may well have thought he was hosting DTP’s very own version of the ABC’s Q&A!
After what was some awesome interaction, debate and discourse, Damien Cutcliffe then led a short Menti survey to capture sentiment from the wider attendees gathered, this feedback is highly valued and is an important input which will guide the DTP in our next steps.
We are compiling the results and feedback from participants during the engagement session, this will be combined with the results of the surveys taken at our previous launch events on the east coast - the survey addresses a range of topics including:
What could DTP do for you to accelerate your Digital Twin initiatives?
What are the current gaps hindering your or your clients take up of Digital Twins?
How can "we" as industry better support government in their Digital Twin implementations?
Take Aways
DTP took way too long to launch in Perth, it was by far and away our most lively event, the energy in the room, level of engagement and collaboration on display continues to reinforce our view that industry is craving this type of event focussed on digital twins.
On the back of Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and now Perth, there is growing interest from attendees to get involved in the DTP and get behind initiatives that progress the Digital Twin agenda across Australia.
A big thanks once again to Jacobs and DTP’s Cath Hill for organising and hosting such a great event – and thanks again Perth!