Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure Conference is an annual global gathering of leading executives from more than 120 countries in the world of infrastructure design, construction and operations. This year’s event which is completely virtual is a perfect opportunity to discover how the company is going digital.
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a multitude of challenges for water utilities. Certain utilities have been able to adapt quickly, relying strongly on their digital tools to do so; however, some are only now realizing the value of investing in digital solutions. During Bentley Systems’ event, water infrastructure experts will explain how digital twins are delivering cloud-based insights and risk evaluation for water utilities.
We had the chance to speak to two of these experts: Gregg Herrin, Vice President of Water Infrastructure at Bentley Systems and Teresa Elliott, Senior Director of Industry Marketing, Cities and Water Utilities at Bentley Systems, on how Bentley Systems can help water utilities prepare for a post-pandemic world, the company’s latest alliances and technologies and their future plans regarding their water business.
“Because of the uncertainty in revenue that the utilities will be getting, I think we are going to see a holdback in the types of physical infrastructure investments that they make, but I think we’re going to see an increase in digital tools to make better decisions about those physical investments,” said Herrin when asked about the uncertainty facing the water industry due to the COVID-19 recession.
When asked about how water utilities and companies felt six months after the pandemic hit in terms of digitalization, Teresa Elliot, said that when speaking to various customers, they had mentioned several benefits that were now more visible since the health crisis: “I don’t think it’s just about transfer of knowledge, I also think it’s about transfer of losing the fear of technology because they can see the value the technology provides.”
