Dial Before You Dig (DBYD), the service designed to prevent damage to telecommunications and other underground infrastructure, is set to digitally transform with the help of Deloitte Consulting and Esri Australia.
Workers use DBYD before undertaking an excavation. They can file their plans with DYBD, which then communicates them to all utilities and telcos known to have assets underground in that area. The utilities respond directly with data about exact asset locations.
DBYD helps prevent costly cable cuts, which cause outages and require emergency responses from the utilities. A major fibre cable was severed only last week by a third-party that it is understood did not dial before they dug.
DBYD said today it would work with Esri Australia for its "next generation referral service”, using “cutting edge geospatial information systems technology”.
“Phase one of the project will see the delivery of self-managed kiosks for reporting and information uploads; enhanced data integration capabilities allowing the seamless amalgamation of referral service data into web maps for analysis and visualisation; map-based search functions; an improved user interface, and many more features,” the organisation said in a statement.
It will also work with Deloitte to develop the “digital platform that will operate the new DBYD service.”
“Deloitte Consulting will develop a digital platform utilising Microsoft Azure to operate the referral service and establish a DBYD digital damage and injury prevention ecosystem comprising vital information, tools and support for both utility asset owners and workers who need to excavate,” it said.
The new referral service will be built and tested over the coming year and is anticipated to go live in the second half of 2021.
“For more than two decades DBYD has remained one of Australia’s most relevant and respected services prioritising worker safety and the protection of critical underground infrastructure, above all else,” CEO Stuart Burdack said.
“Our vision of ‘zero harm, zero damage’ sits at the heart of our decision to pave a new, innovative path forward for the DBYD service,” Burdack said.
Read more about the solutions behind DBYD's next-gen referral service or discover how technology is transforming the architecture, engineering and construction industries.