Tech start-up, UtterBerry and project partner Connected Places Catapult have been chosen to make construction in the Philippines safer using innovative smart sensors
Coming off the back of successful projects here in the UK on Crossrail, Thames Tideway and Tower Bridge, the project will use AI and machine learning technology to allow remote monitoring of construction projects in the region to increase construction safety.
The project will not just prevent accidents, but support the country in meeting its UN Sustainable Development Goals targets.
The project has been chosen ahead of 275 others and will bring new technology to the region. As well as diversify employment in the industry, it will create high-skilled jobs in data analysis and data decision-making.
With the sensor technology being used on huge projects on the London Underground and elsewhere already, UtterBerry and Catapult are leading the way in the field, and are exporting the technology across the world.
Innovation like this will transform lives in lower-income countries and emerging economies.
As the Philippine Government’s own figures show, construction is the third dangerous sector to work in, with the average number of workdays missed increasing since 2013.
This patented UK technology, using artificial intelligence and machine learning, gathers and analyses any existing data from the smart sensors and elsewhere, to provide predictions for future physical changes to the environment.
The technology warns workers when sub-millimetre vibrations risk causing ground displacement, preventing unnecessary accidents and death.
The project, part-funded by the Government-backed UKRI body, builds on UtterBerry’s footprint in East Asia, having won contracts in Hong Kong and Singapore to place its smart sensors with the latter’s public transport network MTR, the Lyric Theatre Complex and Kowloon City Pier.
Improve health and safety in the construction industry
UtterBerry are looking to export this UK technology to other parts of East Asia, and continue to fly the flag for British innovation abroad.
Founder and CEO Heba Bevan said: “UtterBerry is delighted to lead this project in the Philippines with the support of the Global Challenge Research Fund. We want to improve health and safety in the construction industry by deploying UtterBerry wireless sensors with artificial intelligence to reduce injuries and fatalities.
“We are also using our UtterBerry wireless sensors to diversify the construction workforce, creating new high-skilled jobs to analyse data from the sensors remotely.”
Amy Hochadel, director of Global Business Growth from Connected Places Catapult said: “Connected Places Catapult is delighted to be partnering with UtterBerry on this exciting collaborative research & development project.
“The Catapult works hard to find opportunities in emerging markets where UK expertise can lend to local partnerships where new innovations can transform places.
“The Global Challenge Research Fund helps to provide the opportunity for places like the Philippines and companies like UtterBerry to show the impact that urban innovations can make, not just to the people of a city or region, but also in meeting UN Sustainable Development Goals – which benefit everyone.”
