Fortunately, daa already has a solution in place at Dublin Airport that will help it manage the projected increase in assets and operate its critical infrastructure efficiently as it expands its facilities. The organisation uses Esri’s ArcGIS technology to consolidate data from third party systems, including computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, building information modelling (BIM) data and sensor data from remote, internet-connected devices. A suite of ArcGIS apps and dashboards then present users with a single, unified view of all daa’s assets and infrastructure on digital, interactive maps.
daa employees, working in a wide range of roles, use the ArcGIS apps and dashboards to find and survey assets, monitor the condition and safety of infrastructure, plan priority investment and maintenance works, undertake analysis on passenger flow and gather evidence for decision making. “ArcGIS gives us a single source of asset information across the entire campus,” says Michael Earley, BIM and Digital Manager in the Infrastructure division of daa. “daa employees and key stakeholders know what our assets are and where they are, which enables us to operate efficiently.”
Over recent years, daa has increased the use of ArcGIS mobile solutions, including ArcGIS Survey123, for undertaking all kinds of airfield inspections. One of the newest is a mobile app for surveying the condition of the airfield’s 7,329 manholes. Data collected in the field is instantly visible to managers in centralised reports created with ArcGIS Dashboards, enabling them to prioritise maintenance work and asset replacements. “We have many regulatory operational requirements to adhere to so we use ArcGIS apps to help raise issues and inform decisions for many different stakeholders,” says Damien Garry, IT Development Manager in the Asset Information division of daa.
Additionally, daa has introduced an imaginative new ArcGIS Survey123 app to enable team leaders to pass on information to the next team leader in a consistent, recorded format at the end of their shifts. Used by over 40 team leads across the airport, the solution ensures that nothing is missed during shift changes and ongoing jobs can continue with minimal interruption despite changes in staff. “This enables Senior Management to have shift handover reports on a twice daily basis to enable real time decision making,” notes Garry.
daa now plans to build on its successful ArcGIS foundations to create a full digital twin of the airport to enable users to click on an asset, see its condition and check when it was last inspected. “It’s an easy win for us to use our existing ArcGIS system for our digital twin strategy,” Earley explains. “By extending our use of ArcGIS to create a really sophisticated digital twin, we will be able to get true insight into how things are working.”
