Temporal (Time Based) Geometry is the new BI!

Like the concept of simplifying the way we interact with data by the use of Business Intelligence, is there a way to do so with complex geometric and spatial data? More than just visualization, but interaction and to facilitate the decision-making process by utilizing simple and democratized approaches.

For many years we have seen geometry and spatial data as some what of an art and high value service, but in reality, we are capturing or creating data, visualizing and containerizing within a file. The technology and data are very complex and somewhat difficult to manage, however if we had a way of simplifying the interaction with spatial and geometric data so even non-technical people can gain more value than just visualization, could we broaden the user profile and in turn increase the business value?

In recent years we have seen this concept explode in the BI space, with many new “role profiles” and use cases for the interpretation of data and the presentation for a purpose.

When including the sense of location and space, we have the opportunity to contextualize for greater impact and insights. But this is only half the opportunity. There are many applications on the market providing a custom visual within Power BI that will enable a user to connect the geometry to the BI dashboard. And this is great and very exciting! In some respect removing the technical expertise from geometry to data. In a simplistic form expanding the use case for geometry from BIM and DE to anyone that understands data and its relationships.

The concept of BI is to enable any user the ability to extract insights and interpret their data for a purpose. With no pre-defined workflows, just an ability to build relationships and visualize in a simple interface.

Imagine if there was a way, we could also enable a broader audience (user profile managed) the ability to then also contribute to this in a simplistic interface that relates to location, space and time.

Could this be temporal (Time based) geometry? Is the answer to generalizing complex engineering data and the way we interact, by enabling all involved to actually interpret in their own way and contribute? Not to the “master data”, but to decisions that we make over the course of the asset through the use of time-based activities.

For example Workpacks, Work Orders, Issue tracking, temporary works, scaffold / access requirements, occupancy and circulation, etc. There are so many use cases, however I don’t feel any can be pre-determined. These need to be discovered on the end user journey and will be realized once we understand what data we have and what problem statement we need to solve at that point in time.

Software vendors ask the question, tell me your problems and we will build a solution to fix them. However, is this the wrong approach? Should we actually be providing the data relationships and system architecture with a simplistic and intuitive interface to allow the user to solve the problem statement themselves? And more importantly capturing not the workflow they followed but the outcome they concluded on?

For example, I need to create a Work Order based on condition monitoring data and historical maintenance activities on an asset. I need to also capture the isolation points taking into consideration the other work crews and work orders in that specific area. The objective we are trying to solve is not a visualization activity, but a location, space and time activity that needs to be captured in a cloud based collaborative environment that others can access and review. We may create time-based geometry on the work order extents, temporary works requirements, hazards, and exclusive control, etc. These then need to be captured for historical data accumulation for later use with the idea of machine learning and predictive maintenance and scheduling.