19DECEMBER 2022site with idle personal ready to go live into the old control centres due to lack of good quality comms - that could be easily fixed by internal 5G-capable private networks.And last but not least - lack of ownership of full value chain by experienced professionals, with hard core understanding of where value is gained or lost - what we call the "long-arms" professionals, the true mining professionals of the 21st Century. How To?Best examples seeing of mining innovation started first by engaging "long-arms" professionals, with hard core operational experience from OBK (orebody Knowledge) to blasting to mining design & ops to ore processing to logistics and to marketing - people that had lived and learned, from real experiences, how good looks like across the value chain.Then a theoretical end-game vision was built ­on how we would like to be in 10yrs - high likely to be a moving target giving the advance in tech, but a necessary step to give focus. A roadmap was then developed with a step-by-step approach including advances in autonomous gear, conditional monitoring, connection and auto adjusting flows etc. All connected through a ROC that could optimise the decision-making through visibility of the full chain, ultimately in preparation for full control through an ever-optimising AI running business - once singularity is achieved. Critical to develop a strong storyline with purpose and value creation, as such that business cyclicality wouldn´t affect the end game. Also critical to gradually review it - as tech is definitively moving faster than the pace of implementation. Another important aspect is the decision on whereas and if it the organisation would be in the leading edge or become a first follower - second choice has worked well for most. But not necessarily follower in mining - as tech is being proved in other industries and are generally highly transferrable ­ as per recent example where ROC was considered to move from regions into a single country option - when for example the Sail GP today operates from a single global ROC in UK, avoiding large crews on board, lowering boat weight and exposure, and increasing speed. This amongst multiple examples where tech innovation has been experimented and proven in other industries, outpacing century-old concepts we still do carry in the mining industry today. What To Expect?We should expect--and above all, drive--innovation in our businesses.It is a must for sustaining a critical industry, with increased productivity, improved attraction/retention for what promises to be a very tough environ for locating capable people remotely, and above all, reduced exposure to safety & health.Technology advances are mostly available and evolving fast - ultimately all businesses will operate mostly at integrated central locations, away from remote areas, with productivity, quality control and safety never dream off - ultimately fully controlled and consistently optimized by AI. Our current away of operating will look like century old vintage...!As Erika (Android by Prof Ishiguro, Osaka University) challenged a Bloomberg reporter in a recent interview: Are you ready? We should expect and above all, drive innovation in our businesses
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