Unlocking Innovation series on Data-driven Maintenance announced

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The Railway Industry Association’s leading Unlocking Innovation events will return next month, to look at how the use of data is transforming maintenance in the rail industry.

The events on ‘Data-driven Maintenance’ will take place on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 July 2021, and excitingly, will be held in a ‘hybrid’ format for the first time since the Coronavirus pandemic.

Attendees will be able join in person on 6 July, at the new RIA offices in Westminster, followed by some early evening networking. The option to dial in will still be available to those who wish to, and the second day on 7 July will remain virtual.

The events, which will be held in partnership with RIA’s Strategic Partners Network Rail and the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN), will examine the challenges and opportunities in moving towards condition-based maintenance regimes, underpinned by remote monitoring (RCM), sensing, datalogging and processing technologies.

On Tuesday 6 July, the sessions will be titled ‘knowing your asset’ and ‘collecting your data’, and will concentrate on the first key jigsaw pieces of RCM – knowing what to measure, and how to measure it. This will be followed by an early evening reception at RIA's offices – with limited spaces available (this will be dependent on Government guidance). And on Wednesday 7 July, we will cover the other jigsaw pieces: analysing and interpreting the data, and enabling the business to use that data to deliver tangible results to cost, quality and safety.

The event will feature senior industry figures, including:

  • Ian Bridges, Professional Head of Signalling, Balfour Beatty Rail and President, IRSE;

  • Tim Flower, Chief Intelligent Infrastructure Engineer, Network Rail;

  • Dr Luis Canhoto Neves, Faculty of Engineering Digital Learning Director, University of Nottingham;

  • And many more due to be announced shortly.

Sam Bemment, Technical and Innovation Manager at Railway Industry Association (RIA), said: “The technology around remote condition monitoring is exciting, and there is much ongoing work around successfully interpreting data to enable true reliability centred maintenance regimes. The topic is a diverse one, stretching across both infrastructure and rolling stock engineering.

“We will highlight some best practice from within rail and feature case studies from other industries, and give a wide overview of current and near-future technologies. In addition to exploring technical advances, the events will also look at the skills and business change processes that will enable a shift to truly modern front-line inspection and maintenance practices.

“We are excited to present the opportunity to attend in person and experience a return to a form of “normality” – of course, with social distancing in place. It would be great to see you at our new RIA office, and we look forward to trying our own innovation of hybrid event. Whether virtually or in person, we hope to see you there!”