Siemens turns urbanisation data into fashion with Fabric project
• Company puts on display a physical manifestation of its infrastructural analytical prowess
In a previous life I was a fashion journalist. Many nights I sat watching skinny people in frocks waltz past me in both awe-inspiring and mediocre designs, before I turned my focus to the inner workings of machines. The aptitude to appreciate the ability of the human species to create masterful works of ingenuity can be universal — with much studying involved. So I am uniquely qualified to report on Siemens’s latest project, Fabric.
Siemens gathered a bevy of influencers and data nerds on August 23 to witness the physical manifestation of its infrastructural data analytical prowess. Siemens postulates a human migration is under way as millions of Africans are descending on city hubs across the continent, to the point where Africa is the world’s fastesturbanising continent.
By 2050 more than 1.4-billion Africans will have migrated to a city, 212-million of them Nigerians. The prediction is that by 2030 Tshwane and Johannesburg will have inadvertently merged to become SA’s first megacity. And by 2025 Nairobi’s population will have doubled.
“African cities will have to evolve on an epic scale and staggering speed. It will require all of human ingenuity to succeed,” the video presentation purred.
But Siemens insists that by looking at the data beneath the chaos of an African city patterns emerge, and when combined this “becomes the very fabric of a city”, a fabric that digital technology can help build intelligent, interconnected city ecosystems that can learn, plan, predict and respond.
Siemens took the data and had agency King James painstakingly layer, illustrate and print the reimagined data to form actual patterned fabric. Bright and beautifully designed, the craftsmanship of the interpretation lends the high-level analysis to a type of understanding that even a layperson could understand and appreciate.
Naturally, they went on to present those fabrics adorned on beautifully different models, all wearing stylishly crafted garments by three designers from across the continent.
Nigerian designer Zizi Cardow had Ilupeju, Lagos Island and Lagos port to play with. John Kaveke cut the cloth inspired by his native Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi’s central bus station and the main industrial area. Local designer Palesa Mokubung worked her magic on Gillooly’s interchange, the Sandton city centre and the Newtown precinct.
It was by far the most dynamic data presentation I have ever seen — and one of the best-presented fashion shows too. But what comes after all the glitz and glamour?
“The fabric event wasn’t just a marketing stunt,” says Siemens SA group communications head Keshin Govender. “It was using the opportunity, with the platforms that we have, to tell the story of how Siemens technology makes an impact in society. It’s by using technology to substantially make contributions to the infrastructure of society at large, but more importantly drill it down into people’s lives.”
In one of the fabrics showcased, in which blue and silver lines crisscross betwixt spots of green, we find a swatch representing Gillooly’s. The southern hemisphere’s busiest interchange acts as part of the city’s transportation backbone as 200,000 vehicles pass on its 12 converging routes.
Data suggests that in 2030 Joburg will have about 20-million inhabitants. If it continues with its trend of being SA’s most prolific new-car-purchasing city, while minibus taxis make up 65% of the cars on the intersection, Gillooly’s may not be able to accommodate the city’s moving masses.
Is it a problem that digitalisation can provide a viable tech solution? Or is it more a matter of using this data to speak to the right government people to fix an infrastructural problem?
Govender thinks it’s twofold. “When you talk about the internet of transportation you talk about an interlinked intermodal set of transportation assets: cars, trains and public transport are all giving off data. If we can harness and collect that data and apply a model on top of that, we can do predicative analysis and apply machine learning and artificial intelligence to make cities less congested.
“Imagine an intermodal traffic system that can free up productivity time in the city.”
The second aspect is about taking that critical thinking and giving it to those whose policymaking can affect service delivery. “Ultimately that is what technology is supposed to do for governments,” says Govender.
“Siemens is not claiming to have the answers for everything … but what we will do is help decision-makers understand that in their promise to bring service delivery to the people there is technology that exists to help enable that, across all the infrastructure sectors.”
With the current state of affairs in the government and industrial sectors, the flickering lights of Eskom and train-purchasing madness of Transnet, SA may need that technology more than ever. Who knew it could make such fetching fashion too?
IT’S BY USING TECHNOLOGY TO SUBSTANTIALLY MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO … DRILL IT DOWN INTO PEOPLE’S LIVES