A partnership deal has been signed between digital solutions and service provider, Omnix, and ESG-focused AI firm, viAct, to grow digitilisation and to boost safety in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) and oil & gas sectors in the GCC. As per the agreement, Omnix will become the master distributor of viAct’s products and services across the UAE, Saud Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.
Commenting on the AEC and oil & gas fields, Omnix noted that both are amongst the most prominent, lucrative and critical and said that safety concerns lurk through all the stages of the supply chain. The very nature of these industries makes them vulnerable to workplace fatalities. In fact, the construction industry is regarded as one of the most dangerous industries, for experiencing the highest number of workplace deaths. The oil & gas industry is no far behind, it added.
“Our strategic partnership with viAct will provide an ingenious dimension for accelerating the digital transformation journey across the fast-growing Middle East region. With our team’s diverse experience and knowledge of products, solutions, and services in the region coupled with viAct’s expertise in automated monitoring powered by video analytics, the ability to digitally derive data-driven decisions in the entire workflow will be a key driver and business enabler to transform the industrial landscape, especially the AEC and Oil & Gas industry,” said Simran Bagga, Vice President, Omnix Engineering & Foundation Technologies. 
In late June 2022, Omnix and Abu Dhabi Municipality said they would collaborate to push a mandate relating to infrastructure projects.
According to a safety report released by the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP), there has been a 10% hike in the overall total recordable injury rate in the industry in 2021 compared to 2020, the statement from Omnix highlighted.
Since its inception, viAct has been striving to make jobsites safer, efficient and sustainable. It has engaged itself in constant and intensive R&D to develop and improve its proprietary scenario-based AI to offer smart and innovative AI solutions, which leverage the power of industrial grade video analytics to cater to various safety needs of different industries like construction and oil & gas, the statement said.
Its solutions that leverage AI video analytics for the oil & gas industry and AEC industry for locking safety and productivity in these sectors includes: work at height safety morning; danger zone intrusion detection; confined space work safety monitoring and fleet management.
In mid July 2022, Omnix Engineering’s Bhaskar Raman said that in the near future, cloud-based digital twins will serve predominantly as an asset management environment.
Apart from these features, the system’s instant alerts can help stakeholders in risk anticipation and management, while the dashboard enables digitisation of workflow. As a result, through AI monitoring of different workplace scenarios along with the system of instant alerts and integrated dashboard, viAct can foster the safety and productivity in the AEC and Oil & Gas industry that too in a simple plug & play manner, the statement pointed out.
“This partnership with Omnix aligns with our safety and sustainability aspirations and will take us a step closer to make our vision a reality. Together with Omnix, we aim at setting our foot into the Middle East market to create safer, efficient and sustainable workplaces through digitization and AI technology,” concluded Gary Ng, Founder and CEO of viAct.
In late July 2022, Omnix International announced its new VP of Engineering and Foundation Technologies.
