Hillhead Digital 2021 – New Horizons | Building the Recovery

26.11.2020

From the comfort of your office or home, Hillhead Digital – taking place from 9 to 10 March 2021 – is free-to-attend. Choose from more than 50 seminars and gain invaluable insights into the key developments that are shaping the industry's future. Engage with the latest technology and innovation from hundreds of leading suppliers.

Call for papers – Join the Decarbonization debate

Taking place on Tuesday 9^th March 2021, the Decarbonization stream of the Hillhead Digital New Horizons I Building the Recovery Conference will provide an opportunity for delegates to gain a better understanding of the climate-related issues and challenges facing the industry, and to learn about the newest technological advances and product innovations, energy-saving solutions and carbon-reduction programmes to achieve a sustainable future.

Are you passionate about decarbonization? Do you have an insightful case study or technical paper to share that relates to the quarrying and construction industry? If so, we’d love to hear from you. We welcome submissions from across the industry.

If you would like to be considered for the seminar programme, register your interest here and the Conference team will be in touch shortly.

Overview

The day will be hosted by Susannah Streeter a leading broadcaster and financial commentator. Susannah has anchored flagship BBC business news programmes on TV and radio and moderated at major summits, conferences and events, including the recent World Green Economy Summit in Dubai.

12 speakers and a series of specialist panels will cover the following three themed sessions:

1. The Carbon Crisis – 09:30-11:15

With climate-related issues and challenges facing the industry, will carbon mitigation or carbon adaptation (carbon offsetting vs carbon reduction), or both, be the answer as the construction sector works to become a net-zero carbon industry? Collaborations with innovators in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and other ‘clean technology’ players are leading the way in advancing the decarbonization of production plants to help achieve a more sustainable future.

2. Time to Flick the Switch – 11:35-13:20

The mineral products industry with its vast fleet of fossil-fuelled heavy excavators, loaders, haulers and processing equipment will have an important role to play in helping to combat climate change. Fuel substitution and energy transition will be at the heart of efforts to decarbonize mobile plant and equipment, to ensure the UK meets its net-zero target by 2050, with biofuels, electrification, hybrid technology, and hydrogen power all having a key part to play in the inevitable energy switchover.

3. Making Modern Materials – 14:15-16:00

With growing demand for more environmentally friendly processes and building products to enhance the sustainability of new buildings and infrastructure, quarries are increasingly turning to energy-saving technology and renewable energy sources, asphalt producers are continuing to innovate with eco-friendly reduced-temperature mix technologies, whilst the energy-intensive cement industry has its sights firmly set on net-zero carbon cement and a vision of circular concrete production.

Call for papers – Digitalization stream

The Digitalization stream of the New Horizons I Building the Recovery Conference will bring high-profile industry speakers and online delegates together remotely on Wednesday 10 March 2021.

Join the debate. Learn about new technologies, share innovative ideas and begin to understand how digitalization and automation will transform the mineral extractives sector for decades to come.

Are you a digitalization trailblazer? Do you have an interesting case study or technical paper to contribute? If so, we’d love to hear from you and welcome submissions from across the industry.

Overview

The day will be hosted by Zoe Kleinman, a leading technology journalist and presenter with a passion for all things tech and 20 years of broadcasting experience. From cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, she makes tech news accessible to a mainstream audience of millions across national and international BBC Radio, TV and online outlets, including Radio 4’s Today programme, BBC World TV and the UK’s most watched news shows.

A series of presentations and specialist panel discussions will explore the following topics

1. Removing the Human Factor – 09:30-11:15

What was once just a vision is starting to become a reality – the ‘digital quarry’. Driving this transformation are technologies such as 5G, GPS, LiDAR, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. Whether it is the evolution of fully autonomous trucks and loaders, the remote control and monitoring of on-site plant and equipment, or the use of drones for face and stockpile surveys, digitalization will continue to transform the way people work and the roles they play in the quarry.

2. Intelligent Plant Control – 11:35-13:20

Advanced automation and control systems have already made huge inroads into the quarrying sector over the last two decades, but with ever-increasing growth in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud-based technology, machine connectivity and the remote management and monitoring of plant, machinery and processes, what will the next 20 years hold in store for industrial automation and control? Clearly, digitalization is no longer a choice, but an imperative.

3. Evolution at the interface – 14:15-16:00

The way quarry companies do business is also being transformed by digitalization. From new back-office business software and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, to the growing use of electronic proof-of delivery (e-POD) systems and novel mobile device-based apps, enhanced business solutions and technology are set to help deliver greater levels of operational and commercial efficiency. And central to this will be the all-important issue of cyber-security.

Exhibit at Hillhead Digital

Re-connect with the quarrying, construction, and recycling industry this spring.

Book a virtual booth at our inaugural two-day digital event taking place 9-10 March 2021 and position your business for the recovery.

Hillhead Digital will combine a multi-stream conference with an innovative exhibition platform that will allow the industry to engage like never before.

Digitalization is gathering pace. Embrace these changes and grow your market share by taking advantage of this exciting marketing platform.