Red Sea Global awards first IoT contract to MachinesTalk for ‘Workforce and Vehicles’ Smart Locator
Smart Locator badges will eventually be worn by up to 36,000 construction workers, and more than 3,000 vehicles will be tagged to ensure safety and security
Riyadh, (03 March 2021): Red Sea Global RSG (formerly known as TRSDC) , the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism project, has awarded a contract to leading national IoT service provider, MachinesTalk, for the provision of smart wearable technology and wireless tagging solutions for its construction workforce and fleet of vehicles at its site on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.
MachinesTalk will be tasked with deploying a LoRaWAN network to cover more than 3,500 sq.km., implementing a state-of-the-art IoT platform, and providing smart badges for up to 36,000 construction workers, and wireless tags for up to 3,000 vehicles.
“Our partnership with MachinesTalk will play an important role in ensuring the welfare of our workers, given their proven track record providing smart construction technology and alignment with our business goals.”
he added.
RSG is committed to setting new standards in worker welfare and was awarded the Excellence in Health and Employee Safety award at Big Project Awards 2020 for their Covid-19 Health and Safety Plan, which demonstrated the efforts employed to maintain the health and safety of their workforce during the pandemic, whether onsite or at their headquarters.
“We are honored to have won this contract with Red Sea Global,” said Nawaaf Alshalani, CEO of MachinesTalk. “It shows real forward thinking and care for employees when a company wants to implement these solutions at such scale. Using IoT technologies will keep the workforce safer and support secure and more efficient operations.”
The new technology aims to address four key considerations for RSG’s core construction site area of 3,500km2: site security, worker safety, access control, and process efficiency.
“We asked ourselves how we could enhance security on our site and enable an efficient construction process at the same time, while considering upwards of 36,000 workers across 3,500 km2,” said Ian Williamson, RSG’s Chief Projects Delivery Officer.
“How could we ensure worker safety in case of health emergencies or prevent workers getting lost in remote locations in the desert or on islands? How could we control access and track the 3,000 vehicles of multiple contractors across the construction site, delivering materials, tools and transporting employees?”
MachinesTalk’s smart badges and tags allow RSG to identify workers and vehicles and secure the construction area against unauthorized individual and vehicle access. Individual access rights will be granted based on role, responsibility, category and group of workers. In addition, the possibility of identifying vehicles remotely, geo-fencing perimeters and setting up alerts based on worker and vehicle access breaches will further enhance security.
A panic button will enable workers in distress to send an SOS signal back to RSG’s security and emergency response centre, allowing response teams to be sent directly to the location of the worker without losing potentially life-saving time.
From a process efficiency perspective, all tagged vehicles will have an estimated time of arrival (ETA) to ensure that there are no delays between required tasks. In addition, alerts will be triggered for idle workers or vehicles to enable improved worker supervision.
The technology MachinesTalk provides will apply to all RSG’s contractors, who will be able to register their workers and vehicles and receive accreditation for them as required. Real-time and map-based remote tracking of workers and vehicles with heatmaps and counts will allow for more effective resource allocation across locations within RSG’s construction area.
Given the criticality of the solution and the ranging temperatures experienced on-site, the smart badge and tag’s operability will be actively monitored with exchanges of devices with low battery and remote deactivation in cases of loss or misappropriation.
About Red Sea Global
Red Sea Global (RSG - www.redseaglobal.com) is a closed joint-stock company wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. It is a vertically integrated real estate developer with a diverse portfolio across tourism, residential, experiences, infrastructure, transport, healthcare, and services. This includes the luxury regenerative tourism destinations The Red Sea, which began welcoming guests in 2023, and AMAALA, which remains on track to welcome first guests in 2025. A third destination, Thuwal Private Retreat, will open this year, and RSG has also been entrusted with refurbishment works at Al Wajh Airport, focused on upgrading the existing terminal and infrastructure, and building a new international terminal. RSG is a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s ambition to diversify its economy. Across its growing portfolio of destinations, subsidiaries, and businesses, RSG seeks to lead the world towards a more sustainable future, showing how responsible development can uplift communities, drive economies, and enhance the environment.
RSG is the visionary company behind some of the world’s most ambitious
development ventures, including luxury regenerative tourism destinations
such as The Red Sea and AMAALA.
Across its portfolio, RSG leverages the most innovative concepts,
strategies, and technologies to deliver projects that actively enhance
the wellbeing of customers, communities, and environments.