OCTOBER 2022CONSTRUCTIONBUSINESSREVIEW.COM 19By unlocking superior insights from data and enabling teams to make better decisions at the design/ construction interface, we estimate that design costs can be lowered by more than 10 percent and construction costs by more than 5 percent. The hope is that these benefits continue to grow exponentially, and the pent-up productivity gap starts to be released. With so many major projects overrunning significantly on time and cost, even pulling these in line with where we thought they would perform at the outset would be a huge win. Ultimately though, becoming data-driven isn't about the tools or software packages you use ­ that's just one element. It's about embracing a completely new way of working that empowers usall to extract, aggregate, and analyse the data we need quickly and effectively. To that end, there's virtually unanimous agreement on the need for better digital skills and processes in the planning, engineering and construction industry. Innovative, new construction processes like MiC are already here but they require specialized skill sets and people who fully understand sequencing, in order to positively affect productivity within the build.With increasing business, legislative, and environmental pressure to evolve our ways of working, now is the time to set the groundwork, to create a generation of workers who are curious, digitally literate, and ready to take our industry to the next level. Raising our digital standard requires us to work with our employees to change the way they think about, and approach, the work they do every day. More collaborative ways of working are becoming increasingly important, not just on-site or in the office but in the digital world too. For example, when numerous designers, some of whom could be partners or competitors, are jointly working in a 3D model. Embracing that means adopting new processes and platforms that replace the ones we might have been using for years.The future of constructionLooking to the future, construction companies must ensure they are building out a strong technology capability across their businesses, whose attention they can direct at solving the issues presented by digital transformation. This is a cultural challenge as much as a practical one. Businesses must also encourage new ideas from more technology, data, and cyber savvy colleagues and actively back them, embracing the ensuing changes to traditional ways of working and being willing to experiment with pilot projects to get things off the ground. If they do, there's every reason to believe that productivity could improve dramatically as a result. Our industry also needs to nurture a new generation of worker that instinctively embraces learning and will drive forward new ways to tackle both design and build. This isn't about replacing existing workers with new recruits; much of our corporate know-how resides in the minds of highly skilled and experienced professionals. It is about combining new people and skills with those already working in the industry to elevate everyone. The challenges we face today require greater diversity of thought and skill, a digital-first mentality, experimentation, and creativity. By folding the knowledge that has served us well for years into a wider digital transformation plan, we can be fully ready for the connected future. Collaborative design model in joint venture with ARUP delivering on MTR's digital journeyThere's virtually unanimous agreement on the need for better digital skills and processes in the planning, engineering and construction industry
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