The global construction industry is undergoing a significant digital transformation, but technology alone will not solve the longstanding productivity challenges that continue to hamper project delivery.
According to RIB Software global product sales director John Gilbert, the industry is moving beyond simply digitising documents towards using data as a strategic asset, with technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), AI and digital twins reshaping how projects are planned, delivered and managed.
"There is definitely a shift from documents towards data. BIM is becoming a baseline, AI is being used to consistently do analysis, and digital twins are providing intelligence beyond the completion of a project," Gilbert notes.
He says these technologies are helping construction companies become more proactive in managing projects. However, despite generating vast quantities of information, the industry continues to underutilise one of its most valuable resources.
"There is a race on to make sure that we don't generate more data, but that we actually start to really utilise the data that we're generating," he says.
