Where Is The Construction Industry Headed?
As construction is rapidly moving into a “digital-first” world, companies are seeking major shifts in efforts to becoming more constructible, by streamlining practices, implementing BIM to execute data-driven projects, leaning more towards industry 4.0, and even utilizing virtual and augmented reality to ideate, construct, and maintain their buildings.
With such a degree of evolution in the construction industry towards a more digitalized, optimized and overall, a 'tech-enabled' workflow, the implementation of a Truly Constructible work process is unavoidable. Traditional ways of working need to be detached from the equation if companies today wish to be ready and equipped with the right tools to cope with this shift.
Trimble Inc., (NASDAQ: TRMB) is known to provide the widest breadth of construction technology and purpose-built solutions to owners, contractors, architects, engineers, and subcontractors, through connecting hardware and software together. The tech giant recognizes that there is indeed a real issue here as even with the numerous solutions that are currently available in the market, be it a BIM Solution like Trimble's Tekla Software, that provides analysis and design, detailing and seamless project communication in all modern construction projects, or something a little more palpable, like Trimble RTS (Robotic Total Station), which is a layout technology for contractors, firms in the industry are still holding on to the traditional ways; reluctant to adapt to this digital revolution.
Even though most of these solutions have proven to push the construction industry forward, companies are still not willing to jump on the technological bandwagon.
"If we look at the market pressures, we need a compelling reason to make a change, otherwise we will continue as we are. With the global market constantly challenged by trade wars, import tariffs, increasing prices and inflation; innovation is now more vital than ever," commented Paul Wallett, Regional Director of Trimble Middle East and India. " Even though these technologies that we are talking about already exist today and continue to push the industry forward, companies are still unwilling to jump on the technological bandwagon."
The Construction Summit is a yearly event that comprises of thought-provoking insights and discussions on constructability and highlights the significance of technology in the construction industry with deep dives into the latest construction trends.
"With events like The Construction Summit Middle East, we want to spread the awareness that these tools under discussion are not something out of sci-fi fiction, and in fact, they are here, now, available to anyone and everyone willing to embrace it. As I said, quite a few companies have already started successfully incorporating these technologies into their workflow, and it has indeed turned out to have a very positive impact on their businesses, as well as for the industry in general - and now, it's time for the entire industry to accept this change."
The presentations and discussion topics for this event have historically revolved around the emerging trends in the market, the impact of new technology in modern construction, introduction to latest innovations, their commercial implications, and more. The event attracts hundreds of attendees offering them not just quality content addressing current trends and concerns in the market, but also, as seeing is believing, the summit displays a wide collection of state of the art technology in the networking area. People appreciate the idea that some of the tools being discussed on stage are also available for hands-on demonstrations at the networking floor as well.
H.E. Hussain Al Mahmoudi, who is the CEO of Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park, and who has also held directorial positions in various other public and private organizations, was the keynote speaker at the summit where he mentioned,"The various technology mentioned here like AR/VR, Robotics, AI, Big Data, these I believe are all emerging technologies, and if we as a construction industry start investing in these things, I think the market will gain a lot moving forward."
The Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park (SRTI Park) is an initiative of the American University of Sharjah Enterprises (AUSE), and together with the Government of Sharjah U.A.E., they aim to focus in the promotion, research, and development of water technology, renewable energy, environmental technology, digitization, industrial 4.0, and mobility & smart cities.
This year, The Construction Summit Middle East took place on the 23rd of October 2019 with a mandate to look beyond BIM. The event hosted a rather interesting set of speakers and panelists this year, who brought into focus the progression in construction practices, especially with the Middle East’s infrastructural developments now booming, and mega-projects like the Expo 2020 and the Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 being announced across Region.
"Such mega-projects are challenging and pushing the industry towards digitization and constructability, which is why events like The Construction Summit Middle East 2019 aims to address what exactly it will take for the modern contractors, consultants, and developers, to take the next technological leap," added Paul Wallett, Regional Director, Trimble Middle East & India.
The Construction Summit Middle East has a reputation to host some of the Region's most renowned organizations. Participating this year, were various public and semi-public organizations like The Dubai Municipality, Etisalat, SRTI Park, etc. along with some major international players in the industry like Mott MacDonald, The Red Sea Development Company, Depa, Turner International, China Construction, BESIX, BAM International, and many more.
Full list of speakers and panelists, as well as details on what was discussed, can be found here: https://www.theconstructionsummit.com/