Data security is the key challenge to digital transformation. That’s one of the key findings in a new report from Procore.
The survey of 201 business decision-makers in the UK and Ireland asked respondents to select from a list of the greatest challenges their business needs to overcome on its digital transformation journey. The most popular choice was overcoming concerns around data security, followed by:
- securing budget to invest in new technology;
- lack of support from technology providers/vendors; and
- getting buy-in from the broader employee base.
Respondents recognised how technology’s impact on the industry will be transformative. Asked to quantify the major impacts, they said:
- builders will need a broader skill set;
- some construction functions, for example bricklaying, will not require human labour and there will be fewer administrative roles;
- more projects will be managed at any one time; and
- build quality will improve, meaning fewer errors and less rework.
Nearly half of the respondents (46%) said rework accounts for 21% or more of project time.
Despite that passing mention of robotics, respondents thought tried-and-tested technologies are likely to drive positive change and digital transformation in the sector over the next three years. Their most popular choices were:
- construction management platforms (covering pre-construction, project execution, financials, workforce management);
- prefabrication/DfMA; and
- extended reality (including augmented-, virtual- and mixed-reality technologies).
Indeed, nearly half (44%) of the respondents are planning to introduce construction management platforms in the next 12 months.
The power of data
Recognising the power of data, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said cost savings of 20% or more could be made on a project if their business more efficiently captured, integrated, and standardised data.
Finally, sustainability is on the radar of the vast majority of the respondents: 33% are actively tracking carbon emissions on projects; 35% say it is in their plan for the next 12 months; while 26% say it is in their two-year plan.
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