Digital construction report 2021
Incorporating The BIM report
Just over a third (37%) believe that their country’s government is leading the industry in terms of digital construction; however, only a few less disagree (30%), and a similar number are on the fence.
Those in the UK are a little more positive, with only 24% disagreeing. Although subsamples are small, there are indications that respondents in some countries (like Northern Europe and Far-east Asia) are more positive still about their governments.
With the huge reliance on video conferencing over the past year, it is perhaps unsurprising that, over two thirds (69%) of respondents said that the Coronavirus pandemic has accelerated their adoption of digital technologies.
The large number of people using cloud-based software is likely to be due, in part, to the need to access files from locations outside of their normal place of work. Those working in small organisations were more likely to say that their adoption of digital tech was unchanged (38%).
There are predictions about where we will be working from now on, with many saying that there will not be a return to how things were pre-pandemic. Organisations are already redeveloping their workspaces with this in mind. For the next five years, at least, it does look like many (58%) built environment professionals will split their time between home and their usual place of work: particularly in the UK (62%).
There is strong agreement that the adoption of digital technologies and ways of working are: helping to create better buildings and places (80%); having a positive impact on environmental sustainability (75%); and helping to create a safer built environment (74%). Over a third strongly agree in all cases: 42% with respect to helping to create better buildings and places.
There are differences, with smaller organisations being less likely to agree that digital tech will help to enable these positive outcomes. And respondents in the UK are slightly less positive when their views are compared with those of the rest of the world as a whole.
The younger respondents are, the more likely they are to believe that digital technologies are having a positive effect on the built environment.
Most respondents believe that they will need to be working digitally to help realise the 'Golden Thread', and many agree that they need to adopt BIM. The larger the organisation, the more likely they are to agree with these sentiments. Just over half are clear on how they will manage information in order to play their part.
We need to be working digitally to play our part in realizing the Golden Thread of information
We will need to have adopted BIM to play our part in realizing the Golden Thread of information
We are clear on how we will manage information to play our part in realizing the Golden Thread of information
