Digital transformation is a phrase that has swept the construction industry over the last decade, but what does it mean for major contractors, and how has it improved processes in the real world?

For the built environment, digital transformation is really about harnessing the power of data and digital technologies in a way that can make the operational side of the industry more efficient, safe and productive.

While the buzz around the role data and digital-first approaches can play has been around for a while, the launch of the Construction Playbook in late 2022 was one of the first industry-wide documents that laid out just how important it will be if we are to modernise in a way that tackles the broad range of challenges the construction sector faces.

What are the barriers preventing construction from becoming a “digital-first” industry?

Digital tools are now common throughout the construction supply chain, from procurement and design all the way through to site management and operation.

However, for all the tools and data out there, there are still some significant barriers that are preventing construction from becoming a “digital-first” industry.

A key part of successful digital transformation is the development of effective ways of capturing and sharing knowledge to quickly learn from mistakes and reduce the time it takes for best practices to become standard procedures.

The success of any given project is often decided long before a spade hits the ground, and being as agile and adept with the data and knowledge available can be what ensures we set our projects up for success.

Theory vs delivery

Typically, contractors haven’t had the most effective relationships with the IT and digital sides of their business. There can be a disconnect between what the digital team suggests as an approach and the reality of whether it works or not on site, and that misalignment tension can be hard to navigate.

What we have found at Sisk is that by having individuals who have experience with both the day-to-day operations and digital side, positive results won’t be far behind.

Construction is a complex and often inefficient industry, but having those on the digital side of the business who know the realities of the operational side of site work provides an opportunity to sense-check innovations before they are implemented.

To borrow a football analogy, knowing whether a certain approach works ‘on a rainy night in Stoke’ can be the key to an innovation getting off the ground or being cast aside before it has had the chance to work.

Data, but for what purpose?

Another part of unlocking the potential that data has to bring the construction industry forward is ensuring that knowledge management works hand in glove with the data that is garnered.

This link is incredibly important – why have the data if you’re not going to extract knowledge from it? – but is a rarity in the industry, with far too many seeing knowledge and insight as a bolt-on and not fundamentally linked to the success of digital transformation.

Knowledge management is one of the areas where artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to make a significant impact in our industry.

For the longest time, it seemed like the biggest threat AI posed to the traditional ways of working in the built environment was in replacing manual labour on sites, but the key innovations we are seeing are actually where AI can process and ‘understand’ information at scale in fields such as knowledge management and the interpreting of insights from the often-plentiful data gathered.

This is an area of huge opportunity in terms of not only bringing a new generation of people into the built environment sector but also upselling existing roles like engineers and quantity surveyors.

These individuals often have complementary skills in terms of numerical literacy and analytic thinking, and will only require training on how they can be applied in a data context.

At Sisk, we empower “citizen analysts” within our business through the foundation of our Data Academy, for example – which has over 100 voluntary members in the organisation.

There are still challenges in how our industry is perceived by those looking for a modern, forward-looking career path, but the potential that digital transformation has in the industry is vast and should form a critical part of the sales pitch to future generations.

Certainty in a turbulent climate

When you have the right data gathering combined with proper knowledge management, you start to find that win-win situations begin to emerge.

Take the challenge of meeting net zero as an example – the construction industry is one of the biggest emitters of carbon on the planet, but by using data to understand where the emissions occur and the relative ease and merit of alternative solutions, we are able to implement positive change.

For example, a good engineer should be able to tell you the strength, weight and cost of a m3 of concrete – but we need to improve the access to data so that they can also know and understand the CO2 emissions.

In that sense, it is data that is the critical enabler of seismic change across the built environment. There can be a tension between the optimism of a brighter future – in this case, with net zero carbon – and the reality of the scale of change required. This is where data can close the gap.

Yes, it is about process improvement, but it’s also about certainty of delivery and being presented in a way that works for both the contractor and the client.

Taking frameworks as an example, the major benefits of working in this way are the shared learnings that – when properly managed – compound over time, and this collaborative approach can be enhanced by trusted and timely data that aids decision-making.

Data is the source of this certainty and needs to be treated as such if we are to tackle the greatest challenges the construction industry faces in 2024 and beyond.