Digital Disruption of an Exceptional Industry! Digital Built Foundations

It's been over 6 months since my first LinkedIn Post, since then I have been on a journey of discovery across my new vocational playground of the Asia and Pacific regions, based here in Melbourne, Australia, with the view to understanding the opportunities with which 'Digital Disruption' could bring.

"The one thing that has resonated with me so far is how very similar the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Sector world-wide really is, both in terms of its challenges and how exceptional it can be."

At the forefront of everyone's discussions seemed to have featured some mention of 'Digital Disruption' and the requirement for 'Digital Transformation' to occur at an industry level. My colleague Gavin Cotterill covers some of this in his recent post Strategy drives Digital Transformation, not Technology. 

Many of the current discussions include the need for industry and organisations, including Government, to 'Digitally Transform' themselves to derive value from opportunities such as:

• The Cloud (Web Services)

• Big Data (Analytics)

• Social Media (Communications)

• Internet of Things (Connectivity)

However exciting this may all sound, the real question still remains:

"How will the AEC Sector
actually realise value from the above
and how will it get there
without overcoming
some age-old challenges?"

Among many things that make the AEC Sector 'Exceptional' it's fair to say that some are likely to include:

• Legacy / Historical Data and Systems

  (Capturing, Reconciliation, Managing, Aligning, Validating)

• Varying Ground Conditions

  (Investigating, Mapping, Monitoring, Mitigating, Communicating)

• Unpredictable Political Drivers [Particularly Transport]

  (Funding, Planning, Procurement, Regulation)

• Fluctuating & Complex Project Teams

  (Joint Ventures, Multi-year Projects, Specialist Expertise)

The above demonstrates how exciting it is to be part of our industry yet how challenging it can also be.  We shouldn't be overly concerned about 'Digitally Transforming' ourselves whilst becoming more innovative in the process but we do need to take heed of the challenges ahead and as Rennie Chadwick, Director for Innovation & Performance at Osborne and a previous Mentor of mine recently stated:

 " No need to fear failure when you have the right equipment, training and team mates - in those circumstances innovation is just pure excitement!"

So what are the Digital Built Foundations that would constitute the right equipment, training and skills to enable the AEC Sector to fully embrace 'Digital Disruption?'  From experience working alongside many industry stakeholders with a major UK construction firm and transport owner operator, I believe, as a minimum, we must at least focus on the following four areas:

1. Information Management

2. Collaborative Working

3. Information Standardisation

4. Information Modelling

I will be discussing the above Digital Built Foundations in further detail as part of a series of follow-up posts and look forward to gaining your insights and thoughts during such a critical and exciting time for the AEC Sector.

Do you agree with the Digital Built Foundations discussed here or are there any other key areas for the AEC Sector to consider towards realising value from Digital Disruption?  Furthermore, do you feel that the AEC Sector truly is 'Exceptional' and if so in what ways?