“Slow but steady wins the race.”
It would be no harm in saying that the construction industry is the tortoise in the race to be innovative, smart, and sustainable. It is one of the slowest adopters of technology and continues to be built through traditional business methods, even though the construction process is becoming more complex. Mega projects involve thousands of components, hundreds of suppliers, and decision-making, driving multi-party joint ventures.
This lethargic approach of the construction industry towards the adoption of technology and innovation is resulting in delayed project delivery and project cost overruns. According to an official report, out of 1,438 projects of GOI, 364 reported cost overruns, and as many as 835 projects were delayed, costing the government of India an extra 4.50 lakh crore (22.12%) from the estimated budget.
The construction industry is at a pivotal point where the construction process needs to be redesigned and developed with more efficient and sustainable business processes. The industry must be agile enough to respond to events quicker and innovate faster than ever before to complete projects on time and within budget.
Globally, industry practitioners, including construction professionals, construction companies, professional bodies, and government agencies, have expressed their preference for implementing innovative and digital technologies in construction processes. Some of these innovative technologies include:
- Building Information Modelling (BIM)
- Digital Twin
- 3D printing
- Drone
- Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR)
- Prefabrication
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Machine learning (ML)
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Geospatial technology
- Analytics software
- Blockchain
The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is experiencing an increasing implementation of these digital technologies, right from design and construction to the operation of the entire life cycle of the project. This is done to save costs, reduce project timelines, increase security, and sustainability, and create a future-ready built environment.
The intrinsic changes that the entire construction value chain is experiencing are generating and will generate important impacts not only on construction but also on the entire society and the people who will live in buildings and use infrastructure. This evolution will produce impacts on several scales, from the practical development of assets with better quality to the operation and maintenance, with the possibility of creating data-driven decision systems.
The GeoSmart Infrastructure Conference scheduled from 22-23 August 2023 at Vivanta, Dwarka, Delhi is providing a great platform to further discuss the possibility and explore new opportunities that will develop a more secure, sustainable, and innovative approach to sustainable infrastructure development, ensuring a future-ready India.
