As the construction industry gears up for a period of unprecedented change, companies must remain committed to helping customers, communities, and employees thrive in this next exciting era of automation
Take a look around you – anywhere in the UAE – and it’s evident that construction projects have increased in frequency, scale and complexity in recent years.
The disruption caused by the pandemic initiated a forced moment for the construction industry to pause and reflect. What became apparent was the huge amount of time, money and energy lost to outdated, often wasteful, construction practices. One upshoot? A clear and unified acceleration towards digital transformation, in a sector that has traditionally been slow to adopt technological innovation.
And now to complement this change, the UAE has just unveiled its plans for the future as part of the UAE’s ‘Projects of the 50’. One of its key initiatives is driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution network and with it a commitment to grow 500 national companies through the application of advanced technology over the next five years.
Leveraging this digital momentum for future growth opportunities goes beyond just adopting advanced technologies, however. Rather it has four essential components that must be considered – strategy, processes, data and, most important of all, people.
While technology is perhaps the simplest part of any transformation, it is the human element that is the most overlooked and indeed difficult, and yet the most impactful. Simply put, companies that invest time and capital in upskilling their employees will be successful in optimising the full ROI of the digital strategies and technologies they adopt. This is where workforce adaptability is vital as it enables companies to realise the full potential of adopted technologies.
Digital processes are driving significant change at every level of the labour market. In the construction industry, for example, contractors who previously used paper to track team schedules now use the Autodesk Construction Cloud to gather progress reports in real-time, enabling them to keep projects on track as conditions change.
Take Dubai-based Al Gurg Consultants, for example, who even before the height of the pandemic – which saw most us switch to a work-from-home model almost overnight – managed to enable over 90 percent of its office staff to work from home. How? They had aready prepared IT systems to accommodate remote working for most of its staff.
The region’s construction industry is gearing up for a period of unprecedented change.
By moving away from paper-based processes and switching to an integrated digital workflow, the company saw great overall improvements to both the speed and quality of work – while encouraging greater collaboration and the ability to resolve potential issues early.
This goes to show that the need for digitalisation is a lot about prempting unforeseen circumstances, and having the chips stacked in your favour for, if and when the time to pivot arrives.
As automation continues, both the tools that people use and the tasks they perform with them will inevitably change. Employees must now constantly refine and reinvent themselves throughout their careers, taking on new skills that will help them adapt to an increasingly automated world. As findings from a World Economic Forum report suggest, half of all employees will need re-skilling by 2025 to adapt.
Companies can support employees in their journey of continuous learning by engaging and collaborating with stakeholders, such as industry leaders, contractors and suppliers, in the form of industry events, peer-to-peer networking forums, training workshops, and best practice sharing that showcases best-in-class innovation applied in the construction sector.
Companies that invest time and capital in upskilling their employees will be successful.
In line with Vision 2040, the Government of the UAE is also playing a proactive role by incentivising digital transformation in the construction industry. Technologies, such as building information modelling (BIM), artificial intelligence, virtual reality and digital twins, are readily available to engineers and are vital in enabling pace and quality in projects such as Al-Maktoum International Airport, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Museum of the Future, and the upcoming Expo 2020 Dubai.
As the construction industry gears up for a period of unprecedented change, companies must remain committed to helping customers, communities, and employees thrive in this next exciting era of automation.
After all, without people at the forefront of driving and sustaining this change – none of it will be possible.
Louay Dahmash, head of Autodesk Business in EMEA emerging markets.
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By Louay Dahmash
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Why human capital is the main driver for growth
As the construction industry gears up for a period of unprecedented change, companies must remain committed to helping customers, communities, and employees thrive in this next exciting era of automation
Take a look around you – anywhere in the UAE – and it’s evident that construction projects have increased in frequency, scale and complexity in recent years.
The disruption caused by the pandemic initiated a forced moment for the construction industry to pause and reflect. What became apparent was the huge amount of time, money and energy lost to outdated, often wasteful, construction practices. One upshoot? A clear and unified acceleration towards digital transformation, in a sector that has traditionally been slow to adopt technological innovation.
And now to complement this change, the UAE has just unveiled its plans for the future as part of the UAE’s ‘Projects of the 50’. One of its key initiatives is driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution network and with it a commitment to grow 500 national companies through the application of advanced technology over the next five years.
Leveraging this digital momentum for future growth opportunities goes beyond just adopting advanced technologies, however. Rather it has four essential components that must be considered – strategy, processes, data and, most important of all, people.
While technology is perhaps the simplest part of any transformation, it is the human element that is the most overlooked and indeed difficult, and yet the most impactful. Simply put, companies that invest time and capital in upskilling their employees will be successful in optimising the full ROI of the digital strategies and technologies they adopt. This is where workforce adaptability is vital as it enables companies to realise the full potential of adopted technologies.
Digital processes are driving significant change at every level of the labour market. In the construction industry, for example, contractors who previously used paper to track team schedules now use the Autodesk Construction Cloud to gather progress reports in real-time, enabling them to keep projects on track as conditions change.
Take Dubai-based Al Gurg Consultants, for example, who even before the height of the pandemic – which saw most us switch to a work-from-home model almost overnight – managed to enable over 90 percent of its office staff to work from home. How? They had aready prepared IT systems to accommodate remote working for most of its staff.
By moving away from paper-based processes and switching to an integrated digital workflow, the company saw great overall improvements to both the speed and quality of work – while encouraging greater collaboration and the ability to resolve potential issues early.
This goes to show that the need for digitalisation is a lot about prempting unforeseen circumstances, and having the chips stacked in your favour for, if and when the time to pivot arrives.
As automation continues, both the tools that people use and the tasks they perform with them will inevitably change. Employees must now constantly refine and reinvent themselves throughout their careers, taking on new skills that will help them adapt to an increasingly automated world. As findings from a World Economic Forum report suggest, half of all employees will need re-skilling by 2025 to adapt.
Companies can support employees in their journey of continuous learning by engaging and collaborating with stakeholders, such as industry leaders, contractors and suppliers, in the form of industry events, peer-to-peer networking forums, training workshops, and best practice sharing that showcases best-in-class innovation applied in the construction sector.
In line with Vision 2040, the Government of the UAE is also playing a proactive role by incentivising digital transformation in the construction industry. Technologies, such as building information modelling (BIM), artificial intelligence, virtual reality and digital twins, are readily available to engineers and are vital in enabling pace and quality in projects such as Al-Maktoum International Airport, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Museum of the Future, and the upcoming Expo 2020 Dubai.
As the construction industry gears up for a period of unprecedented change, companies must remain committed to helping customers, communities, and employees thrive in this next exciting era of automation.
After all, without people at the forefront of driving and sustaining this change – none of it will be possible.
Louay Dahmash, head of Autodesk Business in EMEA emerging markets.
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