While the term “digitalization” originally referred to the conversion of analog content into digital data, it now carries a much broader meaning. The focus is now on networking digital data into a comprehensive system and developing complex digital workflows. This ranges from business management software to 3D visualization capabilities and virtual reality, all the way to increasingly adaptive robots. While digital processes have penetrated many areas of our lives at breakneck speed, progress in the construction industry has long been rather sluggish. In the meantime, however, digital technologies are increasingly making their way into various sectors of the construction industry—some speak in this context of a digital revolution in the construction sector. In this context, construction software—which enables data related to construction documentation, reporting, or project planning to be stored in a linked manner at a central location—is, in a sense, the prime example of this increasing digitalization. In addition to the simple and rapid transmission of information to employees, this allows for automatic data analysis, enabling the identification of problems or patterns. The Internet of Things (IoT) is moving in a similar direction. By connecting devices used on the construction site to the internet, data on activities, performance, and conditions can be collected and sent to a central platform. This allows for the generation of significantly larger datasets much more quickly, which can then be analyzed using software solutions.
Beyond data organization and analysis, BIM technology serves as an example of significant advancements in the visualization of construction projects. It covers the entire lifecycle of a building, from design through operation to maintenance. This allows the project to be represented as a 3D model—complete with all its characteristics—even before construction begins, making it easy to incorporate and track future changes.
The most impressive examples of digital technologies are undoubtedly found in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. Robots that can independently build walls from bricks or be used to carry heavy materials mark the beginning of creating increasingly adaptive systems. Particularly impressive is likely the Spot robot developed in Boston, a dog-like walking robot that can navigate rough terrain and stairs and be used for surveying and property monitoring.
While automated systems are capable of performing tasks independently and repeatedly—and thus carrying out strenuous or time-consuming processes faster and more precisely than humans—AI opens up the possibility of tasks and problems being solved autonomously. This includes, for example, the recognition of images and objects, and thus the identification of patterns in ever-growing volumes of data.
But what do all these opportunities opened up by digital technologies actually mean for the construction industry? Similar to other industries where digital processes have already taken hold, significant efficiency gains can be expected. After all, automated processes enable tasks to be performed faster, more precisely, with fewer errors, and around the clock. According to Diego Frey, Head of Engineering at Halter, a Swiss construction and real estate services company, digital technologies enabled the company to reduce its costs by 10 to 20 percent as early as 2020 compared to the analog era. He expects to be able to cut costs and construction time by as much as 30 to 40 percent in a few years.
A study from the United Kingdom concludes that the use of BIM technologies in the UK already resulted in savings of approximately 800 million GBP in construction costs in 2013 and 2014. This clearly demonstrates the enormous potential that digital technologies offer the construction industry in terms of costs and working hours—and the competitive edge gained by those who successfully implement them first.
The importance of efficient processes in the construction industry takes on an entirely new dimension when one considers the economic significance of the sector. The construction industry accounts for around six percent of global GDP and is also a major driver of growth: for example, in the UK, every pound invested in construction generates nearly three times that amount in economic output.
According to forecasts, the importance of the construction industry is set to grow significantly in the coming years and decades: by 2030, global construction output is expected to increase by an estimated 85 percent compared to 2014. In light of this, it is clear that it is not enough to simply continue using the methods that have worked so far. The opportunities offered by investing in digital innovations to create sustainably efficient processes—and to keep the Swiss construction industry competitive on an international scale—are obvious.
In addition to the economic opportunities presented by digitized processes, the question of the resulting changes in working conditions and quality remains to be addressed—an issue that, given the growing shortage of skilled workers, is of central importance and can therefore ultimately be viewed as an economic issue as well. It can be assumed that increasing digitalization will shift existing areas of responsibility. Thus, repetitive tasks such as surveying, inspection work, or data collection and organization will increasingly be replaced by digital processes or, at the very least, supported to a large extent.
This raises the question of how job profiles will change in the future and what new demands will be placed on employees in the construction industry. After all, the use of new technologies means that those who use them must also be able to handle them. Accordingly, there is a need for more employees with stronger technical skills; future job profiles will therefore be significantly more tech-savvy. This will certainly make professions in the construction industry more demanding in the future—but also more attractive. Ultimately, it is primarily the physically demanding tasks and laborious routine duties that are being automated. Consequently, it is expected that the increasing use of digital processes, the elimination of strenuous and time-consuming routine tasks, and the emergence of technically demanding activities will help the construction profession regain its appeal, even among younger generations.