The GCC construction sector lags behind other industries when it comes to embracing change and adopting the latest technology solutions. Why is this?

The industry is populated by problem solvers. From the architect to the engineer, the civil engineering contractor to the building manager, and the project director to the bricklayer, construction is full of professionals who are trained to respond to technical challenges in a safe and efficient way.

With this capability available in the industry, it should be straightforward to introduce disruptive technologies that will improve productivity and safety. But it has proven to be anything but simple.

So, how can the latest solutions be effectively deployed to improve both project delivery and construction processes? Moreover, who needs to drive this change?

Reinventing Construction, a new report from Oracle and MEED, seeks to answer these questions.

Stemming growth

Many factors contribute to the construction industry’s apparent inability to adapt. But it can perhaps be boiled down to two central problems.

The first is a lack of awareness of new technologies. A bigger problem, however, is a chronic failure to collaborate.

From Dubai’s Burj Khalifa to the Riyadh Metro, the industry’s greatest achievements have been made possible when all parties on a project have worked together successfully.

Yet the construction industry is characterised by technical and operational silos that are perennially unable to communicate with each other.

Part of the problem stems from the adversarial nature of lowest-price-wins contracting. Contractors win contracts at cut-throat prices, and then enter a cycle of variation claims and disputes with their clients.

Then there is the lack of collaborative processes, with project parties running their own systems and paper trails. Stakeholders in the value chain need to establish a more effective means of communicating with each other throughout the project lifecycle. This will change as more technology solutions are created specifically to deal with industry challenges, and we are already seeing transformation in the industry.

Reinventing Construction looks at effective ways to introduce innovation in the industry and discusses some of the technologies and tools that will deliver this transformation.

Featuring insights from industry experts including Oracle, Jacobs Engineering, Dubai World Trade Centre and Mott MacDonald, the report seeks to serve as a useful guide to enable improvements in construction processes, and highlights the long-term benefits of innovation.

Download the complete report here