Tim Clark looks ahead to Build in Digital’s exciting programme of speakers lined up to appear on the Digital Construction Stage at next month’s UK Construction Week
The out of office notification has been scheduled; the digital calendar updated.
In two week’s time UK Construction Week in Birmingham will open its doors and Build in Digital will once again host the brightest and best in digital construction to find out just what lies in wait for the sector.
Over three days the Digital Construction Stage will deliver a cavalcade of BIM, AI, Digital Twin and digitisation innovations from the likes of Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Aecom and tech gurus from across the sector.
Sounding like a new year’s resolution to get fit, Pentagon Solution’s BIM consultancy director David Gawley kicks off the Digital Construction Stage at 11:15am on Tuesday 1 October with his session on seizing control to unlock the full potential of asset performance.
Making use of a data-driven model, Gawley will explain how technologies can transform asset performance management for owner-operators and their supply chains, driving smart asset strategies and achieving operational excellence.
Next up on stage, hsbcad’s Andrew Baker-Kean delves into how the offsite factory can be digitised to offer a raft of productivity innovations. The question is, what emerging technologies are driving digitalisation in offsite factories, improving efficiency, flexibility, and sustainability across the entire process? At 12:15 the hsbcad customer services specialist aims to help UKCW find out.
Even though HS2 has disappeared from the headlines somewhat in the past year, the mammoth rail project is grinding on. Lawrence Chapman, head of information management at HS2 outlines how the biggest infrastructure project in Europe has embraced digitisation and may be paving the way for a new era in infrastructure development. Chapman takes to the stage at 1:15pm on Tuesday.
Following on from a packed morning session, Rob Norton from PlanRadar will be gracing the UKCW presence to explain how digital technology can help housebuilders meet the new Labour government’s housebuilding targets. Join Norton from 2:15pm to see just how the UK will build 1.5m homes (and more) over the next five years.
The Tuesday afternoon will be rounded off with the marvellous Mairead Gallager who will chair a panel at 3:15pm which has been convened to analyse whether a human-centred approach is what’s needed to implement digitisation, AI and most importantly – Change! Gallager will be joined by Lewis Cullimore, technical director, digital safety at Hydrock, Elaine Lewis, managing director of Cadventure, and Lillian Ho, senior BIM manager and digital lead at Aecom
Delve into Wednesday
The first session of Wednesday, 2 October sees the Digital Construction Stage delve into the future of AI in buildings – and how AI could shape future building development.
Conjuring up Shakespeare, the “To AI or not to AI” session will look at the pivotal role that artificial intelligence is playing in shaping the future of the property industry, including development, management and investment.
The Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors’s (RICS) head of AI, Andrew Knight will take delegates through the latest in AI innovation and outline both the opportunities and challenges posed by the thriving new sector. Join Knight to talk cloud computing, the Internet of Things, blockchain and more from 10:15 on Wednesday.
Following Andrew Knight is Eric Cook, who as director of global go-to-market at Accruent has over two decades of experience in the tech sector. Cook is gracing the stage from 12:15pm to discuss how Australian energy provider Snowy Hydro is transforming its operations with RedEye, a cloud-based engineering drawing and document management solution by breaking down information silos and digitalising key business workflows
Continuing the AI theme for Wednesday, the discussion between the AEC [which stands for Architecture, Engineering and Construction] practice leader for EMEA at Egnyte, Pavlova Nikolova and workspace expert BW’s Tomas Hollingsworth will highlight the power of centralised data. Taking a look at compliance, AI and sustainability, the session will cast a view over the rapidly evolving landscape of technological advancement and regulatory compliance; maintaining a centralised, single source of data is paramount.
From preparing date for AI applications to fully leveraging its potential and enhance sustainability within your digital infrastructure, the tech duo will examine the critical necessity of data centralisation to meet stringent compliance requirements, such as those outlined in the Building Safety Act. Pavlina and Tomas are appearing at 1:15pm on the Digital Construction Stage.
If you thought that UKCW was all AI’d out by now, well you’d be wrong. The afternoon panel session will look to assess how the Metaverse is beginning to resonate with many in the digital construction sphere.
During the panel, the three experts will look to find out how this sphere will evolve in the coming years. Panel chair Robert Claridge, Laing O’Rourke’s European learning solutions owner, oversees the tier one contractor’s learning and development in several areas including augmented and virtual reality.
Claridge will be joined by the RICS’s Andrew Knight, Georgios Grigoriou, building system integration consultant, who specialises in energy efficiency, smart buildings and building data engineering and analytics at Arcadis, as well as architect and engineer Mattia Santi, co-founder and director at SASI Studio and tutor at the Architectural Association school of Architecture. The fab four tech pioneers will be on stage from 2:15pm on Wednesday.
Following the publication of the Grenfell Inquiry, focus has once again returned to how the construction industry will be able to deliver change. The Building Safety Act and in particular the emergence of the Golden Thread of information are key to turning the page on problematic practices.
Sir Robert McAlpine’s digital construction director Colin Bell will help guide the conversation through the maze of safety, transparency and sustainability within the Golden Thread.
Bell is joined by BIM manager Mandeep Singh Gill, who has extensive experience in helping public and private sector clients understand their own legal obligations when it comes to project management and the Golden Thread, as well as Emma Rees, senior digital construction manager at SES, who has accrued no less than 16 year’s at the UK top tier contractors, and has proven experience in managing and achieving digital construction and BIM-related project delivery.
Lined up for Thursday
Following on from Laing O’Rourke and Sir Robert McAlpine, Thursday 3 October’s Digital Construction Stage line-up includes sessions from top tier big guns Kier and engineering consulting giant Aecom.
Kicking off the third day is Nima’s update on the task force which was created to help create more collaboration across the construction, engineering and architectural industries. Formerly known as the BIM Alliance, Nima is a volunteer group which aims to promote best practice in the built and managed environment.
At 10:15am on Thursday Simon Lewis, partner in transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson and Fiona Moore, vice-chair of Nima, will outline what the body found during its research, as well as look at the call to improve the Information Management Mandate to incorporate digitisation as well as the transformational changes that the construction industry has witnessed in the modern built environment.
Following Moore and Lewis are two further engaging presentations including Colin Bell from Kier returning to the stage to explore the transformative potential of digital twins. Bell will delve into the steps required to mobilise and commercialise these powerful digital tools, offering practical insights and strategies for businesses and industries.
Dr Jenna Helleur is senior data analyst, Europe, at Aecom. Combining a background in biomedical research she has contributed to a variety of projects, including geospatial analytics with council bodies, large-scale data analysis with Transport for Infrastructure Ireland, and the enhancement of data processes and systems within a government entity.
And, to close the show of the three-day event, from 1:15pm the Digital Construction Stage will be turning its attention to the challenges facing the digital construction workforce.
From skills shortage to demographic change, what kinds of training will the next generation need and how will education need to evolve and improve for firms to find candidates that can fill the digital construction roles of the future?
The panel, which includes Aecom’s Jenna Helleur, Lucy Wright, head of proptech and contech at Beaumont Bailey, James Bishop, digital technology manager at SES and chaired by Okana Consultancy’s managing director Dr Graham Kelly,the session will explore the current training, and take a look to the future with the changes and challenges that need to be put in place to ensure construction gets the attention it deserves.
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