Build Digital colloquium – Roll-out of digital mandate on public works contracts to start in Q1 2024

The Build Digital Project recently held a colloquium at the Construction Industry Federation’s headquarters, at which it set out its programme of work and key objectives.

The recent Build Digital Project (Build Digital) colloquium, hosted at the Construction Industry Federation’s (CIF’s) headquarters, provided an opportunity for industry representatives from CIF, RIAI, ACEI, SCSI, Engineers Ireland and the Building Materials Federation to inform the Build Digital team on precisely what digital transformation looks like to their businesses and for their supply chain, as well as what they want to see Build Digital deliver over the next few years.

Build Digital’s core objective is to transform Irish construction by enabling all stakeholders, particularly SMEs, clients, and suppliers, to develop, maintain, and continuously improve their capabilities as digitally enabled, standards-based, agile, collaborative and sustainable participants in the delivery of Project Ireland 2040.

The colloquium included presentations from Pat Lucey, Chair, Build Digital Project Steering Group; PJ Rudden, Chair, CSG Innovation and Digital Adoption Group; Neil Kerrigan, Head of Industry Led Research & Collaboration Programmes, Enterprise Ireland; Stephen Lynam, Technical Advisor, Office of Government Procurement (OGP); Robert Moore, Project Lead, Build Digital Project; and Dr Clare Eriksson, Project Director, Building Digital Project.

In his opening remarks, Pat Lucey commented, “Good information management is happening for private clients, and this has helped the public sector, but it needs to be driven by the public client now.”

PJ Rudden emphasised the importance of collaboration and digital for delivering quality infrastructure for the National Development Plan on time and on budget, while Robert Moore acknowledged that the level of industry engagement at the event showed that Build Digital is extremely important to the sector.

In his presentation, the OGP’s Stephen Lynam set out the intended timing of the roll-out of the digital mandate on public works contracts, explaining it will commence in Q1, 2024 and will be introduced on an incremental basis over the next four years.

Enterprise Ireland’s Neil Kerrigan commented that construction is one of the best sectors in the Irish economy, but it doesn’t get the recognition it should get. “For the first time, we have now organised the sector around the seven action areas under the leadership of PJ Rudden, and it is undergoing a huge transformation.”

The Build Digital colloquium was hosted by Fiona O’Carroll, CEO, Digital Mindset, who has a wealth of experience in digital transformation in other industry sectors. She outlined the importance of having good leadership and culture due to the disruption caused by new technologies to ways of working and that this is evident in all industries.

The colloquium was closed by Dr Clare Eriksson, Project Director, Build Digital. Dr Eriksson said that the initial aim of the workshop was to talk about the value and benefits of the project and that delegates gave Build Digital a clear sense of direction on what is important to them on their digital adoption journey. Reiterating what Fiona O’Carroll had said about leadership and culture, Dr Eriksson concluded by saying, “Consideration for people and culture is critical to drive change through and to make change happen, and raising awareness and confidence around digital technology in the construction sector and raising awareness of Build Digital is going to be key to achieving this.”

To get involved or learn more about the Build Digital Project, visit www.builddigitalproject.ie or email, robert.moore@builddigitalproject.ie

Construct Innovate welcomes its first 35 member companies

Construct Innovate unveils its first 35 member companies as the University of Galway launches a new Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Innovation.

Construct Innovate, Ireland’s national research centre for construction technology and innovation hosted at the University of Galway, has announced Technological University Dublin as a new academic member and 35 companies as the first associate members

Member companies will be supported by academic researchers and empowered to take ownership of the research, development and innovation activities required for their continued progression.

Construct Innovate provides access to a knowledge, business and innovation ecosystem to comprehensively deliver a broad agenda of strong innovation, engagement, excellence and impact in the Irish construction and built environment sector.

Dr Magdalena Hajdukiewicz, Co-Director, Construct Innovate, commented: “Construct Innovate was founded just over a year ago with our official launch in December 2022, and six months later, it is very exciting to see the growing network of Construct Innovate. We are designing Construct Innovate to be inclusive for all stakeholders in the Irish construction and built environment sector, which builds on its current capacity and accelerates research and innovation.”

The announcement of the growing membership of Construct Innovate follows an academic industry meeting day (AIMday), the first networking and workshop event where members posed business challenges and sought new knowledge and solutions through workshops with multi-disciplinary groups of academic research experts.

As a result, the first research themes have been identified, with working groups now being formed around these themes that include research and industry partners. The research programme of Construct Innovate will be driven by those multi-disciplinary and intersectoral working groups to ensure research is focused on industry needs.

Colm McHugh, Centre Manager, Construct Innovate, said: “Seeing the positivity and engagement that our industry members and academics brought to the first AIMday was very encouraging. It demonstrated the scale of the issues that the industry faces in transitioning to a more modern, productive and sustainable sector, but also the appetite and energy that is being brought by stakeholders to overcome these challenges. Construct Innovate will work to continuously facilitate vital research to assist our industry in this process.”

Postgraduate Diploma In Construction Innovation

To coincide with the announcement of growing membership of Construct Innovate, the University of Galway has launched a new Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Innovation, which starts in September 2023.

Professor Jamie Goggins said: “The Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Innovation was developed in response to critical and proven skills needs in the construction and built environment sector. It is a one-year, part-time programme that aims to equip students with key knowledge and skills needed to develop sustainable technological solutions to the challenges facing the construction and built environment sector in Ireland and elsewhere.”

The course is funded through the Government’s Human Capital Initiative to provide 90% funding towards fees, and fees are fully covered for those unemployed.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Innovation will enable prospective students to:

• Develop skills in digital adoption, sustainability and modern methods of construction (MMC)

• Develop critical thinking, curiosity and problem solving to manage the innovation process

• Identify opportunities (and challenges) for innovation in the construction sector

• Create novel construction technology solutions to previously unmet, undermet and unrecognised problems

• Continue their professional development to meet the future needs of the construction sector.

New Construct Innovate Members

The first 35 Construct Innovate member companies are Arup, BDP Ireland, Burlington Engineering, Cairn Homes, CPAC Modular, DBFL Consulting Engineers, D/RES Properties, Ecocem Ireland, Ecological Building Systems, Future Planet, Geoscience Ireland, G-Frame Structures Ltd, Glenveagh Properties PLC, GLF Facades Specialists, Henry J Lyons, HTL tech, IN2, Inspired Innovation, Kore Insulation, KRA, LMC Group, PM Group, Retrokit, RKD, RPS Group, Sheridan Woods Architects & Urban Planners, John Sisk & Son, Stewart Construction, Scott Tallon Walker Architects, Tempo Housing, ToGather Homes, Unlin Insulation, Velux and Ward & Burke.

To learn more, visit www.constructinnovate.ie