RISK
By David Bowcott and Chris Greene
The construction data journey: Start now!
W
hether you are an owner, design firm, or contractor, the construction sector faces several major challenges in the coming years. Capital availability, workforce shortages and increasing competition are just a few of the top risks identified by key leaders within the global construction economy as part of Aon’s 2019 Global Risk Survey. Up against financial risks, such as the possibility of an economic slowdown and cash flow/liquidity issues, as well as labour-related challenges, like the failure to attract the best talent, the construction sector must start implementing solutions to address these major risk categories. There are many paths those in the construction community can go down to mitigate these very real current and future risks, however, many believe the foundational step is establishing a sound data strategy. The construction sector lags almost all other areas of the economy when it comes to data sophistication. This lack of sophistication is largely due to the way construction operates in its current incarnation. The figure below, for instance, illustrates the amount of knowledge/data lost during each construction project. Each phase in the life of the asset being constructed is siloed, resulting in significant data loss as the knowledge created in one phase is transferred to another phase. Most believe the highest level of asset knowledge is held by the contractor as they transfer the newly completed asset to the owner to operate and maintain. This knowledge, or data loss must end if we are going to improve the on-time, on-budget and operational efficiency results of the construction and asset management industries. Represented by the orange line in the figure below, the industry could greatly improve organization and lessen knowledge loss by properly handing off data at the end of each stage of an asset’s life. This loss of knowledge is just one example of how construction currently lacks the data sophistication to deal with future risks.
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There are also several others: • Unique teams for each project: The construction sector almost always uses new design firms, main contractors, subcontractors/suppliers and owners when building a new asset. Much of the knowledge/data from previous builds is lost as each party to that build goes onto their next unique project • Aging workforce: Most of the data within the construction sector is housed within the minds of employees. Staff leaving a company through retirement or other forms of turnover causes a loss of knowledge • The unknown factor: Given the significant number of unknowns associated with the construction sector – things like underground risk, weather risk, existing structures risk, there is skepticism around technology and data being able to create predictive results. Faced with these, along with several other factors, the construction sector has struggled with data science sophistication. But in the last few years there has been an increase in the motivation to improve data sophistication, largely due to the enabling potential of new technologies coming to the construction sector. The bottom line is, there is no better time for all construction stakeholders to begin their journey to an improved data sophistication state.
THE JOURNEY No matter what your role is within the built world environment: design, construction, operations, or any derivative sector; we must all move forward together to make construction a more efficient, productive, and less risky industry – a win for all stakeholders. The road we each take on our data journey will inevitably find common ground where we are all truly connected and can reap the benefits of synergy through data collaboration across all phases of the asset. With the right groundwork laid out, the construction data journey can be a much easier transition. This starts with building a team capable of helping you break through and slingshot into the Industry 4.0 built world. Many construction stakeholders have already started hiring C-suite executives that are responsible for digital enterprise initiatives. Chief information officer (CIO), chief technology officer (CTO), chief digital officer/chief data officer (CDO), enterprise intelligence officer (EIO) are a few of the leadership positions that can launch a company on their data journey. It is not just about IT anymore, positions like these are vital
