ADOPTION OF TECHNOLOGY

attributes including water, temperature, air quality and particulate counts to fire risks, the structural integrity of a building, monitoring proper curing and quality of concrete and more IoT sensors are immensely valuable on construction sites to detect and mitigate risks like water pipes freezing and potentially bursting in the winter.

Accordingly, IoT sensors offer an interesting value proposition to insurance companies which can use sensors to better understand and mitigate risk by requesting that construction companies deploy IoT technology to detect, mitigate and control risks and thereby reducing project risk, insurance claims and litigation.

Cyber Risk Management

The benefits of technology and digital connectivity are not without their risks. From ransomware to spear phishing and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, cyberattacks in Canada are on the rise. No industry is immune.

Yet, fewer than four in 10 companies (38 per cent) surveyed for the KPMG 2023 Construction Industry Digital Maturity survey have implemented cybersecurity tools and technologies.

Only about a third (32 per cent) have definitive plans to implement cybersecurity technologies over the next three years and 17 per cent have put it on the table for discussion to implement. The remaining 13 per cent admit they have no plans to implement cybersecurity tools. No wonder then that over half (56 per cent) of those surveyed aren’t confident that their IT world is secure.

Six in 10 companies (62 per cent) also acknowledge their “flow-down” cyber compliance requirements or specifications to their suppliers could be clearer or better articulated.

As companies leverage technologies, such as robotics to assist in builds, drones to monitor worksites, and sensors and connected devices to operate smart buildings, they generate, collect, and store vast quantities of data. Cybercriminals are looking for vulnerabilities or ways in to steal personnel, account or financial records, architectural and engineering designs, intellectual property data, or confidential or sensitive project information, or to gain control of critical infrastructure.

Cyber breaches can result in both financial and reputational loss and could jeopardize work on future projects. While three quarters (76 per cent) are greatly, considerably, or moderately concerned about privacy breaches and potential risks associated with private data, over half (54 per cent) acknowledged that they have not fully considered the risks of using digital technologies nor quantified the financial risks.

Cybersecurity starts with awareness and identification, assessment, prevention and defence, and response. Increasingly, cybersecurity-related provisions are being included in construction projects and tailored to specific project needs and risks.

Do the terms of your supply and construction contracts cover cyber risks, provide early warning regimes, indemnification, or restrict the storage of data? Are there measures stipulating that sensitive information be destroyed or returned when the contract ends? Are security frameworks, testing and audit procedures in place?

The Connected Site

Projects create an enormous amount of valuable information. BIM and digital twin technology provide the ability to combine and integrate technology across the project team to develop a unified data model which will be what defines the construction landscape in the 21st century. We call it the “Connected Site.”

Getting The Right People At The Table

Are construction companies investing in the right technologies? Who makes the investment decisions? How supportive of technology use are your project teams and skilled trades? And how well is change management being communicated throughout the organization?

The unwillingness to change established ways of working is typically the biggest barrier for wider adoption of technology. This is particularly true in the construction industry. A successful digital strategy starts with board and executive sponsorship. But only 44 per cent of the companies surveyed say that top management assigns a “great” or “considerable” significance to digital transformation.

Department heads – those closest to identifying the organization’s needs and limitations – will need to play a larger role in guiding their organization’s digital maturity. They will also need to review their workforce capabilities. Forty-four per cent of companies surveyed say that digital transformation will require hiring new talent within their organization to a “great” and “considerable” extent and another 33 per cent say it will require hiring new talent to a “moderate” extent. Are there opportunities to reskill or upskill employees on various technologies? How effectively is your organization recruiting data scientists and technologists?

On the upside, there’s excitement in the air over change. Approximately eight in 10 companies say their project teams, workforce, and back-office teams are considerably or moderately “excited about and supportive of new technologies.”

The Next 3 To 5

In the 2020 edition of the report, KPMG posed the question, “Can you afford to wait?” The ensuing three years proved that companies can’t afford to wait.

The industry now recognizes that they must modernize or be left behind. The next three to five years could well be a “make or break” timeframe for many companies.

The authors of the 2023 KPMG report list several strategies to encourage the investment and use of technology in construction. These include:

• Developing an enterprise-wide strategy and tracking progress;

• Identifying business outcomes that intrinsically link technology to the business’s overall objectives;

• Building motivation and develop a change management plan;

• Attracting and retaining talent; and

• Partnering with trusted advisers.

Between late 2022 and March of this year, KPMG interviewed and surveyed 275 Canadian companies in the construction sector to produce the KPMG 2023 Construction Industry Digital Maturity report in collaboration with the Canadian Construction Association. On-Site Magazine would like to thank KPMG’s Tom Rothfischer and Jordan Thomson, and Mary Van Buren of CCA, for their work in bringing this research to our industry. To download a copy of the report, please scan the QR Code.