The recent challenges brought on by Covid-19 have shown the construction industry to be willing to adopt new technologies. Social distancing measures have forced construction to adapt to digital tools faster and more comprehensively than ever before. Brandon Oliveri-O’Connor, Director at Procore, discusses more.

In response to the crisis, we have seen that many businesses are replacing basic document management and point solutions with intelligent, easy to use, platform technologies which connect the right people with the right information all in one place, allowing applications and tech tools to talk to each other.

These platforms make it possible to connect not only stakeholders and processes but also data, meeting a growing demand for more data insights so that everyone in construction can make better-informed decisions throughout a project’s lifecycle – whether it’s during pre-construction (to find out where to build) or the build (to determine optimal costs, phasing, and ensure quality).

Intelligent solutions As a result, we are fundamentally entering an age of smarter construction and integrated data where robust project data sets, connected platforms, and real-time insights are powering the next wave of digital transformation in the construction industry. In the future, running lean simply won’t be enough.

Integrated data has numerous benefits, from being financial (given smart analytics can reveal the root causes of waste) to operational (thanks to accessible data allowing for better-informed decisions at every stage of a project). 2021 will ultimately see a greater reliance on data as more and more construction businesses realise how the turning of it into actionable insight can help drive success in the years ahead.

One additional factor which construction businesses must consider is the way in which they receive and analyse data. This is critical as construction has often struggled to turn data into meaningful insight given the data directly from the field is often incomplete and low quality due to the poor adoption of tools in the field. And, if a business is looking at incomplete or low-quality data, that can be worse than using no data at all.

By leveraging collaborative and intelligent solutions, such as platform technology, which can analyse as well as collect information in real-time, businesses can facilitate improved decision-making, smooth workflows and processes, and ultimately run a more efficient operation.

This will only increase with the adoption of machine learning and AI, which sit at the heart of the most advanced solutions and allow construction businesses to move from data analysis to predictive insights – helping to improve project management and mitigate risk.

Over the next few years, running efficiently will no longer provide contractors with a competitive edge alone. It will be the ability to achieve a complete data journey with integrated data. Now is the time for the construction industry to take the next step on its journey and to let go of the manual processes which do not allow for this level of flexibility or insight. Here’s to better-informed decision-making in 2021 and the years ahead!