Digital transformation in construction
17 May 2021
The COVID crisis has served as a catalyst which will leave a positive digital legacy across the construction sector.
2020 the year the construction sector finally turned a corner on digitisation
Difficult times and adapting to change aren't new to the construction, but the challenges of COVID-19 certainly polarised those working in the sector. There were two types of company - those who had digitised before the lockdown and those who had not invested in it. RISK digitised our processes in 2014 and are fully digitised from order to to delivery (well now anyway - as all courses are delivered remotely via video conferencing). We know first hand how this helped us adapt to the new norm. However, the ability of construction companies to convert information and processes from a physical format to a digital one has been slow - until the pandemic.
Those with digital process were more agile and faster to respond to change
Whether the changes were induction processes, virtual site sign-in, or workflow and quality management - there's no doubt businesses already working digitally were much better equipped to adapt to the new norm. The old arguments of the workforce won't comply may have been true, pre COVID. Embracing new digital processes and take up of change, however, was at breakneck speed for the masses working in construction through COVID. Maybe this was because much of the sector is self employed and fell between the cracks of the Government support available. Whatever the reason, the new norm of construction is digital, and everyone working on site, whether labourer, scaffolder, ground worker or plant operator - will be using their smart phone as their passport to work from now on.
