The rate of digital disruption is escalating in almost every industry. However, despite being one of the fastest-growing industries globally, construction has been one of the last to get hit.
Output from the global construction industry is expected to rise to $12.7 trillion in 2022, up from $10.6 trillion in 2017. Despite this promising outlook, the industry has gained only 1% of productivity in the last 20 years due to lack of digitization. This creates an opportunity for an added $1.6 trillion by innovating in this area.
The industry is divided when it comes to the current state of digital transformation. Almost half (46%) of construction companies self-identify as having been on a path towards digital transformation for some time, while 41% see their company as only in the very early stages of digital transformation.
Construction companies are now in a race to go digital, with the hope that technology will enhance profitability while also fending off competitors.
The technology adoption spectrum ranks construction companies by their stages of innovation and rate of technological adoption, using data from the KPMG Future-Ready Index.
Technologies that have the highest adoption rates in the top 20% of companies (considered innovative leaders), are as follows:
Mobile platforms: 69%
Drones: 72%
Building Information Modeling (BIM): 86%
Basic data analytics: 83%
Project management and information systems:
In total, 70% of construction companies believe that those who do not adopt digital tools will go out of business. Further, most believe digitization will improve productivity, speed of delivery, and help meet sustainability challenges.
This is the abridged version of an article written by Katie Jones for Visual Capitalist. View the whole story, additional statistics, and accompanying infographic at visualcapitalist.com/how- technology-is-disrupting-the-construction-industry/ ▪