TECHNOLOGY
TALKING
COLLABORATIOn In the first of a three-part series on Construction Collaboration Technologies, Dr Asif Sharif, GM and regional director at CONJECT, reveals that 70 % of the region’s projects are still not being supported by project collaboration systems, and explains the reasons why these systems should be used
Dr Asif Sharif, GM and regional director at CONJECT
42 construction business news me SEPTEMBER 2015
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hat is Construction Collaboration Technology? Let’s start by defining what we mean by construction collaboration technology. Construction collaboration technology refers to software applications used to enable effective sharing of project-related information between geographically dispersed members of a construction project team, often through use of a web-based software as a service (cloud) platform. Having provided solutions for the past 15 years in this sector, the last nine of which have been in the Middle East, the CONJECT team has seen dramatic growth of investment in construction technology. ERP systems, document management, estimating and project planning tools are routinely deployed. Newer technologies including those that support Building Information Modelling (BIM) and mobile solutions are gathering pace, whilst interest in emerging technologies such as 3D printing and virtual reality are also increasing. Our Middle East team has recently reviewed the UAE and Qatar marketplace in terms of the number of projects being supported by collaboration technology and found a 70/30 split: 70% of projects are not using collaboration technology, whilst 30% are being supported. One prominent UAE contractor reported that in their own experience of delivering twenty local projects over the past five years, they used a collaboration system on one single occasion. The inference was that if the client didn’t request a collaboration system, then they would execute on
construction delivery without out the use of one. In looking more closely at the 30% segment, some companies use generic internal platforms designed entirely for corporate usage; and at the opposite end of the spectrum were those using industry specific, externally managed and hosted collaboration platforms. When a project team comes together (consisting of client, designer, project manager, consultant and contractor), these roles/ companies will have their own systems already established in their respective offices. However, project success depends on an independent and common environment to enable the sharing of key project information between different users from different organisations, during the lifecycle of the project. So why are some clients slow to embrace collaboration tools? I’m not in Construction Whichever sector clients operate in - for example retail, hospitality, healthcare, education – the construction industry is often viewed as new to these stakeholders. These clients will use the construction industry as an enabler to deliver their services, and as such could be deemed as infrequent procurers of construction services. The consequence of this is they have limited understanding of the industry, its complex supply chains and processes, and are occasionally apprehensive to engage, as the need to commission a new project in the future could be some way off. The reality of commissioning a construction projects is that before you get the end product, you need to engage