Across the globe best practice use of digital tools combined with collaborative processes are already transforming the way we design, construct, commission and interact with the built environment. As William Ford Gibson put it, “The future is already here, it’s just not very evenly distributed�.
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Vision 2021 Planning decisions are made in days not months with open 3D format models validated by machines for compliance and shared with stakeholders to virtually experience proposals. Design teams have moved from paper silos to digital tools and collaborative platforms and integrated ways of working. Through design, technology is driving productivity down to the manufacture of components and their assembly by robots. The way we select, compare and value construction products and systems continues to be disrupted at tremendous pace as global sourcing, mass customization and comparable, interoperable information liberates choices. The programming of tasks and trades can be recorded, analysed and communicated at intricate levels of detail. Complemented on-site by complete and accurate information that resides in the hands of the right people when they need it. The result is that delivery programmes for new buildings have been reduced by months and in some cases years. Schedules for the procurement, delivery and location of required materials, products and components sit on a series of connected mobile devices.