The Smart Work Site

Technology is revolutionising the construction industry, but people are still the most important factor in delivering successful projects, says Saurabh Kapoor, Director Digital & Innovation at KPMG Lower Gulf.

Plant & Equipment: What role do you see technology and digitisation playing in transforming the UAE construction sector? 

Saurabh Kapoor: The construction industry is starting to realise some tangible benefits from its investment in advanced technologies, such as more energy-efficient design, tighter scheduling, improved quality control, higher productivity and safer workplaces, to name but a few. According to the KPMG Construction Survey, nearly all construction industry leaders surveyed in the UAE expect the use of data analytics and predictive modelling to play an important role in the next five years, and digital modular fabrication within the next ten years. Overall, integrated project management systems (63%) are expected to deliver the greatest return on investment.

P&E: What are some of the most important technologies in the construction space? 

Kapoor: Some of the technologies impacting the construction space are building information modelling (BIM), drones, VR/AR and smart sensors, while 3D printing is also starting to gain traction in the UAE.

One way in which 3D printing will revolutionise the construction sector is by assembling grid blocks for buildings, which are now done on a small scale in the UAE but have a great potential for future expansion.

P&E: What are the main drivers – companies seeking efficiency, or government policies?

Kapoor: Disruption and innovation continue to make the headlines, as both contractors and owners face tough decisions on where to invest resources to achieve the greatest impact. Organisations are looking at the possibility of greater efficiency, precision and predictability, making project delivery delays and cost overruns a thing of the past. Two of the main drivers would be customer experience and offering customisable and time-efficient products. Government policies to encourage 3D printing are certainly stimulating wider adoption, but ultimately the time and cost efficiency that this technology brings with it is one of the biggest motivators. 

P&E: What are the challenges of adopting new technologies, given cheap labour costs? 

Kapoor: Some of the biggest challenges in the construction sector are in relation to trialling new technologies. Our advice is to try out the technology first, because in many instances it is quite new and has not been tested extensively. What works in one application may not necessarily work in another, and since most people involved in bringing the technology are either senior leadership or developers, they may not comprehend the full scale of the technology before them. Therefore, changing mindsets and investing in the 

right skill sets that understand the value of the technology are two crucial factors in foreseeing that technology can be trusted and leveraged to its highest potential.

P&E: In your 2019 construction survey, ‘people’ was selected as the most important factor for improving overall industry performance. Why is this?

Kapoor: Despite the acknowledged influence of robotics and automation, our survey showed that humans remain the heart and soul of projects. 46% of respondents said that people are the most important factor in delivering successful projects, against 28% for technology and 26% for process and governance. 

Leaders may have continued concerns over the ability of the next generation to fully grasp the fundamentals of project delivery, but they don’t feel this challenge can be solved purely by technology. Instead, there is a growing belief that the way forward is to redefine project culture, train the next-generation workforce on both technical and non-technical (soft) controls, and increase investment in technological capabilities of newer recruits, with guidance from more experienced workers.