GIRI technology lead to speak at Digital Construction Week

The potential of technology to boost construction project outcomes and be an enabler for improved competence will be the subject of GIRI Technology Working Group lead Melanie Dawson’s presentation at Digital Construction Week in May.  

Technology has a critical role to play in reducing errors in construction, however Melanie, who is director of digital consultancy Origin7, believes the industry has typically lagged behind other sectors when it comes to adoption.

She will also explain why technology doesn’t have all the answers, and why it is essential that implementation is part of a considered strategy. “The order in which you approach the challenge is critical. You first need to fully understand the problem you want to solve, then you need to put the processes and people in place, and only then do you look for the solution that fits your requirements.”

GIRI’s Technology Working Group was established to increase adoption in the construction sector to reduce error. Its main objectives are to investigate innovative solutions to support the industry to ‘get it right’; to break down digital silos across functions to ensure better quality data supporting delivery; and to apply the Golden Thread principles for a whole-life approach to quality, supported by technology.

The group has already published two major reports. The GIRI Technology Research Report, published in 2018, summarised the state of technology use in the sector across five principal topics: off-site manufacture, standardisation, improved construction processes, error-minimising components, and automation. It investigated how technology can be harnessed to eliminate error and makes recommendations for application.

The Barriers to Digital Adoption report, published in 2019, reviews the key barriers to wider adoption and has enabled GIRI to understand how these potentially impact error reduction efforts. 

As part of its activities, the group also runs an on-going series of construction technology webinars, each focusing on a different aspect of technology adoption and implementation and its role in error reduction.

The first webinar in the series discussed the ways in which technology can help boost project success. Read the key insights.

For future construction technology webinars, check our events page or sign up to our newsletter.