What's data got to do with it?

What’s data got to do with it?

28.9.2023 – Imagine a building project where a building information model could simulate and analyse different scenarios based on energy, costs, schedules, material emissions, service life and other parameters, all in a single view.

Themes

Data and digitalisation

This could be developed into a planning solution, enabling decision makers to make better choices in the early stages of projects. The planning solution would also guarantee that the design and construction is executed according to the plan, creating a more secure future for the building lifecycle.

Ideally, projects would also be able to take relevant historical and current data into consideration, even before starting the project, with the goal of making calculated predictions. A realistic target schedule could be created, and the use of real-time data would help monitor the progress, guaranteeing that project would always be executed on schedule and budget. All information would constantly and seamlessly flow from the project to the customer and the authorities, minimising the issue of reporting.

What is the key aspect in this dream project? The use of verified and high-quality data.

We studied the digital maturity of the construction and real estate industry and found that data is often an outcasted aspect in the field. We found four main challenges to tackle: the quality of data, the lack of a common data repository, the identification of valuable data, and the lack of data sharing culture.

For example, less than half of the respondents to our survey on the digital maturity of the real estate and construction update the information of buildings on a regular basis. To make this more complicated, the data comes from many sources without integrations. Only 25% of respondents reported having a clear understanding of how data can support their strategic goals.

The state of digital maturity in the construction and real estate industry

According to our digital maturity survey 47 % of the respondents update the information on a regular basis.

According to our digital maturity survey 24 % of the respondents update the information but not on a regular basis.

According to our digital maturity survey 24 % of the respondents update the information only if there are significant changes such as a renovation or real estate transaction.

According to our digital maturity survey 5 % of the respondents do not have up-to-date information about the property.

The construction and real estate industry ranks in the top five industries where the most benefits can be obtained from the digital transformation. However, fully capitalising on the transformation requires focusing, shared standards and new understanding of the value of the data.

Stronger efforts on ensuring quality data is a key step in unlocking benefits that can result in the wider usage of data and digital technologies. Guaranteeing reliable, high-quality, and trustworthy data will facilitate the development of use cases that can create substantial changes in the construction and real estate industry.

All aspects of a project require project-specific data, but the core data needs to be kept clean, from start to finish, to be leveraged throughout the project lifecycle and in the planning of future projects.