By Jad Jarroush, Founder and CTO, Datumate
Towards a full AI & ML cloud-based platform for construction data analytics in infrastructure construction projects
The current status of the construction industry
It’s 2023 and even though there has been some major progress in this arena, the construction industry is still plagued with major complexities. These include labor shortages, changing timelines, multiple teams and plans, delays, cost overruns, uncertain project planning and management, lack of professional experts and engineers and more. With the adoption of digital tools and automation, contractors and project owners are slowly finding ways to overcome these challenges. But as promising as these new technologies are, will they make as big an impact as expected on engineering and construction and what’s standing in the way of their adoption?
The challenges of adoption and implementation
There are multiple challenges on the way to adopting and successfully implementing digital construction tools. The first is the basic need to break the habit of using manual methods such as pen and paper and the initial daily disruptive impact that comes with changing existing business processes. This is often exacerbated by the lack of communication around these processes and their long-term benefits, as well as a lack of confidence in the accuracy of the data. Organization complexity also plays a role in making adoption and implementation challenging and often fragmented, and this can also lead to ownership issues. Another factor that often affects adoption is the lack of skill challenges required for new technologies, especially as the average age of professionals is increasing all the time. Finally, and probably the most obvious of these challenges, is a lack of budget for digital adoption.
