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BUILDING CONNECTION Spring 2019
FUTURE INSIGHTS
The Future Building Insights Summit focused on current and expected technological, regulatory and
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Justin Felix
attended and reports
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EVENT WRAP UP
“C
hange in technology
can be exciting, but also
unsettling.” Building
Products Industry Council (BPIC)
chairperson Dave Gover made the
remark during his opening address at
the Future Building Insights Summit
2019 in March.
In my opinion, he hit the nail on the
proverbial head. And when it comes to
the building industry, there’s a lot to
consider. And that consideration needed
to begin some years ago, because as the
first speaker’s presentation was aptly
titled, ‘The future of building is already
here!’
BPIC brought together an impressive
line-up of speakers over two days to
help delegates tackle the blizzard of
changes and reforms that are shaping
the sector now and continue to do so for
years to come.
The audience consisted of a mix of
building products supplier, contractor
and procurement CEOs, executive
general managers, strategy/technical
managers, construction industry
representative/advocacy CEOs, and
building industry regulatory/policy
executives.
The two-day event aimed to uncover
potential new opportunities and most
importantly, foster the development of
new effective strategies.
Artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printing
and virtual reality (VR) are all making
inroads into the building industry and
are starting to make their presence felt
as far as innovation and efficiency are
concerned.
Futurist and partner, global head
of technology & innovation Norton
Rose Fulbright Nick Abrahams almost
opened his presentation by dropping
a staggering prediction by an Oxford
Martin School study. He said, “47% of
jobs will be lost to automation in the
next 15 years.”
Some of you will consider that scary,
while others will pay little attention to
such a prediction. Predictions are just
that after all. Regardless of your stance
though, it is worth thinking about.
If someone were to tell you 15 years
ago that we’d all be walking around
with an internet accessing, photo
taking, GPS wielding device that could
also make calls – all the while fitting
comfortably in your pocket – you’d have
likely laughed. Such is the rapid rise of
technology and the geniuses that make
it all a reality.
Speaking of which, Nick strongly
advises you consider how millenials
can fit into your business and help you
realise your tech-potential.
“At the heart of it, they’re digital
natives and have a stronger ability to
conceptualise it all,” he said.
Delegates were also presented
with some seriously disruptive and
game changing technologies by Laing
O’Rourke director, technical futures
and engineering excellence group
Andrew Harris. Robots, 3D printing
and augmented reality all made an
appearance, and provided a glance at
some of the incredible feats already
being achieved in the construction
industry thanks to such advanced
technology.
Andrew urged delegates to consider
how they could develop smarter building
products to complement and keep up