International Best Practice in Digital Construction Adoption

Build Digital seeks to support digital transformation within the Irish construction and built environment sectors, thus enabling all stakeholders, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), clients, and suppliers, to develop, maintain, and continuously improve their capabilities as digitally-enabled, standards-based, agile, collaborative, and sustainable participants in the delivery of Project Ireland 2040. To inform the Digital Leadership and Cultural Change pillar of Build Digital, a global study of international best practice in digital adoption within the built environment sector was undertaken and presented here.

Eight countries were included in this study to identify key learnings for Ireland in digital transformation: Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore. These countries were selected for various reasons, including the level of digital maturity, the scale of the built environment sector, and geographic spread. Building on previous research in Ireland, five of these countries (i.e. Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK) were included in the study entitled ‘Economic Analysis of Productivity in Irish Construction Sector’ (KPMG & TU Dublin, 2020). Research of each of the jurisdictions mentioned above was considered under the following criteria:

  • Industry context;

  • Drivers;

  • Leadership and cultural change;

  • Measurement metrics;

  • Barriers and challenges;

  • Benefits;

  • Resources and innovations.

A secondary research methodology, also known as desk research, was adopted for the current study with sources of information including, but not limited to, government and European Commission reports, industry studies, syndicated information services, and peer-reviewed journal and conference papers.

Key data for each country is included to allow context comparison with Ireland regarding the economy and scale of the construction industry. A common characteristic is the large number of SMEs operating within the built environment context. Consequently, the sector’s digital transformation will need to be cognisant of the many actors in the sector.