Establishing a data driven culture that encompasses people, processes, and products is vital to delivering transformative benefits to the construction industry and its clients, said Dr Damien Buie, group technical director, Laing O’Rourke, in delivering the JCT Povey Lecture 2020 on Wednesday 18th November.
In his presentation, ‘Safety in numbers – Resilience and Certainty Through Data’, Dr Buie described Laing O’Rourke’s own journey toward Construction 4.0 – delivering a closer alignment with clients, creating a safe working environment, and consistently delivering quality engineering solutions that are on time, on budget, and sustainable across the project lifecycle – by harnessing the power of data.
Dr Buie explained that data not only enables a culture of transparency and collaboration that is more customer focused, it also provides greater ability to resist and absorb shocks and unknown events – particularly relevant as we go through the Covid-19 pandemic – and provides more certainty and confidence in particular outcomes.
Dr Damien Buie, said:
“Building a data driven culture is in the best interest of our clients and key stakeholders across the construction industry. It will translate into greater value and lower risks.
“The world of opportunity around data is broader than any company’s ability to address it. You need to partner and collaborate to achieve the scale and pace required to win.
“While there are barriers to building a customer aligned industry, the steps to move forward are simple.”
Dr Damien Buie’s presentation is available to be viewed in full via the JCT website at corporate.jctltd.co.uk/jct-povey-lecture-2020.
The JCT Povey Lecture was broadcast live as a webinar for the first time, in light of the restrictions in place due to Covid-19. Attendees were able to register in advance and the interactive online interface enabled questions and comments to be submitted in real time.
The event, which has occurred annually since 2003, invites an eminent person to give their thoughts on significant matters that are relevant to the construction and property industry.
The purpose of the lecture is to stimulate thought and encourage ways of continuing to improve the quality and value of construction output. It was created to acknowledge and pay tribute to Philip Povey, who served JCT for fifty years.
JCT chair, Richard Saxon CBE, who hosted the event, informed the audience that this year’s online presentation forms part of JCT’s wider digital strategy, aimed at providing a range of JCT digital products to meet the demands of a modern industry, and assist in flexible working by delivering practical working and learning tools for professionals as the industry gets back on its feet.
A range of online contract tools are available at www.jctltd.co.uk/jct-digital, and a new online training programme, launching this week is available at www.jctltd.co.uk/jct-training.