Futurebuild 2020 saw over 1000 attendees to its first ever Digital Impact Stage, where they discovered the impact that innovative technology has had on the way we design and build. At Futurebuild 2022 the Digital Impact spotlight will enable visitors to take a closer look at the digital ecosystem of the built environment, featuring the most advanced technologies and innovative thinkers in its seminar programme.

While the Digital Impact spotlight at Futurebuild 2020 showcased the need to embrace a digital built Britain, the built environment is now in a very different place. Continual developments in digital construction and technology, which were accelerated by the pandemic, are disrupting and changing the way all elements of the built environment operate.

The adoption of modern methods of construction (MMC), such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Building Information Modelling (BIM), has created opportunities for growth in the industry in various ways, such as business development, upskilling, knowledge exchange and sustainability methods.

Spotlight

The Digital Impact spotlight will showcase emerging and disruptive technologies — such as Procore’s construction management software and Bricsys 24/7 cloud-based common data environment — as well as the digital pioneers who are harnessing these technologies to create a more sustainable built environment. Visitors can take a closer look at the digital technologies that will help shape the future of how the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry operates.

“Due to the pandemic, we have witnessed catastrophic change in the past two years — the industry had to adapt quickly because of regular lockdown periods and supply chain disruptions,” explained Marie Grieve, managing director of Costello Palmer Communications. “However, this change has also led to the accelerated acceptance of digital ways of working. At Futurebuild we plan to celebrate this growth, showcasing the way we can now design and build digitally on a global scale.

“We’ve invited world-leading digital pioneers who are at the forefront of sustainable development to the Digital Impact spotlight. By hearing how they are leveraging the power of cutting-edge, disruptive technology for meaningful, high-performance construction and infrastructure solutions, we can better understand how we can harness these technologies for a more sustainable built environment.”

Seminar programme

The Digital Impact speaker programme will cover three key themes — collaboration, visualisation and innovation. On day one, John Adams, head of product for Glider, the key sponsor for the Digital Impact stage, will explore why the future of construction is digital. As an industry, we have never been clearer about our need to improve productivity, drive up safety standards and to build more sustainably. This seminar will look at the positive influence of digital and how, over the last two years, the pandemic has challenged us to embrace digital beyond what we thought was possible.

Visitors can also attend talks on day one about the roadmap to 2030 and how we deliver social infrastructure, exploiting data to improve how we plan, design and build sustainable assets and how healthy buildings produce healthy environments. Highlights on day two and three of the programme include the fusion of digital and sustainability to join the fight against climate change, unmissable developments on the intelligence driving our smart cities and how digital twins can help us solve the social housing challenge.

It is clear that digital technology is disrupting the construction industry — we no longer need to focus on what to adopt, we need to focus on how to do it at scale. The Digital Impact spotlight allows visitors to learn from innovators who are already harnessing this technology to stay ahead of the change.

To register for Futurebuild and attend the Digital Impact spotlight area, visit the registration website.