DigiPLACE

Platforms for construction are necessary to host services and information for the industry. The DigiPLACE project has created the framework for an EU platform, which will act as a hub, connecting other public platforms at national level and those provided by private operators.

Once the DigiPLACE platform has been created, it will facilitate access to information and make the digital transformation easier for construction companies, as the problems of interoperability will be reduced. Having a gateway to a multitude of other platforms will save time and offer new solutions, all available from this central point.

In such a unique sector as construction, where the long value chain is composed of many players, effective collaboration is crucial to the success of projects, from new construction to renovation. This is especially true when considering that the industry is on the brink of a digital transformation which will require closer cooperation amongst construction stakeholders. In this context, an initiative such as DigiPLACE is vital as its analysis of the feasibility of a European digital platform for construction will enable an inclusive digital construction community, facilitate the exchange of information between construction professionals and the technological community as well as trigger the harmonisation of private and public digital platforms. The aim is to ensure that all actors, and especially SMEs in the construction industry, can actively participate in and benefit from the digitalisation of the built environment.

The Construction sector’s relation to digital technologies has rapidly evolved from a “back of the classroom” reputation to not only one of the head competitors in the digital race, but to probably the one sector where positive impact of digital technologies is already showing the most significant successes business wise, on environmental footprint and most of all on the people’s quality of life.

Thanks to the results gathered during the project’s life, we the partners are confident that the strategy that emerged from this work as a “Reference Architecture Framework” is going to allow all the actors of construction to benefit rapidly from the setting up of these platforms to facilitate access and sharing of the best solutions at EU level. It will also contribute to the key role of the Construction sector in the EU Green Deal and particularly in its initiatives on the Renovation Wave and the New European Bauhaus.

Digitalisation is one of the great enablers of increased productivity in the construction machinery sector. Technologies like telematics, machine control and automation have a positive impact on machines’ efficiency: they reduce downtime through predictive maintenance, increase connectivity between multiple machines on site and link the machines to a cloud server to carry out jobsite advancement reports for contractors.

In addition, we at CECE are fully aware of the enormous added-value of digital technologies in improving sustainability within the construction industry. When it comes to construction equipment, it is self-evident that the smart machine technologies mentioned above have a positive impact on a fundamental KPI for machinery users, which is fuel efficiency, directly reducing engine emissions.

From an approach point of view, CECE believes that nobody can do this digital transition alone: partnership and collaboration are ever more in need in a huge and fragmented value chain like construction. This is why we are particularly proud of our participation in the DigiPLACE project.

Last but not least, our role in DigiPLACE can be resumed as “there is much more to digital construction than BIM”. Indeed, the huge potential of construction machinery as data generator and data gathering tools on a jobsite is often overlooked in the wider digital construction picture – we are happy to bring this back on the DigiPLACE agenda!

On the 3rd of May 2017 we successfully asked the European Commission to include the construction chain in the pilot actions for digital industrial platforms. From that day on, in cooperation with the main European federations, DigiPLACE has become a reality.

Now that DigiPLACE has produced his fruits, our vision was, and still is, that an enhanced European investment in digital innovation in constructions is necessary to foster a stronger cooperation within the Construction chain, a faster increase in digitization, productivity and quality for all European companies regardless of their size.

The DigiPLACE Reference Architecture Framework will make it easier to obtain large scale federating at EU level between existing platforms that will improve interoperability, cooperation between companies and diffusion of all available digital technologies and tools within the industry, particularly with SMEs with a positive impact on costs, time and quality of constructions.

FEDERCOSTRUZIONI is convinced that a reinforced EU cooperation in construction would allow a much better coordination of national and regional initiatives across Europe. Digiplace is opening the way, we hope also with funds of the Recovery Plan, to the creation of national digital platforms in constructions to help SMEs and Public contracting authorities digitalize, the foster the improvement of the regulatory framework and standardization with an enhanced consensus of stakeholders, to support better services on digital training to fulfill the needs of a workforce of about 18 million, to achieve a more focused effort on the operation side of the industry with a strong leverage on how data, through the digital platforms, may be more accessible and create value and transparency to users and providers alike.

We are convinced that DigiPLACE is a fundamental tool to build the strong European and national digital infrastructure that the construction chain, both private and public, urgently needs, to increase its innovation pace and contribute to reach the environmental targets of 2050.

EFCA has always been aware that the construction of buildings and infrastructures is a multidisciplinary process that is not mastered by a few OEMs as is the case in other branches of industry. The construction process functions in the interaction of many participants. It starts with the design by architects and consulting engineers, continues in the erection process by construction companies and craftsmen and finally goes into the operation of the buildings and infrastructures.

Additionally the relevant manufacturers must provide building products and raw materials. And the whole process needs the machines of the construction machine manufacturers that have to function reliably. Ultimately, all of the above are jointly responsible for the success of a building or an infrastructure.

This alone justifies the compulsion to work together based on trust.
With the introduction of BIM and the digital twins of the buildings and infrastructures created as a result of this process, this collaboration can be raised to a new, digitally based level. EFCA recognized this potential very early and made active efforts to further develop it and introduce it to our members.

The process of cooperation on construction projects described at the beginning requires that information be exchanged and made available to many participants. BIM can do that. For EFCA, everything spoke in favour of making the necessary information available on a digital platform from the very beginning.

DigiPLACE provides the Reference Architecture Framework for such a platform. With its implementation, we see the possibility that the Digital Transformation of the Construction Sector can be successful. It has the potential for SMEs to participate in that transformation process and not to leave them behind.

And the Digital Transformation will definitely be a prerequisite to reach the sustainability goals for our industry and make it a valuable partner in the European Green Deal Initiative.

ANCE believes in a more digital Europe, where we need stronger alliances in order to achieve the common shared goals. Thanks to DigiPLACE, SMEs and construction companies in general can become part of a pan-European digital ecosystem, essential for getting access to new business networks. In fact, the digital communication improvement engages a knowledge transfer between stakeholders, that is a valuable ingredient for the industry developing. ANCE has always recognized the power of digital platforms as value chain enablers, in 2011 ANCE has developed “innovANCE”, the first example of Construction Platform. DigiPLACE follows ANCE principles regarding digitalisation and European commitment of Italian enterprises.

This project has encouraged ANCE in its request of a National Construction Platform to the Italian Government as per as the promotion of digital innovation initiatives in Italy; both key elements for the “Next Generation EU” Italian Recovery Plan and European structural and investment programs implementation. The digital enrichment of the construction sector is mandatory for its effective continuity, even more so during the current pandemic crisis. Now we aim to keep strength the stakeholder community created during the DigiPLACE project in order to bring the innovation that the construction industry deserves.