IS THE INDUSTRY READY FOR A DISRUPTOR?

We recently hosted our first-ever in-person Construction Technology Summit in Texas, US, and – despite having to be on stage talking for more than I would have liked – it was a fantastic day with speakers from companies including Caterpillar, John Deere, Bechtel, Bobcat, and from projects such as ITER and NEOM.

There were two roundtable discussions on the day, one on BIM and another on using jobsite data and how it might evolve. Both were fantastic and I was especially interested in hearing from some of the speakers how they thought construction might be ready for a major technology company (such as Google) to enter into the industry and, through leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), turbo-charge the industry’s use of technology. It would be fascinating if this happened.

Keep an eye on www.constructionbriefing.comin the coming weeks as we’ll be sharing videos and articles from the event.

In this issue we cover technology – of course we do – through an article on machine control and automation and an interview with Dr Burcin Kaplanoglu, vice president of innovation and co-founder of Oracle Industry Labs. We also have articles on the latest trends in highrise construction, a look at why mini excavators are seemingly growing in popularity yearly, a look at if America’s largest infrastructure project will ever get started, and a show guide on the upcoming Intermat event.

 I’ll be in Paris for the event, so if you see me then please do feel free to say hello and have a chat about construction, technology, my rate as an event host (that's a joke) or just the best place to grab a good coffee and a croissant.

The paper in this magazine originates from timber that is sourced from sustainable forests, managed to strict environmental, social, and economic standards. The manufacturing mill has both FSC & PEFC certification, and also ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditation.