Arabian Business partnered with Autodesk on March 25, 2022 for expert discourse around the future of work and the impacts of digital transformation on business.
An expert panel, consisting of Sabah Haidar, Director of Operations, Dar Al Handasah; Darryl Custer, MD Design Division, KEO International Consultants; Riad Bsaibes, President and CEO, AMANA Investments; and Naji Atallah, Head of Construction and Manufacturing, Autodesk, gathered to discuss the role digitisation and sustainability will play in the future of work. The discussion was moderated by Arabian Business Editor, Matthew Amlôt.
Pandemic impact on technology and current digital transformation trends
“Across industries, applying technology results in better projects and better work,” Darryl Custer, MD Design Division, KEO International Consultants said. Not only does this benefit clients, but also delivers a better environment for the community they are working in. Undoubtedly, today’s optimised digital platforms accelerated as a result of the pandemic, but Custer believes it’s not just about the technology, but establishing a working culture that is flexible.
“This allows more people more opportunities to have a good life and work together,” Custer explained. “KEO is unique in that as a GCC based firm, we have people all over the world working on projects; so it’s a work here there everywhere mentality, but in a connected way.”
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) rises to the fore
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, ESG takes centre stage as a preemptive measure to safeguard businesses from future risks. It also facilitates peak growth for the future, reduces costs, attracts talent, and enables trust amongst consumers. In line with this, further enhancements to efficiency can be expected, and changes to business models.
Further elaborating, Riad Bsaibes, President and CEO, AMANA Investments explained that digitisation has two levels: one is being able to be more efficient as a firm and provide many options for employees and management. The second level is a change of business models, “because with technology comes the ability to change business models and we are living this right now with our investment and model of construction today in DuBox and DuPod, both enabled by digitisation,” said Bsaibe.
The impact of automation and robotics
Digitisation enables the future of work in the construction industry, Naji Atallah, Head of Construction and Manufacturing, Autodesk said.
“In the future, I see many more partnerships between humans and automation,” Atallah said, “including in design, advanced algorithms, and machine learning. In the future, the design process could begin with designers asking an algorithm to create products within set constraints.” Dubai’s Museum of the Future, is one example of this dynamic at play: the structure was a partnership between an algorithm and the designer Shaun Killa.
“As a result, they reduced the number of notes on that structure by 40 percent,” Atallah explained, “and reduced the weight of the structure by 30 percent. This resulted in 30 percent less material used in the project, a hugely positive environmental impact.”
“I believe that technology is enabling us as a construction community to do more, but do it with less negative impact on the planet,” Atallah said.
Where digital transformation is leading and key lessons
“Digital transformation means the future,” said Sabah Haidar, Director of Operations, Dar Al Handasah. “It means efficiency, comfort, and new values,” he explained. Ultimately, it’s the utilisation of data in order to create a comfortable, sustainable environment with a focus on the individual’s well-being. Haidar noted that digitisation was applied in their most recent project on a small 2m bridge in collaboration with Autodesk, which utilised technologies in its recycling of materials and technology in design. “The result was also an application that generates data to be utilised for the future for other structures.”
Challenges of digitisation
Discussing challenges of digitisation, Bsaibes explained there are three: One is the ability of the value chain to move at the same speed, and secondly is the retooling of people.
“As you adapt technology, you recognise the different skill sets you need to change over time, so you must be preemptive of this,” he said. Third,it is not moving fast enough.
Bsaibes said: “If you look at the global centres of technology, there is a convergence of different technologies including blockchain, AI, IOT, and Quantum Computing developing very fast; your ability in the Middle East to thrive and grow in the future will depend on how quickly you can adapt to these trends so you don’t get Uber-ised when it comes.”
Digital transformation and digital construction
The way forward with digital transformation is evident in digital construction, according to Custer. He revealed that his firm is working on a single family housing project with a client in Saudi Arabia.
“When we started to design it, we only spent a week with the architects and designers to figure out the box, but very quickly, our structural engineers, MEP engineers, architects and designers were brought in,” he said. The end result is a better development for the client who receives a 3D model of their unit which they can adapt to.
“This is a very exciting and thoughtful way of delivering design,” Custer commented.
Aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Aimed to be achieved by 2030, the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for addressing the global challenges of better protecting the natural foundations of life and the planet. Aligned with SDGs, Atallah believes that sustainability is the why and automation is the how.
“Automation serves us to do better things sustainably.” He explained that 30 percent of solid human waste comes from the construction and demolition of facilities, meaning that by reducing material and the work on the site, and by using digital technology, we are actually reducing that impact.
Atallah added: “Even at post-handover of an asset, our built environment uses 40 percent of power, 40 percent of freshwater expenditure, and 30 percent in general of carbon dioxide emissions coming from the built environment.”
“Having newer technologies like digital twins that monitor how users are actually consuming those resources in the building and optimising them will enable reduced negative impact”, Atallah explained.
The future of technology and automation
“A new business model has emerged,” Bsaibes said, “with construction firms turning into manufacturing players.”
He explained, “Ten years ago, it would not have been possible to pre-design a building to be manufactured because the software was not there and the hardware was not fast enough.” Now, however, the industry has significantly developed with 3D building information management models and, therefore, the ability to predesign it to be ready for manufacturing in a factory.
“Moving it for assembly to the site reduces the work outside to only 20 percent,” he said, a factor that had previously been impossible historically in the construction industry.
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