Gareth Parkes is Head of Data and Analytics at Sir Robert McAlpine

It’s no secret that construction faces a number of challenges. Recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics may show monthly production is back above pre-pandemic levels, but our industry is still plagued by skills shortages, supply chain challenges supply and productivity struggles, and an immense level of change is needed to adapt to sustainable development. practice.

There is no magic wand to solve all of these challenges, but traversing each of these sectoral concerns is a common thread, which will benefit our industry in leaps and bounds when exploited to its full potential, and which improves the use Datas.

With 95% of data collected on-site going unused, according to a study by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, it’s no wonder the likelihood of a project being completed on time, on budget and to specifications. origin is only 0.5%. . Buried in this mass of discarded information is the secret to our productivity challenge. Something has to change, and thanks to the rise of the Hackathon, it seems something has to.

Hack Project Challenges

Simply put, hackathons are events – often competitions – where teams work to solve multiple challenges using data. The first such event was held in Canada in 1999, with the goal of writing new encryption software.

“One of the first Project Hacks saw teams establish whether data can determine whether daily construction activity log data shows the likely success of a project”

The first construction-focused challenge emerged from the monthly Project Data Analytics Community meetups in 2017, where a community of 250 people (now over 9,000 members) brainstormed how to improve the delivery of large projects infrastructure. The intention was to do more than just talk about data and analytics, and provide spaces for people to put their learning into practice. For example, one of the first Project Hacks saw teams determining whether data from daily construction activity logs can indicate the likely success of a project.

The latest event, Project Hack 13, continued along now familiar lines. Challenges faced by participants included how we interpret risk and how risk applies geographically to Transport for London, and designing applications to manage contractor health and safety indicators for national highways.

Innovative ideas

A clear advantage of Project Hack is the development of innovative ideas that can be applied to sites and businesses across the country. Take the development of artificial intelligence tools capable of accurately identifying objects as diverse as rebar and personal protective equipment in photos and videos. This has the potential to transform how images are found and used for compliance, insurance or claims purposes. For those who might suggest that productivity gains from data are hard to quantify, this example demonstrates immediate time savings, as well as the broader opportunity to transform processes. With the UK government’s Construction Sector Deal aiming to accelerate project delivery by 50% by 2030, every second counts.

There is also a more fundamental benefit. Hackathons not only teach data skills, but also the trust and openness that come from collaboration in a variety of ways. Traditional siled ways of working mean that too many mistakes or unnecessary choices are repeated in the chasm of communication and understanding between companies, and bridging this gap is an essential step in harnessing the power of data.

Need for government support

Positive steps towards better use of industry-wide data are underway, exemplified by recent material passport conversations. Digital footprints full of historical data will help fight carbon in our supply chains and maintain safety standards. The industry is shifting into high gear with a collaborative, data-driven mindset, but it’s hard to be confident about the future scale of this shift without strong government support. Executive agencies within government are becoming more involved in improving the use of data and taking the lead, such as the intergovernmental task force set up to review analysis of project data and decide what must be done.

The sector will evolve on its own, but without independent oversight or a cultural shift towards much greater collaboration, standardization will remain a significant barrier to better use of data across the sector. We can’t share and compare if we don’t speak the same language or collect comparable terms. For now, hackathons provide space and time for mutual collaboration and the development of shared practices and understanding. This will go some way to overcoming the standardization hurdle, but we are a long way from the home stretch.