Digital Construction Week takes place at London’s ExCeL on 18-19 October. PBC Today previews this year’s event
With digital transformation now gaining ground across the AECO industry, thought leaders from some of the most innovative organisations are set to gather at London’s ExCeL on 18-19 October to help map the future of the built environment during Digital Construction Week (DCW).
At the heart of DCW is the two-day thought leadership conference, this year curated in partnership with the UK government’s Digital Built Britain (DBB) strategy. Attendees will receive exclusive updates from the DBB team at the event with presentations delivered by Mark Bew, Fiona Moore, David Philp, Terry Stocks and Simon Hart, plus the Cabinet Office’s Alex Lubbock who will share the government’s view of the sector following site visits with stakeholders across the industry.
Digital Transformation
Focusing on Digital Transformation, the conference programme will offer the chance to hear how new technologies and processes are being used on some of the most innovative projects in the industry, with a keynote presentation by Crossrail’s Andrew Wolstenholme on how technology can solve many of the challenges facing the sector today.
Other highlights include a session from Mike Haley of Autodesk entitled The Future Will See You Now: AI for Design and Build, plus learn about the pioneering collaborative work taking place between Google Cloud Platform and Flux; gain insight from the teams behind the Thames Tideway and HS2 projects; and hear from Simon Rawlinson of Arcadis as he poses the question: “What Should Construction be Famous For?”
Industry collaboration
In addition to the conference, five different free to attend seminar streams will offer more than 90 hours of content covering this year’s key theme areas of BIM, Geospatial, Visualisation, Industry 4.0 and Tech.
Industry organisations including the UK BIM Alliance and Immerse UK have collaborated with Digital Construction Week to deliver the seminar content, bringing together some of the most innovative thinkers from each area of expertise to present case studies and share best practice.
BIM focus
In addition to the BIM Village seminar programme, in partnership with the UK BIM Alliance, a new feature at the show this year will be the BIM Clinics, offering visitors the chance to sign up for a series of free clinics and workshops taking place in a dedicated BIM Classroom.
While the BIM Village will focus on the business imperatives and strategy associated with the adoption and implementation of BIM, the classroom sessions, delivered by experts from the UK BIM Alliance, BIM Regions and BIM4s, will cover the technical detail of delivering BIM Level 2 and the practicalities of BIM execution.
The teams behind the tech
Visitors will also be able to meet the ‘teams behind the tech’ from across the five theme areas of the show, with experiential exhibition stands offering demonstrations on how these innovations can revolutionise the way you work, with hands-on demos, advice and real-life project insights.
Exhibitor highlights include the newly opened Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, which will be showcasing the expertise and equipment available at its 35,000sq ft prototyping and training facility in Glasgow.
The team from the Innovation Factory, which is available for industry-wide collaboration projects, will be demonstrating tech including their AR/VR kit, Sawyer Collaborative Robot and 3D scanner, as well as showcasing a WikiHouse structure.
More developments in robotics and automation will also be on show via The Design Computation Lab – a new research laboratory at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. The most current work of the postgraduate students involved in the lab will be presented, alongside demos of an industrial robot fabricating the building elements of an assembled structure live at the show.
For those interested in visualisation, stepping into the VR/AR Lab will offer a chance to focus on the business case and practical application of AR and VR in the built environment, using HTC Vives and several mobile VR systems to try out advanced applications being used on real projects.
In addition, The Augmented Worker, a groundbreaking project bringing AR to construction sites across the country, will be demonstrated to industry for the first time at DCW, while HP will be revealing its pioneering VR project, HP Mars Home Planet, as well as offering visitors the chance to try out its fully immersive and untethered VR solution – the Z VR Backpack.
In the Geospatial area, a chance to meet the teams behind key infrastructure projects including Thames Tideway and HS2 will offer insight into real-life applications of the latest innovations in this sector.
Visitors will get the ultimate hands-on experience in the DCW Drone Racing competition, where they can take control of their own UAV and fly it along the DCW drone race track, with prizes for the best times recorded each day.
Other exhibition highlights include:
Start-up Village: Brought to you by KTN and Innovate UK, the DCW Start-up Village will showcase the newest concepts with the potential to solve some of the industry’s biggest challenges.
Lenovo and MX3D: Take a trip along the canals of Amsterdam with Lenovo’s VR experience at the show and explore the 3D metal printed bridge by MX3D.
BAM Royal Group: One of Europe’s biggest contractors will share their journey towards digital transformation and the benefits it has delivered.
Igloo Vision: Visitors will get the chance to step into one of Igloo’s VR domes at DCW, demonstrating how shared VR can be key to collaborative working in construction.
Visit www.digitalconstructionweek.com to find out more and register today.
Exhibition and Seminar Passes cost £20, but readers can quote PBCFREE for a FREE pass before 17 October or quote PBC20 to get 20% off a conference package.
Digital Construction Week
www.digitalconstructionweek.com
Twitter: @DigiConWeek
LinkedIn: DCW
