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Digital Construction
Large UK firms lagging behind US in tech investment
Katie Coyne Contributing Editor
Large UK construction firms spend less on tech investment than their US counterparts (Image: Darren4155 | Dreamstime.com)
Large US construction businesses are already investing more in technology, and keener to do more, than UK firms.
That’s according to research from Trimble, which found that 62% of US CEOs were investing more than 25% of their budgets into innovation and technology. Just 34% of UK CEOs matched this.
However, even with this much higher level of investment, the vast majority of US CEOs (70%) were concerned they were underinvesting, compared with 59% of UK CEOs.
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Worryingly, around one in four (24%) of UK bosses were not confident the construction industry could react quickly to instability such as geopolitical or supply chain disruptions, or extreme climate events.
Supply chain disruptions were the biggest cause of delays to projects last year.
Trimble senior director for strategy and business development, Hugh McEvoy, said: “It’s clear the UK government is betting heavily on the construction industry this year, but our research highlights several hurdles that could undermine this ambition.
“Despite a broad consensus on the transformative potential of technologies like digitisation and AI, investment in innovation is relatively modest compared to other economies.
“Meanwhile, regulatory complexity, a widening digital skills gap, and continued supply chain pressures are combining to create a perfect storm. The sector’s confidence may be outpacing the reality on the ground.”
Future challenges
Barriers to innovation for large UK firms included: compliance and regulatory challenges (69%); digital skills shortages (66%); and budget constraints (65%).
The top influential tech fields in construction, over the next five to 10 years, were identified as: AI and machine learning (44%); robotics and autonomous machines/ equipment (32%); and cloud and edge computing (26%).
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