Summer 2020 News Update

I am pleased to welcome you to the Summer edition of the CDBB newsletter. The last few months have continued to be challenging for all, but it has been very rewarding in many ways to see the innovation and continued passion in contributing to driving digital transformation and delivering value in the built environment. However, there have had to be changes in approach to some of our work, and new ways of working towards these goals. Normally at this time of year we would be focusing on preparations for CDBB Week and the Research Summer Showcase. We still aim to keep you all updated on research outputs as they emerge, which has recently included an update from Dr Manuel Davila Delgado, University of the West of England, who was lead for CDBB’s Vision Network, as he makes the case for driving industry adoption of augmented and virtual reality technologies to boost sector efficiency and productivity. In addition, a fascinating piece of research, that was part funded by CDBB, into autonomous navigation and the built environment was featured in the recent BBC’s ‘The Hidden Wilds of the Motorway’. You can read all about that feature and the research update here. We look forward to sharing other outputs that demonstrate the very practical way that digitalisation can transform the way we live and work.

 

A great read of the summer was the white paper 'Flourishing Systems' which calls for a fundamental change in how we view and run our nation’s infrastructure in the face of climate change and the socio-economic recovery from Covid-19. I highly recommend reading this paper, which promotes that the purpose of infrastructure is human flourishing, and that infrastructure should be viewed and managed as a system of systems that serves people and the environment. As the summer comes to a close, if you haven't already, I would urge you to submit your response to our open consultation for feedback on The Pathway Towards an Information Management Framework: A Commons for a Digital Built Britain, which sets out the technical approach for the development of an Information Management Framework (IMF) to enable secure, resilient data sharing across the built environment. The deadline is 31 August, so act quickly! 

 

Finally, I would like to offer my congratulations to Dr Richard Mortier on receiving his recent Professorship, and also would like to welcome both Neil Thompson as Construction Innovation Hub Programme Lead (interim) and David Philp who joins the team as Impact Director for Digital for the Construction Innovation Hub. It is great to have you both on the team. I hope you enjoy reading this edition. As ever, please do keep in touch with us as we look forward to continuing our journey towards transformation of the built environment.

Andy Neely, Director of CDBB