Research shows optimism in European construction sector is high
Construction project management software provider InEight has launched its second annual Global Capital Projects Outlook, which draws insights from research conducted with 300 of the largest capital project owners in the world, as well as construction professionals across Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific.
The research showed that 96% of respondents in Europe are either fairly or very optimistic about their organisation's prospects for growth for the next year - a significant improvement on 89% in 2021.
Data collection, analytics and insights (67%) offer the top opportunity for growth, however almost all (91%) European respondents said that their experience of change management left room for improvement, signalling a need for a more sophisticated, human-centric approach to technology implementation.
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Despite Europe showing as the most digitally mature region with the highest proportion of digital strategies in place, it echoes the global sentiment when it comes to frustrations caused by technology improvements. In line with global trends, European respondents identified uneven or sporadic implementation (52%), process and data integration issues (54%) and technical and system limitations (49%) as key frustrations.
"Everyone we speak to is talking about growth opportunities for both owners and contractors. The optimism, resilience and confidence of the industry is almost tangible it’s so strong. This is especially encouraging given the economic backdrop that organisations are operating within and the challenges associated with the digital transformation", said Jake Macholtz, CEO, InEight.
"However, it’s also the prospect of leveraging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation that is keeping spirits high in Europe."
The research also found that respondents view digital technology as being broadly helpful in their day-to-day roles, particularly by making communication easier (55%), prioritising tasks/managing project workflow (54%) and automating tasks to save time (49%).
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92% of European respondents said they had concerns about the future of digital transformation, highlighting the need for a more human-centric approach. Insufficient investment in training was cited as the primary limiting factor in getting more out of existing digital technologies.
When quizzed about what benefits they hoped the digital transformation could bring in the future, more automation was a top choice for just over half (51%) of respondents in Europe. However, 42% also voiced concerns about the potential for automation to replace jobs completely.
"European respondents are eager to realise the benefits of digitisation but their organisations are falling short when it comes to training and communicating intent," Macholtz added.
"Ultimately, the success of any technology change lies with the end user which makes a human-centric approach to digital transformation vital."
Despite the backdrop of supply chain disruptions and shortages, rising inflation, energy security challenges and the war in Ukraine, it appears that the construction sector is positive about the direction of the industry.
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European respondents also reported an increase of 8% year-on-year in construction projects, and resilience also remains comparatively high. 94% of European respondents consider their organisation to be very or fairly resilient, compared to 91% globally.
In a departure from last year's Outlook, the number of projects completed on time and on budget fell dramatically this year, by -16% and -8% respectively.
Underlining the tenuous global operating environment, European respondents highlighted unmanaged or unexpected risk (53%) as the most influential factor on whether a project will be completed on time and to budget, followed closely by communications gaps with stakeholders (52%).
- To read the full report, visit ineight.com/annual-global-capital-projects-report
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