Technology vital to smart city infrastructure, but survey finds construction firms not seeing full benefits

Expert in infrastructure project contracts Anne-Marie Friel of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said suppliers can help encourage the deployment of technology in the smart cities in the future.

"Successful infrastructure suppliers will be focusing on getting into the heads of their clients in order to thoughtfully identify those areas where investment in technology will bring maximum returns and competitive edge," Friel said. "Technology will be needed, not just to drive efficiencies, but also to deliver an infrastructure strategy that will future-proof assets to cope with a smarter world, serving ever more connected users who will expect their infrastructure networks to respond at the same pace."

According to KPMG's report (32-page / 2.73MB PDF), however, engineering and construction companies are not yet seeing the full benefits of their "huge" investment in new digital technologies.

The consultancy business said that technology is "integral" to delivering modern-day projects, but that "despite substantial investments in innovation, the construction industry is struggling to reap the full benefits of advanced data and analytics, drones, automation and robotics".

KPMG surveyed 218 senior executives involved in major projects, including those within government agencies and the engineering and construction industry, and found that just 8% believe their organisation can be described as "cutting-edge visionaries".

The survey revealed that while many organisations involved in major infrastructure projects have invested in technology to collect data, many are struggling to make sense of the information generated. KPMG said data and analytics can "provide a real-time picture of how projects are running".

"Just 36% of engineering and construction firms and 21% of [project] owners say they utilise advanced data analytics in addition to cost and schedule analytics," KPMG said. "This is not surprising, given that the majority of engineering and construction firms — as well as owners — claim to use multiple software platforms that are manually monitored."

"This multiple approach adds complexity to advanced data analytics, making it difficult to process information and generate insights. It is also highly cumbersome, consuming large amounts of employee time; time that could be better spent screening and monitoring data, to help detect project issues and discrepancies," it said.

Fewer than a third of the survey respondents also said that they use mobile technology "routinely", despite the opportunities it offers, KPMG said, also highlighting the potential of other technologies.

"Modelling - increasingly through mobile apps - can support more informed decisions on construction, materials and supply chain," KPMG said. "Remote monitoring can help track faults. Automated trucks and other equipment can accelerate productivity, improve accuracy and reduce accidents."

KPMG said that some organisations involved in major infrastructure projects view "the cost and risk of adopting new technologies" as outweighing their "perceived benefits", while others are happy simply to operate within an existing "comfort zone". Less than a quarter of survey respondents (22%) said they are "aggressively disrupting their business models".