FutureBuild2015 - Talk 1 | How We Work | Paul Wilkinson

1. pwcom.co.uk
Futurebuild : futureworking - June 2015
Paul Wilkinson
BA PhD DipPR(CAM) FCIPR
CEO, pwcom.co.uk Ltd
How we work

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• who am I?
How we work is changing….
• from paper to email to extranet
• from on-premise to cloud
• from 2D to nD
• from drawings to data
• from silo to social
• from static to mobile
• from wage slave to … ?

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Who am I?
• B2B PR since 1987
• in-house: Halcrow, Tarmac, BIW
• consultancy clients include:
4Projects, AEngD, conject,
Invennt, Snapfile
• writer, technology consultant
• deputy chair, ICE IS panel
• CE collaborative working champion
• member of CIPR social media panel
• partner, Ethos VO

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• In 1982 – first SMTP email standard
• the first MIME email attachment was sent by
Nathaniel Borenstein on 11 March 1992
• On 30 April 1993, CERN announced that the
World Wide Web would be free to anyone
• In 1997 – first release of Microsoft Outlook
• Google incorporated on 4 September 1998

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Specs
Drawings
Minutes
Programmes
Cost plans
etc
Email
Courier
Post
Fax
Traditional collaboration (c. 1990s)

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Online file management
• Single central repository
• Fewer interoperability issues
• Less paper
• Latest information
• Complete project record
• Full information audit trail
• Greater re-use of
information
But ...
• nearly all still 2D
• email often used instead
Online AEC collaboration (c. 2000s)

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Cloud - SaaS Disruption
 Ongoing change since late
1990s
 Gathering momentum
since mid 2000s
 Slower pick-up in AEC
sector
 Conservative, risk-averse
 Security concerns
 versus …
 Outsource risk
 Independent hosting
 Growing integration
capabilities (APIs, etc)
 Turned the corner …

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BIM is not CAD
“CAD helps people to draw. BIM helps people to
construct.” (Richard Saxon, Ecobuild, February 2009)
“BIM is not CAD. BIM was never meant to be CAD.
CAD is a replacement for pen and paper, a
documentation tool. By comparison, BIM programs
are design applications in which the
documentation flows from and is a derivative of the
process, from schematic design to construction to
facility management.” (Pete Zyzkowski, Cadalyst)
“Drawing is Dead – Long Live Modelling” (CPIC)

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What is BIM?
Building Information Modelling is digital representation of
physical and functional characteristics of a facility
creating a shared knowledge resource for information
about it forming a reliable basis for decisions during its
life cycle, from earliest conception to demolition.
(definition: CPIC)

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Why is BIM important now?
2016

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BI models

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What can we deliver with BIM?
Fully computable, reliable information
• no checking or re-keying of data
• automated compliance checking (Singapore)
“The end-to-end stream of BIM data will help
unify the industry's supply chains, freeing
construction from its craft origins, transforming it
into a modern, sophisticated branch of the
manufacturing industry.”
Ray Crotty (2011) The Impact of Building Information Modelling

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The big data explosion

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Linked data
RDF data that links to other RDF data on the
web is Linked data (Linked Open Data)

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From ‘digital immigrants’ to ‘digital natives’
Generation X (post-Baby Boom)
Generation Y (Millennials) – internet-savvy
Generation Z (post-1995) – digital/social-savvy
• Aspirational, entrepreneurial
• Collaborative, creative, communicative
• Real-time, mobile multi-taskers
Q: Are today's AEC businesses agile enough to
attract, develop and retain these workers?

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New ways of working
From employed to self-employed
From full-time to ‘my time’
From hierarchy to ‘wierarchy’

32. Slide 32www.ethosvo.org
It used to be so simple…
• One job (for life)
• Corporate culture / identity (I am..)
• Well defined role
• 9-5. Home / Office (work/life balance)
• Work then retire. Pensions.
• Order
• Predictability
• Professions / Professionalism
• Money = status / success
• Etc… [you get the picture]
Now…
• How do we solve problems?
• Meaning, purpose, identity, trust are all
questions being asked by individuals
and orgs alike.

33. Slide 33www.ethosvo.org
experimenting on ourselves!
(or how we have tried to answer these questions)
• 95 partners all own Ethos shares (John Lewis model)
• All systems are Web based. No offices
• No bosses / hierarchies. Work is self-directed
• Different teams lead internal and external projects
• People work when they like and where they like
• Work motivations come from within (by passions)
• Reward is linked to individual / business outcomes
• Culture keeps it all together (trust, collaboration, moderation)
• Drink & Eat together once per month. (key need!)
• Not a bunch of contractors – a real business

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• Web 2.0 or social media – What is it?
(Sources:
Wikipedia; Kaizo; Euan Semple)
“People having conversations online”
• the use of web technologies and web design to enhance
creativity, information sharing and collaboration among
users.
• “globally distributed, near instant, person to person
conversations”

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Smartphone usage growing

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ICT once overlooked in construction initiatives
Then…
“Accelerating Change” (2002): first industry report to
mention IT explicitly
“2012 Construction Commitments” (2006) said:
"IT-based collaborative tools and
communication technologies will be
exploited."
But…
just two sentences on ICT in “Strategy for Sustainable
Construction’ (2008)
No meaningful mention of ICT in “Construction Matters”
(July 2008)

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Key research agenda (2008)
Collaborative prototyping to define and
deliver client requirements
Efficient, seamless sharing of information
across the built environment
stakeholders
Ability to interact with real-time information
regardless of physical location or
timezone
Mass adoption and application of off-site
manufacturing, automation and
mechanisation processes
Well trained, well qualified workforce able to
use the latest best practice technologies

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Why is BIM important now?
Nov 2010
Spring 2011

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Construction 2025 July 2013

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• Success will depend on delivering and exceeding client’s desired
outcomes
• Exceptional performance will mean collaborative working and BIM to
enable lean processes
• All organisations will be measuring, reporting and sharing data about
performance
• Better procurement will provide for appropriate profit and encourage
innovation
• Aligned commercial incentives will give the supply side ‘skin in the game’
to support best whole life outcomes
• Reward for value will be the way of getting paid.

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Digital Built Britain February 2015
• The creation of a set of new,
international ‘Open Data’ standards
which would pave the way for easy
sharing of data across the entire market
• The establishment of a new contractual
framework for projects which have been
procured with BIM to ensure consistency,
avoid confusion and encourage open,
collaborative working.
• The creation of a cultural environment
which is co-operative, seeks to learn
and share
• Training the public sector client in the
use of BIM techniques such as, data
requirements, operational methods and
contractual processes
• Driving domestic and international
growth and jobs in technology and
construction

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Digital Built Britain February 2015

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It’s time for new…
 technologies (Web 2.0, Web 3.0, BIM)
 hardware and software (mobile, SaaS)
 workflows (model-based, rich media, personal, ‘pull’)
 supply-chains (joined-up, integrated, inclusive,
end-to-end)
 attitudes (collaborative, sharing, value focus)
 mindsets (open, ‘social’)
 time-frames (long-term)
 mentalities (build if necessary and sustainable)

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How will we get there? …
 technologies – object libraries, BIMaaS, semantic web,
GPS, Big Data
 hard/software – virtual desktops, SaaS, mobile
 workflows – model-sharing, rich media, sharing IP
 supply-chains – end-user engagement, off-site
fabrication, “connected environments”
 attitudes – “democratic design”, open standards, open
source, Creative Commons
 mindsets – Gen Y (+ Gen Z) more open, ‘social’
 time-frames – climate change
 mentality – 1 : 5 : 200, focus on life-time cost

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Q&A
Thank you
Contact: Paul Wilkinson
Website: www.pwcom.co.uk
Tech blog: www.extranetevolution.com
PR blog: www.blog.pwcom.co.uk
Email: paul.wilkinson@pwcom.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 8858 1104
mob: 07788 445920
Twitter: @EEPaul
http://www.google.com/profiles/paul.wilkinson19