'In construction, the digital breakthrough is yet to come'

The built environment is not an easy sector to digitize, believes business architect Martijn van Glabbeek. With digiGO, a leading platform for digital collaboration in the built environment, he aims to enable 200,000 parties to collaborate optimally. "We see opportunities in accelerating housing construction," he says.

For a few years now, business architect Martijn van Glabbeek has been practicing his profession in the building sector. Pretty soon he discovered great opportunities for working with "architecture. Many parties were inventing the digital wheel for themselves. In his opinion, they were not yet thinking from the chain they are part of.

"Everyone created their own island. Logical, because there is constant pressure on costs in the building sector and margins are often low. In addition, it is a very physical and project-oriented world. As a result, people work in silos, and that's how they handle their information and data. That makes it difficult to rise above those projects, collaborate and share. Whether that's a bad thing? It's understandable, but it does hinder developments in the industry."

According to him, construction can learn from the hotel and cab world, where digital platforms such as Booking and Uber are making a big dent when it comes to smart data sharing in the chain and developing new business models with it. "In the Netherlands, retailers and the banks, with, for example, Bol.com, mobile payment apps and iDeal, have completely changed the game in that way."

Construction, Van Glabbeek says there are hardly any such disruptive examples yet. "There is enormous potential for digital twins, parametric design and AI, but the big breakthrough is yet to come."

He wants to indicate that there is still a world to be won in the construction sector with digitization and digital collaboration in the chain, by sharing data effectively and efficiently.

Taking a step back, What does a business architect actually do?
"A business architect translates the direction of a company - or in this case, an entire sector - into working solutions, with information as the starting point. What does a more digital strategy require from organizations in the built environment? What information do companies need from each other, and what IT systems will get them there? Basically, you shape a company or industry in an organizational way."

How do you do that?
"Usually it starts with an event. That could be due to new legislation or regulations, or the arrival of new players in a particular market or after an acquisition, for example. You don't start with the IT systems, but rather with the people, processes and information flows. Then you look at the connection."

You have been associated with digiGO for three years. What exactly do you guys do?
"We are committed to getting the Dutch built environment up and running with the main digital structures and frameworks described in the 'GEBORA'. Those letters stand for Built Environment Reference Architecture. This architecture provides a coherent overview of how people, processes and technology in the sector can work together digitally in a chain. It is based on standards and practical examples from the sector."

How do you do that?
"We are emphatically looking at the entire chain with digiGO and GEBORA. That is not easy, because the built environment is enormously complex and fragmented. In the ecosystems in the telecom, energy and banking worlds, there are far fewer players, and you can draw that out on an A4, so to speak. In the built environment, there are as many as 200,000 organizations active in all kinds of roles, from client to supplier. And we want to get them to cooperate as much as possible."

Innovation booster and systems thinker Jan Willem van de Groep wrote an opinion piece on digitization last week. He argues that the sector is not helped by yet another set of standards.
"I think differently about that. Making agreements about digital cooperation - and therefore also about the standards you use - is precisely the most important thing. How do we fly it together, how do we remove barriers between organizations? How do we create a basic digital infrastructure that everyone can join and move around on? Standardization helps tremendously with this, because then at least digitally we speak the same language. I also know that there is no silver bullet. But precisely by making agreements and laying them down, you create space among companies."

Which processes lend themselves best to digitization?
"We still have to determine that. We have now laid out the puzzle, so to speak, which contains all the processes (from initiative to delivery, from use to dismantling, etc.) in construction that create 'value.' Which parties play a role in this and what information needs to flow between those parties."

What does that puzzle look like?
"You can best compare it to 'neutral coloring sheet.' The next step is now to color it in, with the leaders in the field. We do this, for example, through the Administrative Agreement, policy measures and our digiDeals. In digiDeals, companies from parts of the chain demonstrate together on the basis of a concrete issue that the digital chain solution really works and delivers value."

Residential construction could use some pace. It sometimes takes up to ten years before a shovel goes into the ground. Can you cut that procedural time by half?
"I cannot say so firmly, but it is good to express firm ambitions. When will the first results of our work become more concrete? That point is getting closer and closer. One example is accelerating housing construction, by simplifying the permitting process. There are also great opportunities for digital building and product passports, making data available for smart maintenance of buildings and infrastructure, for example."

Do you have any tips for companies that want to get started with digitization or raise their ambitions?
"You often see companies that want to digitize talk about a 'digital strategy' and make it a separate project or separate department. Learn from banks and telecom companies that actually see IT and digitization as an integral part of their operations. It also helps to have someone on the executive team who understands digitalization."

Want to know more about this topic? Visit DigiBouw
On Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 November, DigiBouw, the event around digitization in construction, will take place. DigiBouw 2025 offers inspiring sessions from top speakers and administrators from the construction industry. Follow keynotes from frontrunners discussing the latest developments in digitalization, sustainability and technology. Curious about the program or come along? Register for free here.