No digital brilliance without brilliance

Seven years ago, I still had to explain what I was looking for at PROVADA. "That's not a place for digitization, is it?"

NEPROM's Project Development Day is the most beautiful day of the year, PROVADA is the most beautiful fair of the year. Not because I enjoy walking among the stands, suits, champagne and tightly directed coffee bars so much, but because the sector dares to shine here.

On the one hand, the machine is running rock-hard. Projects must move forward. Land positions must be discussed. Investors want to maintain confidence. Municipalities seek clarity. Corporations want affordable housing. Developers bear risk. Builders demand predictability. Advisors seek direction.

The engine room of area and project development never stands still. On the other hand, there is the trade show floor. Beautiful suits. Big booths. Shaking hands. Running into old acquaintances. Probing new coalitions. Conversations that start with: we really need to get on with it. I'll be honest: it took me years to understand that that exterior is not superficial.

Indeed, that outside is part of the machine, because trust is not only created in spreadsheets, contracts, models and project schedules. Trust also arises because people keep looking at each other. Looking at each other. Sensing where there is movement. Sometimes between sessions. Sometimes after three cups of coffee. And sometimes only after one uncomfortable conversation in which it appears that you are actually trying to solve the same problem. When I started at VORM seven years ago, I still had to explain what I was doing at PROVADA.

Digitalization at PROVADA?

Digitalization? At PROVADA? Didn't that belong somewhere in a smaller room, with cords, screens and people looking seriously at data models? In the meantime, the sector has changed. Or rather, the sector is starting to see that digitization is at the heart of project development. If you want to steer for value, risk, quality, affordability, sustainability, social impact and speed, you need reliable information.

If you want to build trust between developers, investors, municipalities, corporations, designers, notaries, builders and software suppliers, you need transparency. And if you really want to work better together, you need to share not only intentions, but also definitions, models, data and decisions. That is exactly why PROVADA is interesting. That is where you see the tilt happening.Between the stands and the drinks you increasingly hear aldermen, administrators, directors and CEOs saying:

"Yes, by golly. We have to do something with this." "This is what our colleagues were already doing." "Now we have to move on."

MiniBIM. MiniGIM. MiniSIM. BIM Legal. Digital twins. Digital parallel planning. DMI. digiGO. IOP.They are not isolated abbreviations. They are building blocks for an industry that must learn to manage differently.Not because data knows everything. But because underbelly alone is no longer enough.

Filing moment.

We can't keep saying that the market is under pressure, that housing is becoming too expensive, that processes are too slow, that risks are mounting, that quality must be monitored, and that sustainability and social impact are becoming more important, and then not act on the means that will help us manage this better. The knowledge is there; the standards are emerging. The frontrunners are visible. The examples are being shared. So the question is no longer whether we should do something with this. The question is whether we are prepared to follow through. The outside of the machine is allowed to shine. If only to get the right people into the engine room.

About Pim's digital maze

In this column, Pim takes you into the sometimes wonderful, tangled but rapidly changing world of digitization. He draws on his experiences as director of digitization at VORM. Pim is outspoken, critical, but above all wants to help you. Are you stuck in the digital maze? Pim helps you find your way out.... Check out previous episodes here.