Data analytics and business intelligence have evolved to be the hot topics in construction as firms are seeing the benefits other industries are realizing.

FREMONT, CA: Analytics, big data, and even drones are looming together for better project management in the construction industry. According to a research conducted in 2016 on the construction industry, concluded that big projects throughout asset classes take 20 percent longer to finish than scheduled and are up to 80 percent over budget. This acts as a humongous cost burden for the construction companies for the customers. It's also a reason why there are serious efforts underway to leverage data from various sources to make a large-scale construction project manageable. 

The construction industry utilizes numerous subcontractors; thus, the system is plagued by too many silos of data that cannot speak to one another; therefore, the construction companies understand the dilemma. This is one of the prime reason why they are trying to analyze the data that is extracted from projects in new ways. Seeing exploding cost trends before they reach the overrun status, companies can be proactive to keep these costs in line.

Various organizations want to gather all the data, but for most, the use of images and image analytics is not very far. But with the advent of technologies such as 5G and Wi-Fi 6, it will soon be more comfortable for a worker in the field to upload and download photos and images to and from his or her mobile device.  Whether the project data comes in fixed-record formats or as a big unstructured data, construction project management is seen as a situation where everyone engaged in the project has full visibility of all the activities. This leads to better collaboration.  

Many companies are providing platforms that enable information and workflow sharing in the cloud, such as using drones for construction site monitoring as well as data collection and using sensors and geofences to track on-site equipment and other assets. Standard and big data technologies are being marshalled into large-scale construction management to help projects flow well and stay on budget.

The construction industry views this as a beginning to move forward into new technologies that can enhance project performance.

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