Digital Action Plan for Construction in Wales published

The devolved government of Wales has published a Built Environment Mission Statement and a  Digital Action Plan for Construction.

The Digital Action Plan was developed in partnership with Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW – Constructing Excellence is a nima affiliate), and outlines key priorities to help drive productivity, improve project delivery, and support the development of future-ready skills across the sector.

Following a Digital Strategy for Wales published in 2021, the Welsh government wanted to enable change in key industry sectors such as construction, recognising it faced various challenges which affect productivity, efficiency, profitability, safety and sustainability. CEW exemplar case studies had highlighted the importance of clear enabling conditions and identified procurement (part of a digital approach) as a key driver. So the Welsh government commissioned CEW to produce a draft plan for construction which includes priorities for the sector as they relate to digital deployment and adoption and possible/proposed initiatives to bring about change.

Priorities for action

The Digital Action Plan for Construction identifies four priorities for action:

1. Inform the enabling environment: to unify sector, justify business cases and improve decision-making using digital
2. Drive delivery and adoption of technology from concept to completion: to secure digitally enabled efficiencies across the project/building lifecycle and achieve co-benefits
3. Support post-occupancy and asset management: to embed data led management and maintenance of assets which makes improvements and reduce waste, and
4. Deliver cross cutting approaches: to improve measurable impact on people and planet, increase awareness and move towards a digitally enabled, greener economy

Proposed initiatives

The report then lists a comprehensive and complementary range of 22 proposed initiatives. These include:

• funding an Information Hub inclusive of existing digital guidance documents, policies, mandates, legislation, R&D grants, library of best-practice and case studies of available solutions
• generating a digital approach for Wales inclusive of a minimum standard of information requirements and asset management which feeds into a Welsh version of the UK Construction Playbook
• replicating requirements from incoming legislation for high rise across all other municipal buildings
• a campaign linked to a library of best practice and information hub for existing standards and data operability
• exploring the potential for a digital twin for each public sector asset
• raising the profile of available sectoral and cross-sectoral digital solutions which drive existing legislation, policies and enable built environment outcomes
• connecting and influencing existing funding with CITB and Sustainability Supply Chain Schools for core digital competencies training
• better understanding and raising awareness of funding for SMEs and individuals upskilling, and
• working closely with existing providers to expand on core digital skills within the Higher Education Qualification Suite and apprenticeship routes

(The Digital Action Plan has also been covered in DCplus here.)