Stephen Good, who is the Chief Executive of the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC), which is a support group that encourages those in Construction to collaborate with academics with the aim of creating new technology that will benefit the industry as a whole, has stated that Scotland requires a technology revolution if it is to keep speed with other thriving construction industries and remain both efficient and profitable as we get further into the 21^st century.CSIC, which is currently set to invest £1.5 million of its funding into capital equipment with the aim of giving Specialists access to robotics and other large-scale tech solutions, believes that the industry is still very fragmented and that a spirit of collaboration, combined with a dedication to developing new technology, is needed to give it a real boost. The core issue identified by Good and the organisation is that there are so many different roles in Construction, including specialist contractors, engineers, architects and builders, that natural cooperation is often made difficult and is often only project specific, hampering the industry as a whole. Good commented that “there is a massive opportunity to use technology to build in a more profitable and efficient way. Construction is one of the last industries to go fully digital. Big chunks [of work] are still manual and traditional. It is ripe for a technology revolution.”“The basic premise is to accelerate the expertise needed to solve industry challenges. Construction needs to have more of an innovation culture.“The challenge is continuous collaboration after the client has stopped paying. Every building is a prototype, but clients are risk averse, so CSIC facilitates rapid research and development for pilot projects.”Currently, CSIC is working closely with those in the Scottish construction market to ensure this spirit of innovation is achieved. These are efforts that the team at C-Link fully support, as we do everything that we can to make use of technology to the benefit of the industry.C-Link is an online procurement platform connecting Specialists and Professionals in a way that has never been done before, streamlining the procurement process, all with the aim of fostering the cooperation that Good and many other industry figures believe is needed to prepare Construction for the many challenges that lie ahead.If you would like to find out more about how the C-Link platform could help Specialist Contractors attract new work or find Specialists who are capable of completing the job to the highest possible standard, please head to www.c-link.com to find out more.C-Link – Supporting Innovation in Construction

About Paul Heming

Paul was a Quantity Surveyor who gained 10 years experience of managing £200 million worth of flagship UK projects, including 20 Fenchurch Street and Battersea Power Station. In 2015, Paul founded C-Link with the intention of sharing his expertise of managing major projects with the SME market.