Author: Laura Black
Is a downturn coming for the construction industry? Some pundits say yes, and some say not. The construction industry continues to see high inflation, disrupted supply chains, and construction companies struggle to find the talent to complete projects on time and on budget. A closer look at the numbers paints a clearer picture of where we currently are at and where we are headed in construction. FMI’s North American Engineering and Construction Industry Overview in the first quarter of 2023 gives some interesting takeaways. For one, total construction spending in 2022 was driven primarily by residential building, multifamily, commercial, and…
Technology innovation can sprout up from many places. It can come from the minds of engineers. It can develop in labs in higher institutions. And it can become something more right from inside the four walls of a construction company. The challenge becomes fostering that innovation and helping it become something bigger, especially when small tech startups struggle to get up off the ground. Still, even with the challenges it faces, the construction industry is experiencing considerable digital disruption. Often considered a laggard, many in construction recognize that innovation needs an infusion of investment to help it take off. As…
The predictions for 2023 are coming fast and furious for anyone who has a stake in the construction industry. Let’s take a look at what is in store for the construction industry in the year ahead. Forecasts can run the gamut—everything from construction industry trends that are skyrocketing to tech movements that are taking hold across many vertical markets. Each helps shape the way the market and business unfold in the year ahead. Industry Trends to Watch Let’s start by narrowing in on construction industry and real estate trends to be aware of in the year ahead. Many reports are…
Roughly a decade ago, we saw many construction technology providers acquiring others with many attempting to achieve the same objective: an end-to-end platform. These days, we are seeing acquisitions happening with that and other intentions in mind—many of which are aimed at solving very specific challenges that exist in the construction industry today. One of the more recent examples is Trimble’s acquisition of Ryvit, which was announced earlier this year. Ryvit builds connections between commonly used applications and data sources, enabling information sharing both within and across organizations so that project teams can use the right information to make the…
With the economy slowing down, will the smart-home falter in 2023? One prediction suggests the answer is probably not entirely. Even with wallets being squeezed, homeowners will still readily rely on technology to make their homes secure. An end-of-the-year prediction from IDC showed that while worsening macroeconomic conditions have led to a reduction in the outlook for global smart-home device shipments—with an expected decline of 2.6% in 2022—there will still be modest growth in 2023. Though the global market is forecast to return to growth in 2023, the smart-home market will remain relatively low at 4.6% with most of the…
Everyone is saying the economy is heading for a downturn—from your colleague at work, to the person on the news, to your cousin at the holidays. But is it true for homebuilders? Are we seeing a decline in house prices? And what is the 2023 outlook for the year ahead? Redfin suggests a sales slump will push home prices down for the first time in a decade. The forecast projects home sales will fall to their lowest levels in the first half of 2023, with a slow recovery in the second half of the year. Housing Trends to Watch The…
We have been talking about robots on the construction jobsite for years, as they offer a way to minimize tedious and time-consuming tasks on a jobsite. With the rise of AI (artificial intelligence) to power machines of all kinds, we may soon see more robots on jobsites, working side-by-side with workers. In fact, one organization is now recognizing a robot as a builder and inducting it into a builder’s institute. This story comes out of East coast and the LIBI (Long Island Builders Institute), which is an association of building industry professionals and a local chapter of the NAHB (National…
With inflation up and budget cuts happening across all divisions of construction companies, CIOs are tasked with implementing new, innovative technology and demonstrating the positive financial benefits of tech investments. Perhaps the best way to proceed in this case is with a clear vision of the financial impacts of digital transformation. One new survey suggests 94% of organizations are struggling with developing this vision for digital change—at least in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region, although I suspect this is a common occurrence around the world as well. The 2023 Gartner CIO and Technology Executive Survey gathered data…
We are nearing the end of the year, which means a plethora or predictions from analysts’ firms about what is to come in the years ahead. For now, I would like to focus more on what is actually happening right now—specifically in the smart-home market. For years, the question has always been: Who will drive the smart-home market? The vision displayed in science fiction movies always portrayed the ultra-rich as the leaders of high-tech, but the reality is a different group of people just might be leading the charge: young, tech-savvy, first-time owners. At least this is the case for…
It is the most wonderful time of the year. In addition to the splendor of the holiday season, we also get a glimpse into what the future has in store, as many of the analyst firms divvy up predictions for the year ahead and beyond. A recent example comes from IDC, which has provided predictions for the future of digital innovation. While many of the predictions apply to all verticals markets, some will be big markers for construction. Let’s take a closer look at some of the top predictions from the analyst firm—and our thoughts on how this extends to…