If Construction Technology Keeps Advancing,
Why Isn’t Productivity Rising With It?

This summary was developed using AI-assisted analysis of sessions content and insights shared by IBEW Expert Series 2025 speakers.

The built environment is buzzing with the promise of technology. We hear about digital twins that mirror reality, AI that predicts project outcomes, and drones that map vast sites with millimetre accuracy. Yet, amidst this technological revolution, a strange and urgent paradox has emerged: why, after years of “digital transformation,” is the built environment industry still struggling to fully reap the benefits of digitalisation?

Three fundamental challenges continue to hold digitalisation back: people, data, and connectivity. The human element—so critical to successful implementation—is often sidelined. Technology is still too often deployed as though it were plug-and-play, rather than a transformation led by people. As a result, data remains inconsistent and fragmented, turning potentially powerful insights into noise. Disconnected systems and partners then lock collaboration into silos-the exact opposite of what digital transformation promises.

According to Shailendra Verma of Oracle Construction and Engineering, while productivity in every other major industry has increased since the 1990s, productivity in the construction sector has actually decreased. Why is productivity still lagging even as technology keeps advancing? Digital success has little to do with tools — and everything to do with People, Processes, and how we think. Until these elements are aligned, productivity will continue to lag despite rising investment in technology. Read on to learn how forward-thinking companies are addressing these digitalisation barriers.

In a field obsessed with clash detection and digital twins, one of Singapore’s most complex recent projects revealed a simple truth: the most powerful technology is a fully aligned team.

Mandai Bird Paradise — a 17-hectare park home to 3,500 birds — was built under a strict “nature first” mandate, requiring the design to be integrated into a terrain with more than 800 conserved trees, effectively ruling out most conventional construction methods. The challenge was best captured by an anecdote from Patrick Chia, Director of Obayashi, the main contractor for Mandai Bird Paradise. When he asked for the fastest and cheapest way to build, a very "young and very innocent engineer” honestly responded, “Level the entire Mandai hill!”

While that wasn’t the only option, digital tools such as drones and BIM could be used essentially to deconflict the new design and integrating with existing terrain. But success ultimately came not from software, but from people — leaders and teams committed to leveraging these technologies consistently from design through to site execution.

While executives chase AI-driven insights, the real key to unlocking project intelligence isn't glamorous. It's the painstaking, — and often overlooked — discipline of data standardisation.

As Jefferson Wong of SG Buildex illustrated, the problem is devastatingly simple. If one company systems send a date as DD/MM/YYYY and the receiver's system reads MM/DD/YYYY, the data is useless. No matter how quick data is transmitted, teams “end up wasting time correcting basic formats.” Multiply that by thousands of data points, and you begin to see the root of the industry’s productivity crisis. He cautioned that, "If you collect rubbish, you just get more rubbish faster at the end."

Singapore’s adoption of SS ISO 19650 Parts 1 and 2 marks a key step in strengthening information management and digital delivery. The accompanying National Annex localises these standards, aligning them with local regulations such as CORENET X and existing procurement practices. It also defines standardised naming conventions and metadata requirements to resolve issues caused by inconsistent file naming and unclear document purposes

Credit to Technical Committee 59, Singapore Standards Council

A common pitfall in digitalisation is the "build it and they will come" mindset—assuming that simply providing a new tool is enough. The reality is that successful adoption requires deep, consistent, and creative human engagement.

The approach taken by Millipede, a software provider, is a surprising case in point. To ensure their platform is used effectively, their team visits construction sites "around 12 to 15 times a month" to support and train users. They don't just train — they incentivise. In an innovative strategy to encourage accurate data entry, they gamified the reporting process, rewarding workers on the ground with vouchers and merchandise.

The experience of Wee Hur Construction, shared by CEO Andy Lu, perfectly illustrates the true purpose of digital transformation. Their “before” state was, in his words, “chaos.”  Attendance was recorded in logbooks, inspections relied on photocopied drawings attached to physical forms, and crucial data was scattered across individual computers. The consequences were significant: "Mistakes were being made because people were relying on obsolete or superseded information or even wrong data... this led to a lot of abortive works and led to project delays."

After adopting a suite of digital solutions, the "after" state was defined by clarity. The management team gained "much more visibility on what is happening at our projects, "supported by timely information and simplified workflows.

The ultimate benefit wasn't just becoming "digital." It was achieving the operational transparency to make better decisions, reduce errors, and shorten timelines. Technology was simply the means to that end. Lou's advice offers a powerful guiding principle for any organisation:

“Let digital platforms serve your workflows, not dictate them. You need to first understand your business needs and the problems you're trying to solve — then choose the solutions that help you meet those needs, not the other way around.”

These four pillars are not separate strategies; they form an interconnected system. An aligned team (Pillar 1) is a prerequisite for standardising data (Pillar 2), which is only effective with deep user engagement (Pillar 3), all in service of achieving the operational clarity (Pillar 4) that truly drives business value. The story of successful digital transformation in construction is not about adopting the latest or most impressive technology, but about empowering teams, structuring information, and relentlessly pursuing clarity.

Credit to Oracle Construction and Engineering

As we architect the future of the built environment, the critical question isn't "What new tech should we buy?" but "Are we building the human and data infrastructure to ensure it actually works?"