The EU project DIG-CON aims to make small and medi­um-sized enter­pris­es (SMEs) in the con­struc­tion and fin­ish­ing trades more effi­cient through the tar­get­ed use of dig­i­tal tech­nolo­gies. Although the con­struc­tion indus­try plays a key role in the Euro­pean econ­o­my and cre­ates mil­lions of jobs, it is one of the least digi­tised sec­tors. This is pre­cise­ly where DIG-CON comes in, sup­port­ing SMEs in their rapid dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion and opti­mis­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion between all par­ties involved – from clients and archi­tects to engi­neers and trades­peo­ple.

 

The chal­lenges faced by SMEs in the con­struc­tion indus­try are many and var­ied. By using dig­i­tal tech­nolo­gies, plan­ning capac­i­ties can be reduced by up to 30%, which not only low­ers costs but also sig­nif­i­cant­ly increas­es the effi­cien­cy of con­struc­tion projects. Par­tic­u­lar­ly in the con­struc­tion of detached and semi-detached hous­es, self-coor­di­na­tion using dig­i­tal tools can achieve sav­ings of up to 25% of the total con­struc­tion costs and helps to iden­ti­fy and min­imise poten­tial risks at an ear­ly stage. Increased, dig­i­tal­ly sup­port­ed col­lab­o­ra­tion between all par­ties also improves the qual­i­ty, adher­ence to dead­lines and con­sid­er­a­tion of sus­tain­abil­i­ty aspects in con­struc­tion projects.

 

In addi­tion to the dig­i­tal trans­for­ma­tion, the focus is on com­bat­ing the short­age of skilled work­ers. By using dig­i­tal tech­nolo­gies and cre­at­ing new, attrac­tive fields of activ­i­ty, the con­struc­tion indus­try can become more inter­est­ing for young pro­fes­sion­als again. Dig­i­tal­i­sa­tion reduces phys­i­cal­ly demand­ing work and opens up new career prospects, which increas­es the attrac­tive­ness of the indus­try.

 

To pro­vide tar­get­ed sup­port for SMEs, DIG-CON devel­ops prac­ti­cal con­sult­ing and train­ing pro­grammes that are tai­lored to their spe­cif­ic needs. Inter­na­tion­al best prac­tices are analysed, processed and adapt­ed to the respec­tive nation­al con­di­tions. One focus is on the qual­i­fi­ca­tion of employ­ees and the cre­ation of attrac­tive train­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties that pro­mote dig­i­tal­i­sa­tion in the con­struc­tion indus­try.