THE Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is inviting bids from business leaders to share in £1 million of funding to help the construction industry ‘go digital’.
Two CITB Digital Leadership Commission information events are set to take place in Glasgow and Edinburgh on 28 and 29 May respectively, with the aim of connecting businesses that have successfully adopted digital technologies with construction firms who want to do the same.
Bids are being invited from organisations that can demonstrate and share the transformative benefits of employing technologies such as cloud computing or collaborative working online, data analytics, building information modelling (BIM), innovative social media use and mobile and tablet apps to share data.
CITB funding awards will be made to winning bids to enable them to provide digital training to senior managers, directors and leaders in construction.
According to CITB, the fund will create a range of partnerships where local digital experts share with construction companies how their company has benefited. These partnerships will seek to build on existing knowledge and develop sustainable, scalable applications of digital technology for construction that can be widely adopted within the industry.
Ian Hughes, strategic director of CITB Scotland said, “The construction industry cannot afford to lag behind other sectors or lose business to innovating competitors. We’re calling for firms and educational institutions in Scotland to show construction leaders – particularly small and medium-sized enterprises – the transformative benefits of digital technology.
“By using best practice examples, we want to help construction businesses get ready to go digital. Effective use of technology goes far beyond simply investing to save – we need professions such as software developers, civil engineers, retailers, technology research groups, and healthcare providers to show construction leaders why and how technology can revolutionise their business.”
Glasgow is a future city demonstrator site, with around £24 million of UK Government money invested in digital infrastructure and open data.
The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is 18 June. Businesses can register for the Digital Leadership Commission information event in Glasgow here, and in Edinburgh here.
