Belfast Hosts International Construction Conference

Over 400 delegates gathered at the Crowne Plaza Belfast today, Friday 07 June, for Northern Ireland's largest digital construction conference.

Digital Construction Live, hosted by Building Information Modelling (BIM) Regions NI, is now in its third year and aims to raise awareness of digital construction while celebrating the achievements made within the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

The conference, which was hosted by Jon Briggs, a broadcast journalist and the original UK voice of Siri, covered all advancements of digital technologies and BIM (Building Information Modelling) in the AEC industry.

Delegates heard from industry professionals and keynote speakers within the digital construction sector. Topics included digital construction, artificial intelligence, industry 4.0, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), robotics, immersive technologies and BIM.

Leading BIM and digital construction expert, Melanie Dawson, Director of Digital Construction at GRAHAM, and founder member and Chair of BIM Regions NI, said: "There is a digital revolution taking place in construction which is gathering pace as the industry attempts to achieve targets set out in the UK government's Construction 2025 Strategy. Contractors and clients are searching for smarter ways to streamline everyday tasks and are on the lookout for new technological solutions to support digital construction delivery. There is no one particular piece of technology or hardware that the industry needs in order to be innovative. It's much bigger than that. The industry as a whole need to embrace the fourth industrial revolution."

Conference host Jon Briggs added: "When you look at the great buildings in the world around you, they are so much more than structures. They are part of our psyche. They are part of our humanity. The recent destruction of Notre Dame proved exactly that. But you have to remember that when they were constructing that magnificent building, they did not have the advantage of digital modelling and digital construction techniques.

"Building Information Modelling is just one of the ways that automated and converging technology are changing the way we create places from spaces. And if you're not up to speed you’re going to get left behind. I am absolutely delighted to yet again host Digital Construction Live in Belfast. It is the premiere event for learning about digital construction techniques and where the technology is right now."

Digital Construction Live 2019 also featured an exhibition, offering delegates the opportunity to meet forward-thinking companies who play a key role in the progression of the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector. Delegates had the chance to see emerging digital technologies in action, trialling the technologies for themselves.

Digital Construction Live 2019 speakers included Melanie Dawson, Director of Digital Construction at GRAHAM and founder member and Chair of BIM Regions NI; Barry Neilson, CITB NI Chief Executive; Lee Mullin, Digital Construction Specialist, EMEA, Autodesk; Richard Kirk, Director, Work+; George Mokhtar, Strategic Director of Digital Asset Advisory at Turner & Townsend; Rob Hine, Head of Trade and Commercial Partnerships, BSI Group and Louise Kelly, UK BIM Alliance Ambassador.

Digital Construction Live 2019 is supported by platinum sponsors GRAHAM and CITB (Construction Industry Training Board).

Gold Sponsors include LEICA Geosystems, Autodesk, BSI Group and KOREC Group. Silver sponsors are CPD, The McAvoy Group, Bentley Systems and Invest NI, and bronze sponsors include Queen's University Belfast, Sky Luxe Ltd, DALUX and Site Diary.