Construction and public works: finally moving from isolated tools to collective intelligence

And yet, despite its economic weight, the construction industry remains one of the least digitally transformed sectors.

A structural paradox

For several years, companies in the sector have been equipping themselves with digital tools. Management software, planning solutions, monitoring tools… the offer exists, and it has grown considerably.

But one observation is clear: these tools often remain compartmentalized.

They address specific needs, but communicate little with each other. This fragmentation limits their impact and prevents the full exploitation of the value of available data.

In practice, this translates into loss of information, avoidable errors and a persistent difficulty in anticipating cost or time overruns.

Scaling up: from tool to ecosystem

Faced with these limitations, a paradigm shift seems necessary.

It's no longer just about accumulating solutions, but about making them interact. It's about moving from an equipment-based approach to an ecosystem-based approach.

This approach is based on a simple idea: performance will not come from a single tool, but from the ability to connect several complementary building blocks.

It is in this interconnection that value is created.

The key role of artificial intelligence

The emergence of artificial intelligence is accelerating this transformation.

It allows for the analysis of data volumes far exceeding what humans can process, the detection of anomalies upstream, and above all, the anticipation of risky situations.

Gradually, the sector is thus shifting from a corrective logic to a predictive logic.

Identifying an error after the fact is no longer sufficient.

The challenge now is to prevent it before it happens.

The contribution of startups: agility and specialization

Startups play a crucial role in this transformation.

Their strength lies in their ability to address highly targeted problems with solutions that are quick to deploy and offer high added value: optimization of cost estimation, automated analysis of plans, improvement of planning or communication on site.

They bring much-needed agility to a sector historically structured around more established players.

But their impact depends on their ability to integrate into a wider environment.

Breaking down silos to accelerate

This is where one of the major challenges of the coming years lies: creating the conditions for effective collaboration between established players and innovators.

In other words, to break down barriers.

Breaking down silos between tools, data, and also ways of working.

This movement requires a change in mentality: accepting to open up, to cooperate, to share part of the value chain in order to strengthen its overall efficiency.

Reconnecting technology to the field

Another essential condition for success is not to lose sight of the reality on the ground.

The construction industry is an execution-driven sector, where every decision has concrete, immediate, and often costly consequences. Digital solutions can only be relevant if they are aligned with this reality.

This involves designing simple, operational tools that can be used directly by those who are building.

A necessarily collective transformation

The transformation of the construction industry will not happen solely through technology, nor solely through the individual will of companies.

It will be a collective effort.

It will rely on the ability of all stakeholders – manufacturers, publishers, startups, project owners – to work together, share a common vision and build interoperable solutions.

The challenge is no longer whether the sector needs to transform.

The question is how quickly he will be able to do it, and to what extent he will be able to overcome his historical silo-like approaches.

Because in an increasingly constrained environment, performance will no longer come from the addition of tools, but from the collective intelligence that they will enable us to create.

Opinion piece by Cyril Perrin, Executive Managing Director and CSO of Orisha Construction (LinkedIn).