Dubai, UAE – 24 November 2022:  As the construction industry looks to surmount climate resilience and sustainability challenges, The Big 5 2022, the largest and most influential event for the sector in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, is stepping up its focus on technology in building a better tomorrow.

When the curtain rises on the event – the 43rd in the annual series, which will run at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 5-8 December – exhibitors from both across the region and the world will showcase leading edge ‘contech’ innovations while a slew of special event features and content sessions will focus on technology transforming the industry and raising its profile as a serious sustainability contributor.

 

Event organizer dmg events said the event’s 2022 technology emphasis underlines the critical need for the industry to adopt leading-edge practices and innovation and reshape the sector from the conventional to the technologically advanced and automated, aided by sector-wide digitalization from project planning to health and safety monitoring. Josine Heijmans, Vice President – Construction at dmg events, says the technology benefits are endless, improving communications, increasing efficiency, enhancing safety, boosting productivity, aiding accuracy, and reducing and controlling costs.

“Digitization and technology are not just construction trends – they’ve been happening for decades and will continue,” she says. “Artificial intelligence, blockchain, 3D printing, virtual reality, and so much more aren’t for the future, they’re for the here and now. The question isn’t whether companies are going to use technology, but when and how are they going to keep up and adapt to ever evolving and improving construction technologies.”

The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the main supporting partner of The Big 5 and The FutureTech Construction Summit, is calling for sector-wide collaboration to drive the adoption of smart technologies. The high-level summit, to be held on 06 December, will host a stellar line-up of global innovation, technology, and business leaders, sharing their insights and visions on mobilizing the sector’s technology eco-system, accelerating sustainable development through technology, and attracting tech professionals to the industry. 

 

The power line-up, of which nearly half (43%) are industry-leading females, includes Her Excellency Salma Al Qubaisi, VP-Berkeley Voice of Global Women, Board Member, Emirates Investors Club; Dr. Ebtesam Almazrouei, Director - AI Cross Centre Unit Abu Dhabi, Technology Innovation Institute (TII); Anas Zeineddine, Advisory Committee Member, Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund and CEO/Founder, innovaMENA; Salma Kayali, Vice President Innovation, Aldar Properties; and Eng. Alya Obaid Mejlad AlShamsi, Head of Urban Observatory Section, Municipality and Planning Department – Ajman.

“As a leading global professional services and project management company, digital solutions are fundamental to our way of working and transforming project delivery outcomes, when combined with people, data insights and technology. This summit provides a great platform to share industry knowledge and key learnings on how to address the sector’s challenges and drive its digital transformation. We look forward to supporting the conversation, with notable experts across the industry, to gain insights on how we can generate operational efficiencies, optimize commercial performance, achieve sustainability goals and reduce environmental impact.” commented Ibrahim Atta-Apau, Director, Digital Services, at Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, the Summit’s Headline Sponsor. Other supporting partners include the C-Tech Club and Heriot Watt University – Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction. 

 

Out on the show floor, Digital Construction World, the exclusive showcase of technology solutions for construction, will welcome global innovators, including Aeromotus, OpenSpace, Rendra, Plan Radar and Xyicon, demoing their latest products in artificial intelligence, construction management software, 3D modelling and geospatial solutions. Dubai Municipality, Supporting Partner of the event, will be hosting a pavilion at Digital Construction World that will include local and international companies showcasing how 3D printing is advancing all stages of the construction cycle. With a keen focus on technology, Dubai Municipality is also participating in two separate talks focusing on ‘The Strategic Implementation of 3D Printing Technology’ and ‘Dubai Digital Twin’ – a virtual world of Dubai that will include computer-generated environments that combine elements of social media, augmented reality, virtual reality, video games, cryptocurrencies, and other technologies.

 

Fifty pioneering contech, proptech, infratech and energy start-ups from 21 countries, including the UAE, Oman, Greece, Sweden, Poland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Israel, Austria, Finland, and Kazakhstan, will unveil their transformation solutions at the event’s Start-up City. The show sector and start-up pitch competition are supported by Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, BuiltUp Ventures, Enterprise Greece, and Contech Construction Innovation Center, as well as 12 ecosystem and community partners, including StartAD, Plug & Play, and Founder Institute. Contenders include Oman’s Innotech, the region’s first hardware start-up to become a unicorn; the UAE’s Opteam, the first local company to utilize decision intelligence AI to automate infrastructure planning; Hong Kong’s viAct, whose proprietary algorithms provide granular insights into work sites; Israel’s Ception Technologies whose AI-based systems reduce accidents and boost productivity and the profitability of heavy equipment on construction sites and Greece’s TEKMON, whose software solutions enable remote briefings and site access security.

 

The special features will be complemented by a host of free-to-attend CPD certified Technology Talks, which will explore the trends, techniques, and technology being embraced by the industry to improve safety, quality, and productivity. The comprehensive education programme will host 27 sessions, with topics ranging from the use of drones and swarm robots in construction, AI in estimating and bio-cementation for soil stabilization in civil infrastructure developments, and the future in home and building automation, to a panel discussion on digital twins welcoming speakers from leading industry players such as ROSHN, Red Sea Global, ALEC, MIRAL and BSI Group.