Autodesk, in collaboration with Deloitte, has released its latest report, “State of Digital Adoption in the Construction Industry 2024,” revealing significant digitalisation trends within the sector. This annual survey, now in its second edition, includes insights from 933 construction firms across six markets: Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Australia, India, and Hong Kong.
Leading in Digital Adoption
The report highlights that construction firms in Malaysia utilise an average of 6.9 technologies, the second highest among the surveyed countries, with a median expenditure of 23% on new technologies. Alongside India, Malaysia is at the forefront of digital adoption, using approximately 50% more technologies than the regional average.
Unique Challenges and Solutions
Sumit Oberoi, Senior Industry Strategist at Autodesk for the Asia Pacific, commented, “To reduce Malaysia’s construction industry’s rising costs and heavy reliance on foreign workers, AI and digital adoption is becoming a key factor towards business success and improved workplace safety.”
Supportive Government Policies
David Rumbens, Partner at Deloitte Access Economics, added, “The rise of digital transformation in Malaysia’s construction industry has been driven by supportive government policies, with the government’s Construction Strategy Plan 4.0 building on previous strategies to facilitate digitalisation and the implementation of emerging technologies in the sector.”
As a result, 48% of Malaysian businesses have an effective, organisation-wide strategy for adopting new technologies, the highest of any country and more than twice the rate of Australian, Japanese, or Hong Kong-based businesses.
Driving Safety and Innovation with AI
Malaysia’s construction sector prioritises digital technologies, especially safety-related ones such as wearables and site sensors. Sunway Group has been using AI technology paired with the cloud to improve worker safety. “Worker safety is one of our foremost concerns at Sunway. Pairing AI technology with image recognition software has allowed us to have real-time interventions for safety that can prevent potential accidents,” said Liew Ziqing, Head of Digitalisation at Sunway Group.
Malaysia has also increased investment in technologies like Building Information Modelling (BIM), prefab and modular construction, and drones. Gamuda, an engineering, property, and infrastructure company, has established an Innovation Hub to experiment and find innovative solutions for construction. “One thing Gamuda has been doing for many years is experimentation. It’s about being able to try new things in an environment where it is fine to make mistakes or fail. That’s where the groundbreaking things happen,” said John Lim, Chief Digital Officer at Gamuda.
Gamuda’s successful experimentation results include the inception of the world’s first autonomous tunnel boring machine (A-TBM) and the Building Information Modelling Augmented Reality (BIMAR) feature for construction sites. Malaysian businesses have shown particular strength in the use of technology for building design, with the highest share of businesses using BIM and the most successful implementation of this technology.
Upskilling the Workforce
The most common barrier to adopting digital technology is a lack of digital skills among employees, reported by 49% of Malaysian firms. To address this, the International Labour Organisation and Master Builders Malaysia have coordinated efforts to increase the representation of young people and women in the construction industry.
Conclusion
“Overall, the survey underscores Malaysia’s advancements in digital adoption and also showcases the country’s firm commitment to safety and workforce development in the construction industry. The Malaysian construction industry is taking active steps to ensure its workforce is well-equipped to handle digital transformation,” highlighted Oberoi.
Key Findings:
- Leading firms in tech adoption, including in Malaysia, are excelling in financial growth.
- Each new technology adopted can increase annual revenue by 1.4 percentage points.
- An additional technology adoption is associated with a 1 percentage point increase in profit growth.
- 38% of construction firms use BIM, with Malaysia leading in usage and implementation.
- 94% of businesses plan to integrate AI and machine learning.
- 33% of firms see identifying profitable projects as the top priority for AI adoption.
