Survey: The lack of high-quality data is an obstacle to digitalization in the construction and real estate sector

According to our Digital Economy Market Research 2023, obstacles to digitalization in the sector include the lack of high-quality data, overlapping systems and a lack of understanding of the use of data. Another challenge is that data is not shared among operators.

“The sector is at the beginning of its digital journey. Now is the time to put lifecycle thinking at the forefront and to try to break away from the silos and fragmentation of the sector”, says Francisco Forns-Samso, Granlund’s Director for Digital Business Design.

When we invest together in the quality and use of data, we increase the productivity, quality, safety, security and sustainability of the sector.

Francisco Forns-Samso, Director for Digital Business Design

Fragmented data is unreliable and worthless

According to the survey on the digital maturity of the real estate and construction sector, data in the sector is fragmented and out of date. Less than half of the respondents (47%) update their property information regularly and 24% only if there have been major changes to the property. The data is not standardised, so it cannot be trusted or compared.

As many as 72% of the respondents said that their data is stored in many different systems and there are no integrations between the systems. The value of data is also not understood: 62% of respondents think that businesses have no understanding of how data can contribute to strategic goals.

“In order to meet the challenges posed by climate change, we need to be able to use data throughout the lifecycle of buildings. For example, information about material choices and their carbon footprint is just as important at the design stage as it is at the demolition stage. Right now, this data is in the hands of different actors and is stored in fragmented systems, which makes it difficult to use,” Forns-Samso says.

Preparing for the new Building Act requires making changes

The survey on the digital maturity of the real estate and construction sector shows that the sector’s way of thinking is changing: there is interest in using data and sharing it openly. Of the respondents, 40% were willing to share data if they also benefitted from it and 38% were willing to share data openly.

We must now invest in the quality and standardisation of data. The more we are able to use data, the more meaningful the data becomes.

Francisco Forns-Samso, Director for Digital Business Design

We must invest in digitalization now, because the new Building Act, which will enter into force in 2025, will require lifecycle thinking and consideration of climate impacts. In order to promote these, data has to be of high quality and machine-readable.

“Responding to climate change requires new innovations in the sector. High-quality data enables us to use automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and augmented reality in developing the sector.”

Learn more about the results by downloading the report

More information

Francisco Forns-Samso

Director of Digital Business Design

Granlund Oy

+358 40 630 9071

firstname.lastname@granlund.fi