Indra leads the digitalization of the construction industry in Europe

Indra, a leading global technology and consulting company, in partnership with the PTEC (Spanish Construction Technology Platform), has submitted the “Strategic Document for the Digital Transformation of the Construction Industry”. This is the most ambitious document to date drawn up in Europe in relation to the challenges and opportunities awaiting the industry, one that particularly lags behind in terms of digitalization while being of undoubted economic importance, as it accounts for more than 5% of Spanish GDP (its gross added value) and 9% of the GDP of the European Union. The industry’s environmental impact is highly significant, given that more than 200,000 people move to urban areas every day in the world and buildings and construction account for more than 30% of global greenhouse gases. According to the report, technology constitutes a key lever in considerably reducing the industry’s carbon footprint and increasing its productivity.

Indra has led the two large working groups in the industry, at home (within the above-mentioned PTEC) and in Europe, through the European Committee for the Digital Transformation of the Construction Industry (as part of the European Construction Technology Platform or ECTP). Indra’s transportation and engineering units and its Minsait subsidiary, which focuses on the digitalization of companies and institutions, took part in drawing up the report. The report analyzes the main barriers hindering the industry’s modernization, such as its fragmentation, shortages of qualified personnel in areas such as innovation and digital transformation, data decentralization, a lack of standardization and poor integration between technological systems, to list just a few.

The document drawn up by Indra and the PTEC identifies the internal and external challenges that the industry has to overcome in order to successfully complete its digitalization by the end of this decade. The external challenges have been categorized in accordance with their planning, design, execution, operation and decommissioning phases. In essence, it’s a long-term road map (2019-2030) that seeks to show companies in the industry and institutions the priorities for overcoming a set of strategic challenges by 2030. The strategic reflection led by Indra has laid the foundations for a framework for action within the European Union, which has endorsed the report and, as a result of the working groups that have been created, brought about the launch of the Built4People community initiative.

After working closely with the main players in the industry, the twenty-five objectives proposed by Indra and the PTEC include a 40% cut in CO2 emissions with respect to 1990, securing 32% of final energy consumption through renewable energies, a 20% increase in productivity and halving work-related incidents. Objectives with a clear technological background have also been identified, including the full interoperability of all the systems in new and refurbished buildings and digitalized public procurement (based on BIM methodology) in all the EU’s member States.

About Indra

Indra (www.indracompany.com) is one of the leading global technology and consulting companies and the technological partner for core business operations of its customers worldwide. It is a world-leader in providing proprietary solutions in specific segments in Transport and Defence markets, and a leading firm in Digital Transformation and Information Technologies in Spain and Latin America through its affiliate Minsait. Its business model is based on a comprehensive range of proprietary products, with a high-value, end-to-end focus and with a high innovation component. In the 2021 financial year, Indra achieved revenue of €3.390 billion, near 52,000 employees, a local presence in 46 countries and business operations in over 140 countries.