Construction and Technology: A big opportunity that awaits the younger generation

Despite the emergence of digital technologies that make industries struggle even further, the global construction industry seems to have suffered very little from technological disruptions over the past four or five decades, given that digital technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have already brought massive changes to the landscape of many industries.

“World’s leading consulting companies have found that, in comparison to other industries at the global scale, construction industry has seen very few changes when it comes to technology applications, due to the fact that a lot of human labor is still required in the construction process. However, we have always looked to bring in technologies to improve our efficiency and performance in the operation process,” says Dr. Supamas Trivisvavet, Chief Executive Officer, CH Karnchang PLC (CK), one of the leading construction firms in Thailand.

“Technologies have become so advanced that they are causing disruptions in many industries, so we always take a careful look at our business to find how technological disruptions could affect us and how we could utilize them to enhance the quality of our operation process and to cope with challenges that we face during construction,” she adds.

“Bringing in technologies to improve efficiency of the operation process is both a challenge and a necessity as it helps to boost up our ability to compete. They also enable us to take better care of the society and environment, to foster business with higher quality and responsibility, and to bring benefits to the society and all the stakeholders,” she notes.

“Consequently, seeking different perspectives and ideas from younger generations would help us achieve a higher level of development and high-quality transformations, as well as new ways of strengthening our construction business.

The National Innovation Agency (Public Organization), or NIA, has played a vital role in promoting a continued development of innovations and technologies and is now running the project called “Startup Thailand 2018: Endless Opportunities” which is reducing an arguably largest distance between Thailand’s construction industry and innovative practice over the long-standing history of the industry.

This collaboration with NIA is bringing a lot of benefits to construction businesses in Thailand as entrepreneurs will find such innovations incredibly helpful to their business development, and we’re totally excited to find interesting ideas, technologies or innovations at this event that we could utilize to make further development in the future.”

Besides, we envision that this project will be beneficial in many aspects as it promotes nationwide development and encourages young people to propose their innovative ideas for industrial development, both inside and outside of the construction industry.

In this digital age, technologies have come to play a significant role across all types of business and industry. We need to find technologies and innovations that fit with our business and utilize them to improve our competitiveness and sustain our business in the future. We have already brought into use such innovations as engineering programs and administration and resource management programs, apart from encouraging our employees to propose their ideas to help improve working efficiency. We have received an award for “Innovative Concrete Products for Future Building Material” from Thailand Concrete Association for our concrete products that are more environmentally friendly, as well as an award for our excellence in construction project management that results from a smart engineering program.

Dr. Supamas Trivisavet, president of CH Karnchang, one of Thailand’s leading construction companies.