CamDo was invited to attend the Advancing Construction Technology event in as a Technology Provider, and present on innovation. The event was held in Chicago, IL from August 19-21, and intended to “Leverage technology to increase operational productivity, quality and safety. The following summarizes our take on the two day conference + one day workshop, along with some general industry trends.
Our goal in attending was simple: Gain insights into real customer needs for future innovation as it relates to Construction Technology (ConTech).
ConTech is getting a lot of press lately given the explosive growth in both quantities of startups and investment funding. This increase has come about mainly because of a few successful exits, but also because the industry has been relatively slow to adopt technology when compared to other industries… but this is changing!
Having spent 90% of my career in the construction industry, first as a Mechanical Engineer in MEP Consulting and more recently as a tech entrepreneur, I was extremely encouraged to be a part of this event because it diligently captured such a wide range of topics. These topics included: Enterprise level issues such as innovation culture, adoption, and data management, subcontractors and ROI. There were also many other topics like: HR, block chain and many startup technologies. Furthermore, to be able to present on the topic of innovation at such a high caliber event was a career highlight. The flow of the two days generally consisted of keynote speakers to the entire audience in the mornings, then three separate rooms in parallel with varying topics. There was also a small vendor exhibition room and there were often various panels which were very interactive. Here’s the main conference agenda to get a sense of what was covered.
The general job role was often Building Information Modeling (BIM) / Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) related, however, there were also a lot of VP, CTO, Director, Senior Manager Technology types too. The caliber of the attendees was second to none, and it is intended to keep the conference small to only attract such high quality thought leaders.
CamDo presented on Day 2 in the R&D room. It was important for us to present to participate in educating the industry. After many 1:1 conversations coupled with presentations, it became obvious that many companies are wanting some sort of industry standard in data language, API’s, and they want to own/control their own data. What’s great is that our new camera (coming soon) called UpShot, fits well within this want. There is a non-profit organization called the Construction Progress Coalition(CPC) who, in part, is leading the charge on industry standards in technology. As you will see in ourpresentation, our view is well aligned with this need for open API’s and controlling data.
“As consolidation of Construction Technologies and Applications becomes inevitable, you must choose technology providers that are adaptable in order to minimize the disruption to your operations. Think ‘platform agnostic’ as often as possible.” - CamDo proverb
One of the major trends is the need for visualization. No matter which stage of construction, having a visual on the task at hand is helpful. Whether this is in the design stage using VR, the build stage using images for safety, or the operating stage for record keeping and maintenance. There are many ConTech companies targeting this trend.
I am more confident now than ever that our camera technology today and in the future is very well positioned to address the needs of builders and photographers. Contact us today to hear how!
Download the "Innovation in Construction" Presentation
Todd McCann
CamDo Solutions CEO
