11 theatres (10 free-to-attend), 300 expert speakers, over 160 hours of content-rich talks, seminars and workshops, plus more than 180 industry-leading companies – that’s the compelling line-up that awaits the 6,500+ attendees preparing to visit this year’s Digital Construction Week – the UK’s leading exhibition for innovation and technology in the built environment.

Taking place on 16-17 October at London ExCeL, the event dedicated to digital construction, engineering, design, manufacturing and operation is a “must-attend” for those wanting to get a first look at the latest innovations and cutting-edge technology shaping the future of this dynamic industry.

“We believe that the technologies, tools and processes now available to the industry have the power to change the future of the built environment and the world we live in like never before.  The extensive education programme at Digital Construction Week has been specially designed to help the industry explore its potential and understand how best to adopt and implement these new technologies, tools and processes to improve profitability and efficiency, and create a smarter and more diverse industry,” says event cofounder and director, Oliver Hughes.

The Geospatial Theatre

Among the show’s free-to-attend theatres is the Geospatial Theatre, which will feature expert-led sessions exploring the latest trends in geospatial technology and GIS.  The programme offers an in-depth look at these new technologies, considering the wider role of Geospatial as it feeds into the digital built environment, the opportunities for future cities, estate management, and even autonomous transport systems.

Highlights from the theatre include Disrupt, Transform and Grow through GIS (10am on Wednesday 16 October), in which Costain’s head of GIS operations Sophie Stouki and head of UAV & visualisation Jonathan Wales will discuss the benefits of implementing effective geospatial solutions.  In Satellite – SHM: a new way to survey multiple assets (11.30am on Thursday 17 October), Maria De Farago, senior earth observation geologist at Telespazio VEGA UK, will introduce Satellite Structural Health Monitoring (S-SHMTM) as a new approach for efficient asset management.

The Innovation Stage Theatre

Over in the Innovation Stage Theatre, sessions will shine a spotlight on some of the most exciting advances in construction and engineering, with talks exploring the impact potential of new technologies such as AI, cloud computing, robotics, and the internet of things.

Theatre highlights include Enable’s Rover for Information Capture, Automation and Artificial Intelligence (10.30am on Wednesday 16 October) which will bring together Enable My Team’s founder & CEO Sandeep Jain, civil engineer Luke Holbrook, and civil surveyor Scott Harden for a live demonstration of their autonomous rover ERICA, the latest robotic and AI development for construction data capture and change management.  In AEC 2049 (11.30am on Wednesday 16 October) Martin McDonnell, chairman and founder of the Soluis Group and Sublime, will consider what the tech-enabled superpowered future of the AEC sector will look like and outline the real-world AEC use cases anticipating greatest disruption.

The Transformation Hub Theatre

Returning for 2019 is the Transformation Hub Theatre, which focuses on business transformation with dynamic and interactive workshops designed to provide practical guidance and learning.  Topics include digital strategy, business transformation and digitisation, collaboration, innovation, information management, project controls and EPR, emerging technologies (cloud, blockchain, big data), and much more.

Key sessions include All this tech won’t save you: Why Digital Transformation isn’t enough (4pm on Thursday 17 October), which brings together Faithful+Gould’s business systems lead (UK & Europe) Alex Catmur and business projects & change lead (UK & Europe) Nelly Twumasi-Mensah to discuss how to approach transformation to embrace the opportunities of ‘digital’, and also put clients and colleagues at the heart of the process.  In Digital Transformation: aligning technology and business (1pm on Wednesday 16 October) Bethan Morgan, honorary research fellow at UCL, will share important insights into what digital disruption means and how businesses can avoid being disrupted.

The Visualisation Theatre

The Visualisation Theatre will explore the application of 3D modelling, mapping, and rendering, virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies and the next stage of their development as they move from a design tool into the realms of building construction, operation and even training and education.

Highlights include VR & AR – Making it more than a buzzword (10.30am on Wednesday 16 October), delivered by Jonathan Hooper, senior digital engineer at Laing O’Rourke, who will explore how we can harness this technology to go beyond visualisation and make it a real asset to a workflow.  In M6 J2-4 SMP People Plant Interface VR Training (12pm on Thursday 17 October) Navroop Rai, digital engineering manager at Vinci, will demonstrate how virtual reality technology can be used for more effective safety training for construction sites.

The Skills Hub

2019 will see the return of The Skills Hub, an exclusive theatre and workshop space in partnership with CITB (Construction Industry Training Board), which will explore the future of skills in the built environment and the ways in which we can encourage new entrants into the industry.

Among the sessions taking place in the theatre are Level Up: Using Video Games to Improve Productivity & Engagement (12.30pm on Wednesday 16 October), with Bryan Goerger, managing director of FideliumTech, which will look at how video games can help inspire a new generation to enter the design and construction industry.  In How to successfully deploy an immersive learning solution (12.30pm on Thursday 17 October) Sophie Costin, head of learning design at Make Real, will present an interactive lecture about the advantages and disadvantages of immersive learning and how businesses can deploy it.

Over 160 hours of talks, seminars and workshops

Other free-to-attend theatres at Digital Construction Week 2019 include the Construction Innovation Hub, the BIM Village, the BIM Workshops, and the Tech Stage.  Full line-up details are now available for nine of the show’s 11 theatres.  To see the programme or to find out more please visit www.digitalconstructionweek.com/whats-on/dcw-2019-theatres.

As well as the range of free content on offer, Digital Construction Week 2019 also boasts a full two day thought leadership conference targeted at senior level decision makers and influencers from across the industry.  The conference programme is due to be announced later this month.

Register now for Digital Construction Week 2019

Digital Construction Week takes place at London ExCeL on 16-17 October.  For further information, and to register for a free ticket to attend or to purchase a pass for the Thought Leadership Conference, please visit www.digitalconstructionweek.com/register.