Challenge Brief

What new and emerging technology will have the greatest impact on business in future years and how might those technologies be applied to the built environment, whether during construction or throughout the built life cycle?

Technology is perhaps the greatest agent of change in the modern world. Breakthroughs in technology offer the promise of solutions to some of the most important and pressing global challenges.

From a historic standpoint, the construction sector has been one of the lowest (by % spend) and at times slowest of sectors to adopt new technology. It is nevertheless an information and labor intensive industry, where new and innovative approaches could have a big impact on efficiency, costs and cash flow whilst at the same time improving sustainability, quality and compliance.

Many types of technology could have an impact in these areas including: Solar Power, Off Site Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Robots, Cloud Computing; embracing the digital revolution; increasing collaboration and mobility; BIM; 3D Modelling and improving the use of big data and analytics.

With margins and cash flow in the construction industry under pressure, it is important that technology investment demonstrates a clear and sustainable return on investment.

For the winner of the COINS Grand Challenge Undergraduate competition, we are looking for someone who understands which new and emerging technologies are likely to have the greatest impact upon business and who can also articulate how those technologies can be applied to best effect within the construction industry.
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Note: The Undergraduate competition is specifically for people currently studying for a university undergraduate degree. However, undergraduates may also enter the Open competition if they believe that their idea is sufficiently well developed to meet the Open competition entry requirements.