BusinessOulu, Norrbotten Chamber of Commerce and Nordnorske entreprenørers Serviceorganisatjon SA has cooperated across the borders in the Interreg Nord financed project ‘Digitalization as a driving force in the AEC-industry’ (Digi-AEC). The projects target group was companies within the fields of architecture, technical design and construction. The aim of the project was to improve the efficiency of the entire value chain of buildings and to save costs in public procurement processes. The Digi-AEC focused on processes related to the design, acquisition, use, and maintenance of construction and their management in the northern regions of Finland, Sweden and Norway.
According to the participants/companies, the project successfully succeeded in providing useful information on available technical solutions. During the workshops, it was focus on the use of BIM, VR caves and collaborative methods, as well as gamification, laser scanning, use of point cloud, 3D modelling and much more. The participants reported concrete results particularly regarding cooperation, benefits of networking and initiatives for developing new services. In an external evaluation, the companies highlighted for example that:
– The company spent a lot of its time and developed its own staff. Significant mental growth in staff.
– We are using BIM (thanks to this project) in a new building.
– Representatives of large firms became familiar.
According to the companies one of the most important impacts of the project was networking with other companies and organizations. These interactions increased cooperation across borders, helped to identify the companies’ own strengths, and provided the opportunity to meet potential new customers. In the external evaluation companies said:
– Shared experience in the workshops confirms the issues are common and the solutions are applicable
– The company was able to identify its own strengths by participating to this. The project produced
material that can now be used in the company’s operations in the future. It became clear to the
company what internationalization means in practice and what it requires of the company.
– A lot of new contacts that I am working on now and after the project. Valuable ideas. Interesting to
see how things are done across the border, working methods, etc.
– We can actually say that, in the long run, the project contributed to the fact that it changed our
product. We got the inspiration from the project and have a better product now.
The Digi-AEC project group highly agrees with the participants on the fact that a networking and idea sharing platform like this is needed also in the future. It is also evident that the digital mindset is here to stay.
Result materials, video recordings and presentations are available on: