In modern economy, digitalisation is a major driver of productivity growth across industries and services. To remain competitive in an increasingly globalised market, the EU economy must transform itself digitally.

The construction sector is characterised by a high presence of SMEs, low capitalisation, a low rate of higher educated employees, low investment in innovation, and a long supply chain. Moreover, in the EU market, different languages, taxation, and regulatory frameworks are obstacles to Union synergies. DigiPLACE will address those issues and exploit the EU added value.

DigiPLACE is an EU-funded project with a budget of €1 million aiming at creating a roadmap for the Digital Platform for Construction in Europe. The digital platform is an operating system that integrates different technologies and various applications and services. Starting from suitable reference architectures, platform interfaces are defined, tested via piloting, supported via ecosystem building to prepare their roll-out, and evolved into standards.

DigiPLACE will rely on a large set of partners, linked third parties and an Advisory Board. Unprecedented collaboration of all EU construction industry representatives with a strong academic and public support with involvement of three Member State’s ministries, will work together during 18 months. Starting in September 2019, project partners will collaborate to create the framework for the digital platform. 19 partners from 11 countries (see the full list of partners below) led by Politecnico di Milano, with DigiPLACE will hopefully pave the road for new future projects in the field of digital construction.

DigiPLACE is a framework allowing the development of future digital platforms as common ecosystems of digital services that will support innovation, commerce, etc. It will define a Reference Architecture Framework (RAF) for digital construction platform based on an EU-wide consensus involving a large community of stakeholders, resulting in a strategic roadmap for successful implementation of this RAF.

This project is the first ever proposal of the EU funding under Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT). Its first official meeting will take place in Brussels on 3-4 September.

ECTP will be in charge of piloting a comprehensive and detailed survey about actual digital practices in the construction sector in Europe, and available technologies that are used and/or can be introduced in the Construction process. Furthermore, the study of those existing practices and the ones in other industry sectors can provide a set of best cases applications facilitating the knowledge transfer and the introduction of technologies and/or processes already in action in other sectors also in the Construction one. It will be assisted in these tasks by 6 Linked-Third Parties being ECTP members: Cardiff University, LIST, NTNU, Tecnalia, TNO, and VTT. It will also participate to the project’s communication and dissemination activities

Source: DigiPLACE Consortium