The study, which unsurprisingly focused on the role of digital technology, also found that 67% of respondents think data collection, analytics and insights offer the best opportunities for growth.
“Almost all (91%) European respondents said that their experience of change management left room for improvement, signalling a need for a more sophisticated, human-centric approach to technology implementation,” claims InEight.
InEight’s Global Capital Projects Outlook survey indicates that Europe is the ‘most digitally mature region with the highest proportion of digital strategies in place’.
When asked what benefits they hoped digital transformation could deliver in future, more automation was a top choice for over half (51%) of European respondents, although 42% were also concerned about the potential for automation to replace jobs entirely.
“European respondents are eager to realise the benefits of digitisation but their organisations are falling short when it comes to training and communicating intent,” said InEight CEO Jake Macholtz.
“Ultimately, the success of any technology change lies with the end user which makes a human-centric approach to digital transformation vital.”
Against a backdrop of supply chain shortages, inflationary pressure, energy challenges, and war in Ukraine, project developers and contractors are “unshakably positive” about the direction of the industry, said Macholtz.
The Outlook survey found that European respondents reported a significant increase (+8% year-on-year) in construction and capital projects spending while resilience also remains comparatively high, with 94% of respondents considering their organisation to be very or fairly resilient, compared to 91% globally.
However, in a departure from last year’s Outlook, the completion of projects on time and on budget, as reported by contractors, has fallen dramatically (-16% and -8% respectively).
Underlining the tenuous global operating environment, European respondents highlighted unmanaged or unexpected risk (53%) as the most influential factor on whether a project will be completed on time and to budget, followed closely by communications gaps with stakeholders (52%).
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
