Many ECPs do not see the gains that can be achieved through digitalisation .
From the group discussion , many are keen to adopt digitalisation as they feel it would make them more competitive but are unsure how to proceed within the budgetary constraints of their firms .
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations were made for the attention of BEM , Government , CIDB and others .
a . BEM
● Provide guidelines for digital endorsement and digital signatures
● Review SOF to include additional fee for using BIM
b . Government
● To standardise and streamline the authorities e-submission process .
● Provide financial assistance for adoption of digitalisation in the form of one-for-one grants
● Tax relief
c . CIDB
● Provide additional training for BIM outside of Klang Valley
● Roadshows to highlight benefits of digitalisation and approaches towards digitalisation
d . Others
● Set up a Resource Center to guide and facilitate ECPs for effective adoption of digitalisation comprising BEM , CREAM and Local Authorities / Technical Agencies . The role of the Resource Center shall be to :
● To guide ECP on available / relevant software and systems .
● To pursue software system integration among professionals / local authorities / technical agencies to enable seamless online plan submission with common software protocols
● To provide training and consultative service to slow starter of digitalisation programmes
Many ECPs do not see the gains that can be achieved through digitalisation .
● To carry out baseline surveys regularly to assess the rate of digitalisation and the additional efforts required to improve digitalisation amongst ECPs .
CONCLUSION
Based on the baseline survey carried out and the BEM assessment based on the various areas of digitalisation in the operation of an ECP , it is estimated that digitalisation amongst ECPs is presently at 38.91 %. Cost to digitalise is seen as the major barrier especially in view that many firms have been affected by the pandemic . Many ECPs do not see the gains that can be achieved through digitalisation . A number of recommendations have been included in this report for various parties to take action . BEM believes that there will be a significant adoption of digitalisation among ECPs if these recommendations are adopted fully . Another baseline survey should be carried out in two years to assess the improvement of the status of adoption of digitalisation at that time .
This report on findings and recommendation have been forwarded to MOSTI as the Ministry driving the adoption of digitalisation by professional firms in general and the professional engineering practices in particular . Among the highlights forwarded to MOSTI is the development and implementation of CCC online submission by BEM that was successfully carried out in 2022 .
Digitalisation is the way forward for ECPs to remain relevant and competitive in the engineering service industry . It is in the interest of all ECPs and BEM registered persons to stay ahead of the digitalisation curve since the survey shows a big gap in the adoption of such important tools .
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