The Civil Engineering Contractor May 2019 | Page 39

BUSINESS INTEL
The panel, from left: Tommy Strydom, CEO of Inyatsi Construction; Rukesh Raghubir, CEO of Murray & Dickson Construction; Webster
Mfebe, CEO of SAFCEC; Felecia Msiza, executive director: Raubex; Stuart Kent, executive director: SNC-Lavalin; Colette Yende, chief
procurement officer: Barloworld Equipment; and Allard van Dijk, project director: Murray & Roberts.
Innovate or evaporate:
AI challenges facing
civil engineering
By Eamonn Ryan
Regenesys Business
School hosted a
panel discussion of
opinion leaders in the
civil engineering and
construction industries on
12 March to discuss ‘The
Future of Construction in a
New Digital Age’.
www.civilsonline.co.za
C
onstruction is one of the
globe’s largest industries,
but one of the least efficient
and slowest to adopt to automation
and tools to improve productivity.
The panel consisted of Mike Wylie,
chairman of WBHO; Allard van Dijk,
project director: Murray & Roberts;
Colette Yende, chief procurement
officer: Barloworld Equipment;
Stuart Kent, executive director:
SNC-Lavalin; Felecia Msiza, executive
director: Raubex; Tommy Strydom,
CEO of Swaziland-based Inyatsi
Construction; Webster Mfebe, CEO:
South African Federation of Civil
Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC);
and Rukesh Raghubir, CEO of Murray
& Dickson Construction.
Van Dijk in the opening remarks
highlighted a theme to be reiterated
throughout the discussion: the
technology exists — the challenge
lies in its adoption. He noted that big
data is at present more of a distraction
than an assistance, because it had not
yet been determined how to convert
that data into practical tools.
Wylie admitted that construction
is never likely to be one of the first
movers in technology adoption,
because the real issue that construction
deals with as its primary concern,
is that of safety. “It’s a dangerous
activity. There is no repetition on
site — every activity, every day, is
different. Unless you have smart,
committed people on site, you are
going to come up short. To expect
a crane to send out a message that
the rope on the crane has a kink in it
… we’d prefer our guys to see that
because with lives at stake, we’re not
going to trust a computer with it.
“We don’t want to be pioneers
[given that lives are at stake] but we
are following it. To replace a project
manager’s intelligence with artificial
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