Autodesk has released its latest "State of Digital Adoption in the Construction Industry 2024" report, revealing significant digitalisation trends within the industry. Conducted jointly with Deloitte, the second edition of this annual survey draws upon insights from 933 construction firms across six markets, including Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Australia, India, and Hong Kong.

The report highlighted that construction firms in Malaysia used the second highest number of technologies on average (6.9) among the countries surveyed and reported a median expenditure of 23% on new technologies. Malaysia, along with India, leads in digital adoption, using around 50% more technologies compared to the regional average.

Sumit Oberoi, Senior Industry Strategist at Autodesk for the Asia Pacific, remarked that AI and digital adoption are key to addressing rising costs and the reliance on foreign workers in Malaysia's construction industry. He emphasised that new technologies combined with a challenging business outlook necessitate a rethink of tools, workforce skill needs, and interactions with clients and contractors.

David Rumbens, Partner at Deloitte Access Economics, attributed the rise of digital transformation in Malaysia's construction industry to supportive government policies. The government's Construction Strategy Plan 4.0 builds on previous strategies to facilitate digitalisation and the implementation of emerging technologies in the sector. Consequently, 48% of Malaysian businesses have an effective, organisation-wide strategy for adopting new technologies, the highest of any country surveyed.

Malaysia's construction sector is prioritising the adoption of digital technologies, particularly safety-related technologies such as safety wearables and site sensors. Sunway Group, a leading conglomerate in Malaysia, has been using AI technology paired with cloud solutions to improve worker safety. Liew Ziqing, Head of Digitalisation at Sunway Group, highlighted that AI technology with image recognition software allows for real-time safety interventions to prevent potential accidents.

Increased investment in technologies like Building Information Modelling (BIM), prefab and modular construction, and drones is evident. Gamuda, an engineering, property, and infrastructure company based in Malaysia, has established an Innovation Hub to experiment with innovative solutions for construction. John Lim, Chief Digital Officer at Gamuda, emphasised the importance of experimentation in driving groundbreaking advancements such as the world's first autonomous tunnel boring machine (A-TBM) and BIM Augmented Reality (BIMAR) features for construction sites.

Malaysian businesses have a particular strength in the use of technology for building design, with the highest share of businesses using BIM and the most successful implementation of this technology.

However, the most common barrier to adopting digital technology is a lack of digital skills among employees, as reported by 49% of firms in Malaysia. To address this, the International Labour Organisation and Master Builders Malaysia have coordinated efforts to increase the representation of young people and women in the construction industry.

The survey underscores Malaysia's advancements in digital adoption and showcases the country's firm commitment to safety and workforce development in the construction industry. Sumit Oberoi highlighted that the Malaysian construction industry is taking active steps to ensure its workforce is well-equipped to handle digital transformation.

Additional key findings from the report include that, despite a challenging global economy, construction firms leading in tech adoption, including those in Malaysia, are excelling in financial growth. Each new technology adopted can increase annual revenue by 1.4 percentage points, translating to an extra $1.4 million for a $100 million company. Additionally, additional technology adoption is associated with a 1 percentage point increase in profit growth. A notable 38% of construction firms use BIM, with Malaysia leading in usage and successful implementation. Furthermore, 94% of businesses plan to integrate AI and machine learning into their operations, with 33% identifying profitable projects as the top priority use case for AI adoption.