The Construction Innovation Hub (CIH) has launched a new report, Digital Capabilities: a framework for early career professionals, sharing how the built environment sector will be transformed by technology and new ways of working.

Informed by research and insights from a series of workshops with recent graduates and their managers from a range of built environment disciplines, as well as a series roundtables with academic course leaders, professional institutions and industry representatives, such as ourselves.

Lara Potter, chair of ACE’s future skills group welcomed the report’s publication: “Digital tools and technologies have already transformed many parts of our industry, and this trend will only accelerate over the coming years. The work we do as part of the future skills group aims to help our members adapt to this changing world, and this vital piece of work does the same, helping businesses to move from the theoretical to the practical.”

The report has been designed to provide both companies and early career professionals with a framework to encourage digital development at either an organisational or on a personal level. It will be of interest to recent graduates, apprentices and those who have followed a further education route into the industry.

For businesses it suggests:

• Creating an organisational environment that allows digitally enabled graduates to flourish and influence how the organisation does things digitally.
• Providing opportunities to develop specific digital capabilities relevant to the organisation’s work and enabling digital innovations, as well as professional accreditation.
• Ensuring that the acquisition of digital capabilities and knowhow is incentivised and part of career progression within the organisation.
• Demonstrating to graduates and early-career practitioners how your organisation is engaging with the digital agenda, for example, at open days and similar events.

Henry Fenby-Taylor, head of information management for the CIH, said: “The Digital Capabilities Framework is a practical tool designed to articulate the capabilities that are required by early career professionals across a wide range of disciplines now and in the future.

“If we are to make the construction and infrastructure sectors a top choice for skilled and digitally savvy young people who care about sustainability and the environment then we need to offer interesting, varied and challenging roles where digital capabilities are valued and nurtured. This new framework is a step forward in achieving this transformation.”

Download and read Digital Capabilities: a framework for early career professional now.