Laing O’Rourke has launched a data academy in partnership with Multiverse, a startup tech company founded by Euan Blair, son of former prime minister Tony Blair.

The partnership will see over 80 of Laing O’Rourke’s employees trained in data capabilities – with 87 employees from a range of disciplines including engineering, quantity surveying, design management to human capital, IT and finance gaining skills through data apprenticeships.

Across the 18-month programme, Laing O’Rourke’s data champions will master data wrangling and analysis techniques. The programme also covers data science, including Python and an introduction to machine learning.

The training will be delivered by Multiverse. The company announced the closing of a $44m Series B funding round earlier this year and has tripled the number of apprentices trained to 3,000 in the last twelve months.

Laing O’Rourke and Multiverse say the engineering and construction sector is awash with big data, but that 96% of this data goes unused in the industry, and 90% of data generated is unstructured.

Amy Lindsay, chief data officer at Laing O’Rourke, said: “The amount of data that will be flowing through our construction sites in years to come will be ever growing with new technologies and sensors; drones, IoT, computer vision, etc.; with greater connectivity between actors - design partners, supply chain, local communities. The untapped potential is huge and the horizon for data analytics limitless. Investing in our people to diversify our skill sets and nurture new talent streams ahead of the curve is the best decision that we can make.”

Euan Blair, CEO and founder of Multiverse, said: “The fastest growing apprenticeships are in data, tech, and the jobs of the future. We're incredibly excited to partner with Laing O'Rourke to deliver a Data Academy to their team based on intensive coaching and an applied learning experience. Data is at the heart of their operation and a vital part of the modern construction industry – this data academy will help the company embed these skills across their workforce and provide incredible opportunities for those looking to reskill.”