How we're changing things

Digital Built RPS is developing a national strategy for the transformation of real property policies and programs. We’re hosting a platform to share ideas and developing a sustainable enterprise data environment that will be supported at the enterprise level for optimal compatibility. With our real property community, we hope to share a vision and path forward in the digital age.

Digital Divide

While most industries have undergone tremendous changes over the last few decades and have reaped the benefits of process and product innovations, the Engineering & Construction (E&C) sector has been hesitant about embracing the latest technological opportunities, and its labour productivity has stagnated accordingly. The E&C sector has not undergone any major disruptive changes; it has not widely applied advances in processes such as “lean”. As a result, efficiency gains have been meagre.

This slow pace of innovation matters because of the great scope and scale of the E&C sector. It’s a growing industry and a large consumer of resources, using billions of tons of raw material and producing a large percentage of the world’s carbon emissions. Only through improvements in economic performance and social outcomes and reduction in environmental impact can this situation be changed.

As the owner of an extensive portfolio of infrastructure and real property assets, DND has a role to play in changing these practices. In response to this need and its business modernization program, DND has created the Real Property Spatial Data Warehouse. Its purpose is to centralize real property assets in a digital data environment that supports DND and its business partners in achieving cost and efficiency gains through better business practices.

Digital transformation involves the integration of digital technology into all areas of DND business operations, driven by a sustainable and enterprise data environment. Building information modelling (BIM) is an integral part of this transition as it helps designers, contractors, operators, and owners adapt more easily to changing asset usage. Digitizing our built environment can economize building and infrastructure construction so assets are more cost effective, better designed, and sustainable now and into the future.