The technological system BIM revolutionizes the construction of buildings – Sectors – Economy

In Latin America, infrastructure projects such as airports, hospitals and roads tend to be more in the media for backlogs and budget increases than for efficient delivery or technological innovation. The productivity of the construction sector is one of the lowest in the world. this has only increased by 1% in the last 20 years.

According to McKinsey, this costs the region about $ 50 billion a year, a very high figure if construction is considered to be about 6 percent of the region's GDP. and in Colombia about 9%. Is it possible to change that? How can technology help improve efficiency?

The digital transformation in the construction sector is now emerging from three letters: Building Information Modeling (BIM), a set of methodologies, technologies, and standards for designing, building, and operating a business. building or a collaborative infrastructure in a virtual space. With its implementation, coordination problems between actors in the production chain are reduced, resulting in significant savings, especially in the construction, operation and maintenance phases.

The use of BIM has had positive effects in countries that have more than 10 years of implementation in South Korea, Norway and the United Kingdom. The latter estimates have generated savings of $ 2,300 million between 2011 and 2014. The success of BIM in these countries is based on the implementation of comprehensive policies that have allowed the government to acquire the power of purchasing necessary for its adoption.

capabilities and collaboration between the public and private sectors for the development of standards and regulations. In Latin America, Chile has been a pioneer in the adoption of a BIM plan, by imperatively incorporating public procurement methodology by 2020. Brazil has recently launched its BIM strategy and Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay began their preparation.

From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), we encourage its use in the region through strategies, policies and instruments to promote its adoption alongside public and private actors. And there are spaces for this, such as BIM Forum Colombia, October 31 in Bogotá, and the second BIM meeting of Latin American governments in Brasilia.

GONZALO RIVAS
Head of the Division of Competitiveness of Technology and Innovation
Development (IDB)
Special for TIME