The Spring Edition 2023 event was presented by Portage CyberTech, Notarius, AECO Innovation Lab, One Ontario and buildingSMART Canada, and served as the official launch of a series of exclusive events with representatives from government, academia and industry to identify solutions and to ensure that the next steps in our country's digital transformation are taken responsibly, with the protection of Canadians at the forefront.

A First Successful Edition: Digital Transformation in the Construction Industry

Digital transformation of the Canadian-built environment through BIM has the potential to improve worksite productivity (20% to 28%), infrastructure efficiency, and create new economic opportunities, while addressing the growing housing crisis. The respected round-table panel shared their advancements, investments, and challenges regarding Building Information Modelling (BIM) standards and current research projects in progress to learn from each other and collaborate in a unified way as a first step to removing the silos.

Following the round-table, which took place in March 2023, at Hotel Lac-Leamy Casino in Quebec, a national webinar was held on "Advancing the Digitalization of Canadian Municipalities," with high attendance from government, municipalities and regulated industries. Portage CyberTech, an industry leader in regulatory technology innovation, announced an investment of $75,000 in partnership with buildingSMART Canada and AECO Innovation Lab to fund a Mitacs research project for BIM authentication.

Quotes

"The rapid development of government housing (e.g., Canada's National Housing Strategy (NHS) - $82 billion) cannot be achieved without coordinated and aligned actions within the industry and in accordance with international best practices. As a trusted provider, our priority is to bring together global digital transformation thought leaders to protect the public and its institutions, and prevent gaps from widening between stakeholders."

-  Patrick Drolet, Head of Innovation at Portage CyberTech and General Manager of Notarius.

"Our industry needs a unified voice to advocate for the adoption and implementation of open data standards and BIM across the country. buildingSMART Canada is well positioned to be that voice for all levels of industry and government. We need key stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to address these challenges and advance the integration of digital signatures and GIS systems with BIM. It is the future of our industry."

-  Claudia Cozzitorto, Executive Director of buildingSMART Canada and founder of the Toronto BIM Community (tBIMc).

"Breaking down silos is at the core of AECO. One Ontario, for example, is a collaborative research-driven digital platform supported by a large coalition that includes Portage CyberTech, Notarius, buildingSMART Canada, TerraQuest and approximately 40 other associations and municipalities, as well as a national research program that includes five Canadian universities. We're excited to work with government, industry, and academia to enable the digital transformation of the Canadian AEC industry, including addressing the complex challenge of development approvals across the country."

-  Arash Shahi, CEO of AECO Innovation Lab

"We need to make our infrastructure more resilient and use our resources intelligently. Using BIM innovation can greatly assist us, but we must create secure and efficient ecosystems capable of ensuring professional reliability and archiving public-use documents such as digital twins."

-  Stephen Fai, Professor at Carleton University and Director of CIMS.

Leaders Connect would like to thank the following panelists: Claudia Cozzitorto, Executive Director of buildingSMART Canada, Paul Churcher, Department of National Defence, Patrick Drolet, Head of Innovation of Portage CyberTech and GM of Notarius, Stephen Fai, Professor at Carleton University and Director of the CIMS, Farzad Jalaei, Research Officer at the National Research Council Canada, Érik Poirier, Professor at the ÉTS Department of Construction Engineering, Arash Shahi, CEO of AECO Innovation Lab, Yasir Sultan, National Research Council Program Director for Construction Sector Digitalization and Productivity (CSDP).

About Leaders Connect

Leaders Connect is an exclusive event that brings together thought leaders and decision-makers responsible for solving national digital transformation challenges in Canada. Leaders Connect provides a platform for participants to discuss and exchange ideas on key issues facing Canada's built environment, identifying challenges, and exploring solutions to meet the needs of citizens and businesses. The Spring Edition 2023 event was presented by Portage CyberTech, Notarius, AECO Innovation Lab, One Ontario and buildingSMART Canada.

Learn more about Leaders Connect 2023