future challenges of the engineering and con-
Introducing the Association's community of en-
struction sector. This is a pioneering step by the
gineering and construction sector, its goals and
Society of Engineers to support creativity and in-
programs;
novation in the engineering sector.
Organizing lectures, seminars and specialized
The vision of the Digital Engineering Chapter is to
workshops for members of the Association and
establish a digitalized and sustainable construc-
engineers within the UAE;
tion industry in the United Arab Emirates and the
Providing accredited qualification programs on
Arab World. A study by McKinsey showed that
digital engineering and Building Information Mod-
the global construction sector is the second least
el (BIM);
sector in terms of digitization and digital transfor-
Establishing a smart digital platform that brings
mation, and that major construction projects are
together all partners and provides services to its
20% delayed beyond scheduled completion date,
subscribers for learning, training and consulting;
and that 80% of them exceed their set budg-
Concluding memoranda of understanding
ets, and that the productivity of workers
with universities that have engineering
in this sector is dropping. For this,
disciplines for cooperation in scien-
the Chapter aims to educate, raise
tific research in digital engineering;
awareness and train engineers and
and
workers in the engineering and con-
Coordinating with the UAE's mu-
struction sector in the UAE and the
nicipalities to work on developing
Arab World to use these technologies
guidelines and customized standards
in the construction industry with the aim
within the UAE in terms of some of the
of digitizing the construction industry to over-
technologies used in the construction sector.
come these challenges.
The major challenges facing digital engineering
Further, the Chapter can play a major role in de-
in the Arab World
veloping guidelines and customized standards
There are many challenges facing digital engi-
for some technologies such as Building Informa-
neering in the Arab World, including:
tion Models (BIM), in addition to providing con-
Lack of talents and competencies specialized in
sultations to government and private entities,
digital engineering, although there are a large
and conducting mutual research with colleges of
number of engineers, however most of them
engineering in terms of these technologies and
are practicing engineering in the traditional way.
their application in the engineering and construc-
Such engineers need rehabilitation to acquire the
tion sector.
digitalization skills required for Industrial Revolu-
Tell us about future projects and plans
tion 4.0.
The Chapter, under establishment, works in co-
Change Management: This challenge is about
operation with the UAE BIM Association (UBA)
how we can change the traditional workflow pro-
to attract specialized competencies in digital en-
cedures to become automated and digitalized.
gineering, calls for registration for Association
This challenge is linked to another challenge,
membership, and develops a program and an
which is working on changing the corporate cul-
action plan that includes:
ture and changing the mindset and view of all
Dailogue
22