Innovation contributing to a sustainable construction industry

We were delighted to host this year’s edition of the CECE Summit, titled “From Bricks to Bytes: How innovative technologies contribute to a sustainable construction industry”, at the extraordinary museum of Autoworld in Brussels.

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CECE Summit was the first main event for construction machinery sector after European elections. EU decision-makers from the EU Parliament and EU Commission joined the industry leaders to discuss fundamental contribution of innovation to a sustainable construction industry.

CECE President Enrico Prandini opened the Plenary Session of the Summit, with a welcome speech focusing on the importance of keeping the European leadership in technology. He also underlined how significant it will be for the construction sector to be part of the solution to the sustainability challenges.

Emmanuelle Maire, Head of Unit at DG Environment of the European Commission, took the floor by highlighting the importance of digitalisation in the construction industry in order to keep Europe competitive. She acknowledged CECE's work in this field. She also stressed the urgency of accelerating the transition towards circular economy. "We need the construction sector to be part of the new Green Deal."

Paul Surin, Global Lead Built Environment at IBM, underlined the relevance of investing in infrastructure and focusing on strategic objectives for digital environment such as maintaining and operating for less, transforming services and creating communities.

Eugenio Quintieri, Secretary General of EBC, called attention on the EU-funded project DigiPLACE, the first attempt at outlining the architecture and the roadmap for a Digital Industrial Platform for Construction. He also mentioned CECE’s European Construction Industry Manifesto for Digitalisation, explaining that digital construction needs to become a top political priority for the EU.

Our moderator Katrina Sichel also welcomed relevant contributions from Menno de Jonge, Director of Digital Construction at Royal BAM Group, who mentioned the positive aspects of sharing innovation and knowledge. Alfredo Barrios de la Fuente, Engine Technical and Sales Director at Deutz explained how legislation changes business models, and Thilo Juchem, President of UEPG, discussed the environmental sustainability in the construction industry highlighting the 'Life in Quarries' project's video.

We were glad to welcome such a distinguished panel representing a broad range of relevant organisations and a wide variety of points of view on significant topics for the construction industry.