Stakeholder engagement and building performance drive digitalization in the Middle East

In the GCC region, property owners are developing the digital aspect and working to enhance building performance. Facility management companies continue to develop their capabilities in digitalization.

“Building information modelling, or BIM, is becoming mainstream in new construction projects. This is an important building block for digitalization. Access to advanced BIM systems and the use of IoT are growing fast”, says Managing Director Mousalam Alabdulrazzak from Concerted Solutions, Granlund’s partner company in Dubai.

Digital twins increasing in the GCC area

Muhammed Jabakhanji from Concerted Solutions sees huge potential in harnessing the data and linking building’s processes. Clients in the Middle East area wish to see data in a visual way. Digital twins are the answer; they visualize both dynamic and static data. “Granlund has great data management and analytics capabilities that will allow facility managers to save energy and optimize their processes.”

Digital twins are not limited to new projects, but also existing buildings can get their data visualization in the form of a digital twin. “There are iconic buildings in the region that are not just fascinating architectural achievements. They have a lot to gain from digitalization”, notes Muhammed Jabakhanji.

An excellent example of digitalization is a major private hospital in Saudi Arabia. After the implementation of Granlund Manager software, the next step is to digitalize the building’s manual processes and create a digital twin that can be managed with Granlund Manager’s Digital Twin module.

Stakeholder engagement is at the heart of digitalization

Digitalization took a huge uptake during the pandemic, and now building users expect the use of new technologies. Post-covid, user satisfaction in buildings is even more important. Digitalization helps engage stakeholders by providing tools and technologies that also serve end-users. Real time feedback, information on indoor air quality, or energy consumption reports are easily available.

What does the future hold for digitalizing buildings?

Thinking of the future, Muhammed Jabakhanji believes that eventually every building will need to be digitalized, ideally to the same data schema. “Digital twins of buildings can be linked to the digital twins of cities, together forming a platform economy.”

Government engagement as well as academic institutions play a significant role in the future society. Digitalization level is defined by the actions of the parties who set the standards and provide future employees. “The new generations demand digital solutions because they see the value in it. And we are slowly but surely getting there!”

Making technologies work together

Concerted Solutions’ founders Mousalam Alabdulrazzak and Muhammed Jabakhanji both have impressive careers in the construction sector working with iconic projects such as the Dubai metro Expo link and Abu Dhabi Airport’s new Midfield Terminal.

Concerted Solutions serves as a “one-stop shop” for construction and real estate operators across a full digital lifecycle. “We take existing systems in companies and capitalize on what is already there. We are like a conductor that makes the orchestra play beautifully together, eliminating traditional silos”, Mousalam Alabdulrazzak explains.