New innovation partnership targets construction supply chain: UKCW

13 Jun 2019

Businesses from all parts of the construction supply chain are set to benefit from a new collaboration between the Construction Innovation Hub and UK Construction Week (UKCW).

This move is designed to boost take up of innovation in the industry and realisation of the Government’s sector deal ambitions.

The Construction Innovation Hub will sponsor the UKCW Innovation Zone at this year’s show.

An innovation advisory board made up of construction clients, contractors and consultants has also met to shape how innovation is placed at the heart of this year’s event.

It will assist in scrutinising the latest projects, products and technologies being pitched for the new Innovation Zone.

Arbiters from Willmott Dixon, Luton Airport, Bryden Wood, Mace, TfL, The Princes’ Foundation, Castle Planning and the Hub will decide what will appear in the Innovation Zone and will also choose the winner of UKCW’s Innovation Award 2019, announced on the second day of the show.

UKCW

Keith Waller, Construction Innovation Hub programme director, commented: “UK Construction Week is fast becoming one of the most essential industry events of the year.

“At the Construction Innovation Hub, we are eager to reach out and engage with all stakeholders within the built environment. This will be crucial to our success in the coming months and years.”

“By partnering up with a key event like UK Construction Week, we want to give visitors the chance to experience first-hand the Hub’s vision of a transformed construction sector.

“We will share how we are planning to use digital and manufacturing technologies to help build smarter, greener and more efficient buildings much faster and cheaper than we currently do, and how players – big and small – from right across the construction sector, and its supply chain, can get involved.”

Nathan Garnett, UKCW event director, commented: “Scratch the surface, and you find that the construction industry is actually one of the most innovative industries.

“It is full of examples of new ways of working, sustainable products, collaboration and continually evolving technologies.

“We want our visitors to experience this first-hand, to talk to others who are leading by example and to boost uptake of these significant new developments.

“That’s why working with the Construction Innovation Hub is an ideal partnership from our perspective.

“We chose innovation as a theme for this year’s UKCW and the Hub’s support helps us to deliver on that message.

“The Hub has a four-year mission to drive change and that is exactly what we want to achieve through our event.”

The Hub brings together expertise from BRE, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) and the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) to help implement the strategy.

Funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Hub is driving collaboration to transform the way buildings and infrastructure are designed, manufactured, integrated and connected within the built environment.

Looking to the future of construction the Hub is also supporting MOBIE’s design challenge. This is aimed at young people aged between 11 and 16 years of age and it is encouraging them to design a 21st century home.

Registration to UK Construction Week is now open. This year’s show takes place at the NEC, Birmingham from 8 – 10 October.

By registering once, visitors will have access to multiple sections: Build, Building Tech, Timber, Civils, Energy & HVAC, Surface & Materials and the newly launched Concrete Expo (8 – 9 October only) and Grand Designs Live (9 – 10 October only), which will also be taking place at the same venue.

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