According to the chief executive of a global design software giant, blockchain-based technology can bring an opportunity to substantially reduce the corruption in the construction industry, while also decreasing the lack of trust between different players.
‘Corruption in the Construction Industry is Not Uncommon’
Speaking to journalists at the Autodesk University event held in Las Vegas, Andrew Anagnost, CEO of Autodesk, shared his thoughts on blockchain-based technology and how it could improve the current state of the construction industry. The company is behind one of the most widely used architecture, engineering, and construction software suites.
According to the high-ranked official, the company has already considered the implementation of the technology but it just hasn’t stated it publicly yet.
The CEO also notes that corruption within the industry is fairly common. He holds that the lack of traceability, as well as accountability, is one of the largest causes for said corruption as industry participants just don’t want to be tracked. He notes:
They don’t actually want a clear record of who did what, when and how. It’s going to take a lot of us enforcing this and making it not optional to trace who did what and when. […] I’ve been on construction sites and I’ve been with quality checkers. […] They’re taking pictures and I notice sometimes they log the issue and sometimes they don’t. So I ask them – why didn’t you log that one? ‘Oh, because I know that guy, I’ll go tell him about it.’ So the subcontractor he knows doesn’t get their issues logged, but the subcontractor he doesn’t know gets logged.
Hit the Sweet Spot
When it comes to blockchain technology, Anagnost holds that the technology can quickly put an end to all of the above.
While his explanation might have been rather simplified, he outlines:
What is blockchain good at? It’s a distributed, trusted ledger that cannot be altered and allows traceability and accountability. […] A technology like that in an environment like construction where various people involved in the process don’t trust each other is going to find some kind of application.
The construction industry, however, is far from being the only one which can seriously benefit from the implementation of blockchain-based technology.
According to a recent market research, its application in the energy industry is going to grow by 65 percent between 2019 and 2023.
What do you think of blockchain being transformative for the construction industry? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
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