This is all adding to the excitement.. Research acceleration due to COVID-19.

We saw this happen with BIM standards, which were very quickly adopted as the de facto standards with things like EN ISO 19650.We’re now starting to see the rest of the world beginning to look towards an industrialised construction approach.

If we make headway with Platform construction there will be a massive international market available.This could be a real opportunity, if we can join up a few different elements.. With BIM Pro we saw the need to go out and engage with foreign governments, forming a community to promote an approach and process which drives better delivery.We need to consider what the UK can offer those international markets beyond BIM.

We’re very highly regarded in finance and insurance, for example, and those things are required by world leaders who want to deliver infrastructure and construction programmes.We’ve got all the various digital tools which are being developed and coming to market now.

We have things like the Value Toolkit coming out of The Construction Innovation Hub.

The question is, how do we help governments make choices that support their ambitions?It is this kind of sustained, intelligent and joined-up collaborative approach that will bring about sector-wide positive change.

Government should be applauded for this consistent direction of travel, and it’s worth recounting the linked pieces of work that predate this latest announcement..The development of Platforms started back in 2016, when the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) appointed us to develop a new type of prison, focused on rehabilitative outcomes for prisoners.

One aspect of the project was to maximise the use of DfMA and set a new benchmark for public sector adoption.It soon became apparent that systems developed for the MOJ (whose estate includes education, healthcare, offices, sports halls and workshops) would also be appropriate for the wider public sector..