Don't sit on the geo-fence

As a species, human beings are hugely adaptable. So why, when it comes to construction, are we so resistant to change?

If you want to understand the breakneck speed and unstoppable force of change and progress, consider this.

There are young people among us that have never and will never use a rotary phone, written or received a cheque, developed film from a camera, sent a fax, or handwritten a letter.

They have never and will never use a phone book, an encyclopaedia  or a physical map.  They will never rent movies from a store, listen to a cassette tape, tune a TV with a dial, operate manual car windows, or send a postcard from some far-flung destination.

They will never own a landline phone or collect photos in an album.  They will never play with a toy without batteries or a screen; never use a non-digital alarm clock; and they will never know a time when physical currency was the only means of making a purchase.

All of that - along with the Sony Walkman, VHS video recorders, 8-track tapes and telephone answering machines - has gone in the space of the past 30 or so years.  Which merely highlights humanity’s ability to adapt and progress, to embrace the new, and to adopt innovation.

If that list has not made you feel old, then consider this.  In the future of construction, there will be those that have never seen nor consulted a physical drawing; never driven a machine without an air conditioned cab or a cooled and heated suspension seat; and that have never known a time when diesel was the ONLY fuel option.

They will never have operated a machine without a quick coupler, tilt rotator and GPS.  They will consider Bluetooth connectivity not a luxury but a fundamental human right.  They will never operate a machine that is not fitted with an array or cameras and obstacle detection systems; nor will they manually grease a machine, or diagnose a machine fault without the aid of a laptop computer.  They will never know a time when they and their machine was not constantly monitored and managed by advanced telemetry that virtually eliminates unscheduled downtime.

All of that will surely come to pass; that is the nature of innovation and change.  But here’s the kicker.  That operator of the future I have just described may have already been born.  In 17 or 18 years’ times when they enter the workplace, a machine without GPS and obstacle detection will seem as archaic as that VHS recorder their grandfather told them about.

When it comes to innovation and technology, it is impossible to sit on the fence; because, in all likelihood, that fence will have been superseded by an AI-driven geo-fence.