Government representatives Filip Žežulka from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) and Leona Gergelová Šteigrová, representative of the Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) gave speech in the first part of the discussion entitled Fabrication as a part of the Czech construction industry.
"It is clear that two key areas for the construction industry today are digitalisation and sustainability. Our ability to respond to these two challenges will have an impact on our country's competitiveness. And it is exactly the cooperation between the public and private sectors, together with the potential of universities, that is key to this development," said Leona Gergelova Šteigrová, Senior Director of the Public Investment, Construction and Social Inclusion Section at MMR.
Even for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the cooperation with National Centre for Construction 4.0 (NCS 4.0) also represents a significant step towards the modernisation of the construction sector in line with current global trends. "The integration of digital technologies and the concept of Building Information Modeling (BIM) into construction practice, supported by research and innovations in NCS 4.0, strengthens the efficiency of projects and enables the full potential of digitalization to improve the quality, safety and sustainability of construction work," explains Filip Žežulka, MIT, adding: "Together with NCS 4.0, we want to push the Czech construction industry into a new phase of innovation and excellence."
The second part of the Forum focused mainly on practical aspects and the presentation of already existing implementations in the field of digital fabrication and additive technologies in various building materials (concrete, wood, brick), including sustainability aspects. These were presented by representatives of Autodesk, Kuka, VCES, Wienerberger, VESPER Homes, So Concrete and CTU Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics.
For example, robotic bricklaying currently experiences tremendous rise in the Czech Republic, with more than 40,000 square metres of housing to be built next year alone, and within three years we will see the robotic bricklaying area grow to a staggering three quarters of a million square metres. It´s a trend that should certainly not be overlooked.
Prof. Radoslav Sovják, Director of National Centre for Construction 4.0, summarized the discussion, "The panorama of tomorrow requires not only bricks and mortar, but also the integration of minds and machines. This interplay cannot be achieved without a long-term strategy with a clear goal: to build a sustainable heritage for future generations."