DATA & DIGITAL | TECHNICAL


A data trust is a legal and technical framework


designed to ethically manage, share, and protect data on behalf of its beneficiaries. The construction industry united around the concept


of a Construction Data Trust and in 2020 a limited company was launched, with a non-profit mandate, with the objective of pooling construction data for the collective benefit. The board, comprising representatives from key


data providers, governs the way the data is used. It assesses risk and puts the appropriate controls in place to mitigate them, from data anonymisation through to adding noise into data. Data trusts foster collaboration among multiple


entities, enabling efficient and secure sharing of data between organisations. With the rise of data partnerships, industry consortiums, and multi- stakeholder initiatives, data trusts act as neutral intermediaries that facilitate data exchange whilst safeguarding the interests of all involved parties. This collaborative approach promotes innovation, knowledge sharing, and the discovery of new insights. In late 2022, industry published the private sector


construction playbook with the Construction Data Trust being a key part of their strategy for transforming the industry’s productivity. In August 2023, the Australian Constructors


Association’s report on ‘Nailing Construction Productivity’ also highlighted the need for “A national approach to construction data collection should be established that collates deidentified data on all government projects from across jurisdictions in a common format and in a secure environment.” It specifically referenced how “Data governance will be a key consideration in this initiative to ensure commercially or personally sensitive information is not shared. It is worth noting that a similar, industry-led approach


has been successfully adopted in the UK but suffers from a lack of strong government sponsorship (www.datatrust.construction).


AVOIDING ANOTHER PAINFUL EXPERIENCE Before you make up your mind, I’d like to share a story from personal experience. In 2018, I tried to get


hold of lessons learned data from government to improve how projects are delivered, and I struggled. I fired off a number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and got hold of some data but most doors were closed. So, I appealed, winning some and losing others. So, I appealed again, with one case ending up in court. I won the case, arguing that government is the custodian of public data rather than the owner of this data. I tested the principle that if there is public interest


in opening up the data, then it should be opened up. But this should be in a controlled way. However, the FOI process isn’t precise enough to manage these nuances, hence why I have spent so long championing the case for data trusts. In my view, it is the only way forward to balance


the demands of key stakeholders, whilst unlocking the opportunities inherent in advanced data analytics and AI. Otherwise, when innovators are starved of data and government is sat on a treasure trove of tunnelling data, the only way of getting access to it is via the FOI process. That doesn’t seem sensible to me. At Projecting Success, we founded the Project Data


Analytics Community in 2017, where the benefits of a collaborative approach to data driven project delivery were becoming increasingly evident. Since then we have hosted 19 hackathons to solve shared challenges, including working with HS2 to use data analytics to mitigate the impact of extreme weather. The most crucial part of this jigsaw is having people who understand how to unlock the power of data-driven project delivery. We’ve been providing world class training on this


topic, leveraging the government’s training levy, since 2020 helping hundreds of people to transform the way they work. Get on the bus and prepare for a new and hugely exciting future.


DECISION POINT The industry will need to decide whether to continue to pursue a benchmarking-based approach or consider opening up data in a controlled way via a data trust, so underpinning data-driven project delivery methods and advancements. The ecosystem already exists.


December 2023 | 37


Above left:


Data ownership and access is a growing challenge


Above right:


Challenge to industry as data engagement grows: benchmark or data trust, or…?


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