At the recently concluded Construction Technology Summit, Lieutenant General Rajeev Chaudhry, Director General, Border Roads Organisation, pointed out, “Roads are the backbone of development.” He elaborated, “Once a road is constructed, other infrastructure facilities like electricity, water, sanitation, schools, health services, banking services, follow.” He described how villages situated high up on the hills had begun losing young unemployed men to the lure of city opportunities; but they have now been able to reverse the migration with the advent of infrastructure. Now, some villages have grown in population owing to the availability of infrastructure. What has been even more heartening is the adoption of construction technology. In this issue do refer to the Indian edition of the KPMG Global Construction Survey 2023 which reaffirms the Indian industry’s enhanced engagement with technologies being used in construction. If you saw Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny and were awed by Harrison Ford at 80 also playing his 40-year-old younger self, you have witnessed computer-generated imagery or Ford's digital twin of sorts. A digital twin can actually do a lot more. Imagine simulating the flooding pattern of a city like Mumbai or Delhi during its heaviest downpour and then enabling the city's disaster management department to plan shelters, rescue equipment and medical facilities. This should get incorporated into the urban planning budgets of cities prone to flooding or subject to similar natural excesses. Using real-time data and artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins become virtual, living mirrors of their physical counterparts – providing opportunities to simulate everything from infrastructure and construction to traffic patterns and energy consumption. The digital replica is created with digital drawings, plans and IoT sensors. The plans and drawings are the foundation of the physical item in a virtual space. Sensors then collect data from it and sync it with the digital model to create a real-time replica. The National Urban Innovation Stack in India is exploring policy initiatives to enable the creation of layers of digital data and allowing out-of-the-box solutions to urban challenges. Singapore and Shanghai both have complete digital twins that work to improve energy consumption and traffic flow, and even help plan developments. While digital construction has relevance particularly in the metro rail projects and High-Speed Rail projects currently, the need for skilling and training has never been so acute. The recent crane accident in Thane where 20 workers and engineers have been killed during the third phase of the construction of a viaduct on the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra highlights the need for safety in execution. The 2.28 km-long viaduct is being constructed by Navayuga Engineering and Singapore-based VSL India. Of the viaduct’s 114 segments, 98 have been successfully constructed using the same launcher. Crane collapses are common globally and over 40-60 people die every year. Over 25 per cent of those accidents occurred due to errors during crane assembly or disassembly. Another 25 per cent occurred during operation or lifting. Of the deaths, over 50 per cent were the result of workers being struck by objects or equipment, and over 20 per cent involved the crane operator. Our 18th Construction World Architect & Builder Awards, scheduled on August 25 in Mumbai, will have Dr Liu Thai Ker, architect and former CEO of the Urban Planning Authority of Singapore, delivering the keynote with architects and experts from Zaha Hadid - London and Dubai, making presentations amid the finalists of India’s Top Architects and Builders. Building tech is indeed gaining momentum.