There is still time left to register to attend the fifth National Construction Summit, which will be held on Thursday, 14 March 2019 at the Citywest Exhibition Centre in Dublin. The staging of the National Construction Summit is timely with construction industry output in the Republic of Ireland predicted to expand by 20% to €24 billion in 2019 and output in Northern Ireland expected to grow by 6% to £3.2 billion. However, there are major challenges on the horizon such as the housing crisis, skills shortages, a lack of public funding and geopolitical uncertainty. The uncertainty surrounding Brexit is also problematic but there may be greater clarity on this issue by Thursday, 14 March – the day of the 2019 National Construction Summit – with the British House of Parliament scheduled to have held a series of votes earlier in the week. Encompassing a number of complementary, co-located events along with an array of seminars and workshops, and featuring 250 exhibition stands, showcasing the latest products, services and technology for the construction, engineering, sustainable building, maintenance and architectural sectors, the 2019 National Construction Summit will provide a forum for key stakeholders across the industry to gather to discuss pressing issues. It is also offers visitors the opportunity to enhance knowledge and to network with those involved in the finance, design, construction and management of Ireland’s buildings, infrastructure and industrial projects.

Exhibition content streams for the built environment

The following content streams will be showcased under the umbrella of the 2019 National Construction Summit include:
  • Smart & Green Building.
  • Architecture, Design and Planning.
  • Data Centre and Critical Infrastructure.
  • Government Administration & Procurement Summit.
  • Infrastructure and Transport.
  • Engineering
  • Facility Management and Maintenance.
  • Plant, Machinery and Materials.
  • Power and Energy.
  • Security.

Comprehensive conference programme

A comprehensive conference programme, featuring 150 speakers, has been arranged by organiser Premier Publishing & Events. Topics to be discussed at the 2019 National Construction Summit include:
  • Construction 4.0;
  • Brexit;
  • BIM;
  • Infrastructural investment;
  • Public & private housing;
  • Project Ireland 2040;
  • Opportunities for jobs, skills and training;
  • Women in the construction industry;
  • National Development Plan;
  • Use of drones, AI, AR and VR for design and build;
  • Green Technology;
  • Digitizing Smart Cities;
  • Finance;
  • Building materials & services innovation;
  • Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
On the housing front, Paul McKenna, CEO of mac-group, will assess the benefits that modular construction can bring to alleviate the shortages in residential development and rapidly improve the supply of homes in Ireland; while William Hynes, Managing Director of Future Analytics Consulting, will outline ‘New Approaches to Housing Delivery in Ireland’. On infrastructure, Brian Collier, Head of Construction Procurement at DAA, will discuss the various opportunities available to construction contractors and associated consultancies and suppliers at Dublin Airport over the next several years as the Capital Investment Plan 2020 is rolled out.

Smart Cities

‘Making Dublin a Smart City’ is the theme being explored by Alan Murphy, Smart Dublin Lead at Smart Dublin, which uses emerging technology to provide better public services in areas such as mobility, environment, energy efficiency, etc. Michael Flynn, Partner at Deloitte, will examine the funding and financing of Smart Cities and infrastructure. Gavan Duffy, Autodesk Technical Consultant at Diatec, will consider the subject of ‘Digitising Project Delivery Using Cloud-based Technology’. In a similar vein, Pat Kirwan, Associate at Henry J Lyons, will show how technology can be used to drive change in the construction industry and improve productivity, cost and delivery. Another keynote speaker, Tom Moloney, Managing Director of Construction Information Services, will provide an overview of the construction market in Ireland – North and South - and the possible impact of Brexit. Julie Currid, COO and Co-founder of Initiafy, will talk about ways of ‘Making Construction More Appealing to Female Workers’. Working at height in construction continues to be one of the leading causes of both serious and fatal accidents. Aisling Davis, Construction Policy Inspector at the Health & Safety Authority, will focus on some key areas of how to carry out work at height activities safely. Approximately 5,000 people from across Ireland have already registered to visit the 2019 National Construction Summit. To register to attend visit - www.nationalconstructionsummit.ie/delegatesregister/.