Looking at Building’s headlines over recent weeks, you could be forgiven for feeling gloomy about the future of the construction industry. Social distancing rules have wreaked havoc on sites across the country and seem likely to stay in some form until a vaccine for covid-19 is found.

Stark figures from the Office for National Statistics for 4-17 May revealed that more than one-third of firms in the construction sector saw their turnover down by at least half compared with before the pandemic, while the Construction Products Association has estimated that sector output will drop by 25% this year.

However, the gloom was not shared by a panel of industry experts who spoke at a recent Building webinar. Hosted in association with law firm Fenwick Elliott, the four tech specialists invited to discuss how the industry can use technology to plot a route out of the covid-19 quagmire were decidedly optimistic.

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