The fifth edition of the European BIM Summit (EBS19) was held on April 11 and 12, 2019 at the AXA Auditorium of Illa Diagonal in Barcelona becoming the reference meeting on construction digitalization more advanced in Europe. With a renewed format and the incorporation of high level cases, it brought together professionals from 18 countries and, after having invited the UK, France and the German-speaking countries, this year tackled with the Scandinavian experience.

This edition focused on the digital transformation of construction and the incorporation of artificial intelligence to the sector. One of its objectives was to increase its public between the Nordic countries, Asia and Latin America, thanks to the growth in the number of universities that follow the event by streaming.

The congress has established permanent links with other events dedicated to the construction, to complement this event with what is happening all over Spain. The commissioner of this edition has been again Patrick MacLeamy, a world expert in this methodology where his work has helped to position EBS as a benchmark congress at European level, the only one with continental reach. Some of the main speakers of this edition have been Arto Kivimieni, Ioannis Brilakis, Wolfgang Hass and Calvin Kam.

Blockchain and Machine Learning

Everybody has heard about Blockchain, but few people understand what its values ​​are when we talk about construction. Nowadays there is even an association in the United Kingdom of more than 80 companies and institutions that put it into practice within their work processes. This was one of the issues addressed in this fifth edition. On the other hand, the European BIM Summit talked also about Machine Learning, a methodology that uses BIM’s digital data and metadata to make computing systems learn what happens in a given project, in its construction or in its its phase of operation.

In addition to the international summit, several BIM-related activities such as the BIM Experience, an activity prior to the European BIM Summit, were initiated to start up in the BIM environment, a space open to companies and actors of the production and execution in BIM. Also, as a year ago, the BIM 4 Students, a specific session aimed at future construction actors, vocational and university students that will be the largest number of future professionals in the sector. These activities were presented directly by their creators and in a very didactic way: what is BIM, how it will affect them in their work and how it drives a new construction industry. Throughout the technical seminars, there were also moments for the exchange of opinions and experiences, such as BIM Beer, a network-friendly space.

Talent BIM Market Place

Alsao present at the headquarters of the AXA Auditorium, and as a BIMN Fair, a representation of the companies that at the international level have been transformed and the players of the sector were present. With direct contact with the attendees at the summit, professionals and technicians had the opportunity to learn about the innovations of the market, not only with products but also with services. Finally, within the European BIM Summit, the Talent BIM Marketplace space was organized one more year, with the objective of contacting companies interested in attracting BIM talent and BIM professionals.