AXA XL launches 'Innovators' Circle' for construction industry

Innovation leaders will come together to determine best practices

AXA XL launches 'Innovators' Circle' for construction industry

Construction & Engineering

By Ryan Smith

AXA XL’s North America construction team has announced the launch of the Innovators’ Circle, a consortium of construction innovation leaders aimed at addressing common roadblocks and determining industry best practices to assist in construction technology adoption and innovation.

The Innovators' Circle will collaborate through workshops, design-thinking methods and rapid results initiatives. It aims to develop actionable strategies and best practices to share with the construction industry.

“We’ve spent the last few years working with contractors to explore how the latest technologies can help reduce their risks and improve their business operations,” said Rose Hall, head of construction innovation at AXA XL. “As part of the Innovators’ Circle, construction and technology leaders are working together to find ways to make innovation and tech adoption easier across the industry, to elevate the whole industry into a new era, a whole new way of working. Innovation is becoming the new risk management.”

Late last year, the Innovators’ Circle convened for a workshop focused on creating an innovative culture in the construction industry. The workshop found the most common challenges to creating an innovative culture were:

  • Funding and budget
  • Leadership engagement and buy-in
  • Process development
  • Communication
  • Talent and learning development

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Additional workshops to be held this year focus on developing best practices to share with the industry, AXA XL said.

“Our industry has historically been very fragmented,” said Kaushal Diwan, national director of innovation at construction engineering company DPR. “It’s tough to change the entire industry – contractors, designers, customers and other partners – if we don’t find ways to scale new practices. By working together, we can shift the way stakeholders across the project-delivery chain approach the way work is done and raise the bar.”

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