Discussing Design Technology trends

DTS gets the right people in the room to have a substantive conversation on Design Technology trends in the AEC.

Participants in the annual Design Technology Summit walk away with a greater understanding of the scope of the AEC industry’s technology challenges and opportunities. This is because DTS is a collection of focused participatory conversations on topics with import to Design Technology leaders. DTS is a space for Design Technology Directors/Managers/Principals/Thought leaders, at every point in their career to discuss their challenges, theories, and successes. It is the constantly faceting innovations and technologies we encounter on our paths that makes this conference incredibly valuable.

The Summit’s format continues to evolve. This year we will explore innovations and challenges through thought-leading presentations and panels followed with discussion sessions moderated by the DTS committee members. This year’s DTS events will be fully interlaced with the BILT event and DTS attendees have access to all of the offerings of the BILT conference.  There will be 8 DTS sessions in total, grouped into four pairs of two sessions each. Each pair will consist of a session “A” and session “B”.

Session “A” will feature relevant, thoughtful, insights and examples from industry leaders, presented in a lecture or panel form. Session “B” gives attendees the opportunity to reflect, discuss and expand on Session A’s topic and ideas, relating them to their organizations and experiences. Session B’s format will be the traditional DTS-style facilitated conversations including the opportunity for breakout sessions should they suit the topic at hand.

Day 1: From practice to startup

Topic #1

Session A – Keynote: Heath May, HKS LINE

Case study for technology on an advanced stadium, including the continuum of digital threading through project phases.

Session B: Discussion

Key Discussion Topics:

• What can you identify as an opportunity in your company?
• How can technology tie together areas of your practice?
• How does technology augment human capabilities, rather than supplant them?
• What is technology’s role in the context of professional services in general?

Topic #2

Session A – Presentation: Who Wants to be a (Built World) Entrepreneur? Alice Leung

Alice will share her thoughts on starting an AEC technology company – including funding strategies, team selection, and more.

Session B: Discussion

Key Discussion Topics:

• Identify one opportunity from Session Pair #1 and develop a plan to fund it
• Describe both top-line and bottom-line benefits for your idea
• Discuss operationalization strategies

Day 2: Work and you

Topic #3

Session A: The Evolution of Digitizing Your Practice, Ellen Benksy, Turner Fleischer Architects

Balancing digital transformation, client servicing, and business innovation.

Key Learning Objectives

• Learn how innovation necessitates the evolution of existing roles and the creation of new highly specialized positions at all levels.     
• Understand how a Digital Practice Department is scalable and can evolve along with your firm.
• Learn how a primarily non-billable department structure is created and maintained within a profitable environment.
• Understanding how the right structure for technology management informs strategic growth and good decisions, pivotal in the ability to future-plan.

Session B: Discussion

Key Discussion Topics:

• How has your firm’s Digital Practice group evolved over the past ten years? What has been digitized, digitalized, or digitally transformed?
• What were the drivers of that evolution?
• What sort of tactics/ approaches could you take to develop/ grow an overhead component of your DT/ DP group?
  • justifications, organizational strategies
  • digitalization vs digital transformation

Topic #4

Session A: Work Experience Panel Discussion, Katelyn Sanchez, Neil Kemp, Marcello Sgambelluri

Comparing and contrasting design technology and innovation in three distinct environments:

• in a project role within a company
• as part (or lead) of a Design Technology group within a company
• as an independent consultant

Session B: Discussion

Key Discussion Topics

• Draw parallels to your circumstances and
• identify one area of potential: what might that look like in two or three of the environments from Session A?

15 years ago a small group of AEC change-agents recognized the importance of their small informal gatherings at conferences where they discussed challenges, trends and ideas, leading to the formation of DTS.  As a key part of the success of DTS over the years, discussion participation has driven the value of the event and is a foundational characteristic. DTS encourages you to participate in this ongoing gathering of thought leaders and change agents to help continue to drive advancement and change in the industry.

We also encourage you to tweet your thoughts on the advancement of technologies in the industry and the driving factors behind growing success and innovation using #BILTAM #BILT2022 #DTS2022