Digital Construction Week Recap: A standout launch for the Digital Operations Playbook
As the dust settles on an incredible few days at Digital Construction Week, it’s clear that this year’s event marked a major milestone for the industry – most notably with the launch of the Digital Operations Playbook.
A highlight of the week was Wednesday evening’s networking event, which proved to be an overwhelming success. With over 150 attendees filling the stage area – well beyond expected numbers – the energy in the room reflected the strong industry appetite for a more connected, data-driven future. The event brought together key stakeholders from across the sector, creating a vibrant atmosphere and reinforcing the importance of collaboration in driving digital transformation.
It was fantastic to be part of such a great evening – mixing with existing contacts and meeting like‑minded people, chatting through the same challenges, and realising we’re all figuring it out together, but have a common goal. I’m looking forward to more events like this and building even stronger connections with customers, collaborators and partners.
James Thomas
Head of Digital Builings
The momentum began even before the main event, with the pre-DCW DOWG Roundtable. The session played a critical role in shaping the Playbook, with valuable contributions helping to refine and stress-test its core logic. These insights fed directly into the week’s discussions and presentations, ensuring the framework resonated with real-world industry challenges.
On stage, the Commissioning & Validation panel stood out as a high-impact session, showcasing leading perspectives on performance-led delivery. The conversation demonstrated the growing alignment across the industry around outcomes-driven approaches and the role of digital processes in achieving them.
Supporting this, Jordan Collins, BMS Principal Technical Manager, SES sat on the panel, “Smart buildings, same outcomes: Why commissioning deserves centre stage.”
SES collaboration with DOWG is an example of partnering brilliantly with all stakeholders in a “right-to-left” approach to the built environment, we are reimagining places for people to thrive, which is a core purpose of what we do as a business.
Delivering long-term value means thinking beyond construction. The systems we put in place today directly shape how effectively our end users’ assets are managed tomorrow and it’s important to play our part in this process.Beyond the sessions and networking, the event has already triggered tangible next steps. Work is underway to integrate key initiatives – such as the ADS Alliance’s Universal Data Spine (UDS) and evolving data standards like COBie-to-AOH – directly into the Digital Operations Playbook. This collaboration is being further strengthened through the expansion of the DOWG Expert Advisory Panel, ensuring that data alignment remains central to the framework’s evolution.
Critically, we bridge the entire lifecycle from engineering delivery and long-term operations – which highlights the importance of end-to-end collaboration. Their role in enabling the “digital handshake” across the asset lifecycle underscores the real-world application and long-term value of the Playbook.
This is just the beginning. The initial rollout is already underway, with session summaries, reports, and insights being shared across the wider network. With strong engagement and clear industry momentum, the foundations are now in place for continued collaboration, deeper dialogue, and ongoing development of the Digital Operations Playbook.
Click here to read the full report: https://www.demandlogic.co.uk/design-for-performance-placing-digital-operations-at-the-heart-of-decision-making.