Digital Construction Forum 2023 Held for the First Time in Georgia The event gave the interested parties an opportunity to get acquainted with world practices and learn more about digitalization of construction

BIM Solutions Group, in cooperation with Construction Management Company CMC, hosted the first digital construction forum in Tbilisi. The event gave the interested parties (property owners, contractors, construction industry representatives) an opportunity to get acquainted with world practices and learn more about digitalization of construction.

BIM Solutions is an international brand promoting the introduction of the building information modeling (BIM) method all over the world, a method which offers companies more effective and productive ways to manage their projects.

Some 300 representatives of more than 80 companies attended the Digital Construction Forum 2023. The event was attended by people from the private sector, government structures and diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia. Representatives of the governmental institutions of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia also participated in the event – sharing their experience with the participants of the forum. In the Baltic States, digital innovations have been actively used in the construction industry for years, and have had a positive impact on companies.

"The information provided by our guests from the Baltic states is very important," noted Teimuraz Bolotashvili, Head of the Tbilisi City Hall Architecture Service. "They have walked the same path that we must walk regarding BIM technologies, which significantly increase the quality of design and construction. BIM will help us, the permit-issuing body, when checking projects, saving us significant time and resources and, in the end, we will have quality projects to be proud of."

The participants of the forum had the opportunity to hear various expert opinions about the BIM method and to see examples at the international level. They also got acquainted with the numerical data on the financial benefits of implementing the BIM method.
Speakers at the event were:

• Dmitrijs Kots, Head of Building information modeling and management division, "State Real Estate" Latvia
• Jaan Saar, Head of the Digital Construction, Construction and Housing Department, Ministry of Climate; EU BIM Task Group Chairman
• Teimuraz Bolotashvili, Head of the Architecture Service of the Tbilisi City Hall
• Ernestas Beržanskis, Manager & Co Founder BIM Solution group
• Håvard Bell, Founder, CSO, Catenda
• Edmee Schultz, Business Development Manager at Catenda
• Arimantas Glebauskas, YIT Lietuva, Administration Director and Member of the Board
• Eriks Vitols, Co-founder, Latvian business branch Manager, JSC Baltic BIM Management
• Moderator of Forum Guga Kobakhidze, Prospect Founder and CEO

The forum was opened with the speech of the Ambassador of Lithuania to Georgia, Andrius Kalindra. After that, Davit Songhulashvili, the head of the sectoral economy committee of the Parliament, John Brekeveldt, the president of the European Business Association, and Tamaz Tavadze, the founder of Construction Management Company CMC, addressed the audience.

"I believe that this is one of the most decisive and important moments in the construction industry, because BIM makes the construction sector and construction works much more efficient, and most importantly, ensures the exclusion of mistakes at the design stage," Tavadze noted. "For the first time, as a result of the coordination of many disciplines at the design stage, as a result of eliminating many errors, we are getting a more complete, healthy and processed end product."

The BIM method is not completely foreign to the Georgian market, and has been used, it has yet to be employed on a large scale.

Temur Bolotashvili, Head of the Architecture Service of the Tbilisi City Hall, highlighted that Georgia is ready to participate in this initiative and to start digital development in structures as well.

Vytautas Puodzunas, the CEO of BIM Solutions Georgia (www.bimsolutions.ge), emphasized that he and his dedicated team stand prepared to offer expert guidance and support to anyone looking to commence the journey of implementing BIM methodologies.

"It was a fascinating conference, giving us a chance to share our decade-long experience with our Georgian colleagues and government representatives," said Ernestas Berzhanskis, co-founder of BIM Solutions Group. "We see that the cost of construction is increasing every year. BIM technology increases the efficiency of the construction cycle, helping to effectively manage human resources and equipment."

The organizer of the forum was BIM Solutions Group, which has been helping companies in different countries to implement innovative methods over numerous years. The sponsor and co-organizer of the forum is the construction management company CMC. The sponsors of the Digital Construction Forum 2023 were also the construction company Anagi and the architectural company Artstudio Project. In addition, the following companies were partners of the forum: Property Georgia, FIABCI Georgia, BMG, EU BIM Task Group, European Business Association Georgia, Baltic BIM Management, BIA and Prospect.

BIM Solutions operates in six European countries – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia. The company cooperates with both construction, design and real estate development companies, as well as government structures, and offers them advice to improve their process management.

BIM Solutions has its own representative office in the Georgian market. The company provides assistance to local construction sectors and helps in the introduction of BIM technologies. The company believes that the implementation of these modern processes provides additional value to all persons involved in the implementation of a project – customers, designers, builders, manufacturers, managers and others. BIM Solutions Georgia is always open for communication – the company says that they are always ready to support the development of the Georgian construction industry.

In addition, BIM Solutions Georgia offers interested companies the chance to raise the qualifications of their personnel through training and certification. BIM Solutions Georgia is ready to advise any company interested in technology and will provide a development plan on how to implement BIM technologies in their activities. BIM Solutions Georgia offers companies the opportunity to reduce errors and material waste, to save money, and to improve their time management.