BIM Academic Forum revival kicks off
20 April 2026
Who will you learn from at Digital Construction Week 2026?
21 April 2026
The annual challenge of how to see as many speaker sessions as possible begins as Digital Construction Week (DCW) has announced its programme for 2026. Here, DC+ highlights the 20 sessions that have jumped out after a first glance at the programme.
There will be more than 230 CPD-accredited speaker sessions staged across two days at DCW, held at London’s ExCel on 3-4 June. The organisers have announced the programme for nine stages. The line-up for the main stage, plus what’s happening on the Tech Stage and in the Debate Zone, will be revealed closer to the show.
Here are some of the sessions on day one that have caught DC+’s attention:
- Universal data spine by public sector estates management guru Stephen Boyd MBE and AtkinsRéalis technical director Andrew Green on the Digital Operations Stage.
- Asset intelligence: the missing discipline in the built environment by Nick Hutchinson, founder and managing partner of Glider, on the Digital Operations Stage.
- The death of O&M: a light-hearted autopsy by JLL director Ed Riby on the Digital Operations Stage.
- Bye COBie, say hello to AOH: how buildingSMART is creating a purposeful asset handover by Skanska head of digital construction Alex Plenty on the Information Management Exchange stage.
- Suicide prevention in construction by Brent Leyshon, programme manager at Transport for London, on the Inspire Stage.
- Would I AI to you? by Vicki Reynolds, technical director of digital estates at ONE Creative Environments, and Dan Rossiter, built environment sector lead at BSI, on the Inspire Stage.
- Will an AI-enabled construction industry still need main contractors? by Suzanne Hill, business strategist in AI at AI for SMEs, on the Inspire Stage.
- The hidden cost of digital innovation by Skanska digital construction manager Donatella Fiorella in the People & Change Theatre.
- Why digital tools fail when decisions matter most by Luis Javier Berraco, digital construction and innovation lead at King’s College London, in the People & Change Theatre.
- Inside the $1bn AI alliance: how WSP and Microsoft will rewire AEC by WSP head of digital services Johnathan Munkley at the Transformation Hub.
And here are the sessions to look out for on day two:
- The master systems coordinator: separating logic from labour through design for performance management by John Clarke, operations director at One Sightsolutions, on the Digital Operations Stage.
- Digital Twins or expensive mirrors? How to stop building theatre and start building intelligence by RLB Digital software development consultant Scott Pilgrim on the Digital Operations Stage.
- The lean CDE diet: lose the bloat, keep the brains by RLB Digital’s Scott Pilgrim and senior developer Nour Abdelmoaty on the Information Management Exchange stage.
- BIM: ten years later (or “what’s changed from 2016 to 2026?”) – a retrospective journey through the same old same old by Nigel Davies, founding director at Evolve Consultancy, and Craig Hardingham, digital technical director at Sweco, on the Information Management Exchange stage.
- Knowledge representation… the next steps for information management and the grounding for AI by RLB Digital head of information management strategy Emma Hooper, on the Information Management Stage.
- What if your BIM model could say no? Automating compliance with data and AI by Dr Mohammad Mayof, associate professor in digital construction at Birmingham City University, on the Information Management Stage.
- The BIM Olympics! Shanghai 2026 and Aichi 2028 by Bond Bryan BIM manager Daniel Chesson on the Inspire Stage.
- Digital paradox: owning the building but not the data by Dalux building owners adviser Johnny Furlong on the Inspire Stage.
- Why is BIM not intuitive, responsive or user-friendly like an AI tool? by Bentley Systems chief value officer David Philp on the Inspire Stage.
- Data quality vs data honesty by Isaac Dyer, project controls consultant at Movar Group, and Carlos Sanchez, solutions lead principal at Movar Reply, in the People & Change Theatre.
As well as the packed speaker programme, there will be more than 150 exhibitors at DCW. More than 9,000 professionals are expected at the show.
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