A month has passed since the kick-off of the Built Environment Digitalization (RYD) project, and it's good to take a moment to see what kind of feedback we received and what we can learn from it.
The goal of the RYD project is ambitious: to build a foundation of interoperable, standardized, and machine-readable information for the real estate and construction industry, enabling the smooth flow of information throughout the entire building lifecycle – from planning, design, manufacturing, construction, and maintenance.
The kick-off event brought together industry associations, companies, authorities, research organizations and other stakeholders to discuss how digitalization can improve the productivity and practices of the industry. There were over 250 participants, both on-site and remotely.
A strong message from the industry: we want change
Based on the feedback from the kick-off, the event was considered a success overall, and one piece of feedback was repeated in several comments: Now it feels like something is really happening in the industry.
This is an important message: digitalization has been talked about for a long time in the real estate and construction industry, but practical progress has often been left to individual projects. One of the key goals of the RYD project is to move from individual experiments to the joint development of the entire industry. From pseudo-digitalization, or digitization, towards genuine digitalization.
Diverse perspectives were seen as a strength
Feedback particularly praised the event's speaker coverage and diversity of perspectives. Companies, authorities, research and development projects came together in the same discussion.
Many participants found it valuable that the event examined digitalization both at a strategic level and through practical examples. They also found the honest discussion about the challenges in the industry – such as data fragmentation and manual data transfers – important.
This is the essence of the RYD project: digitalization is not done in silos. The processes in the industry run through many organizations and systems, and therefore solutions must be built together.
What can we do better?
Constructive feedback is at least as valuable as praise in terms of development. In the RYD project, we constantly strive to keep in mind the principles of continuous improvement, or as legendary Lions coach Curt Lindström said: “Lite bättre” meaning you can always do a little better.
Two things were particularly desired in the constructive comments:
1. Be more specific
Some of the speeches were felt to be too general. Participants would like to hear more practical examples of what digitalization means in everyday work.
In the RYD project, we aim to simultaneously look at the whole from a helicopter perspective (for example, from the perspective of national division of labor) and implement very concrete development projects that help companies harness the potential of digitalization. The intention is to provide more examples in the future. from real life, which will hopefully inspire listeners, like the Continuation performance did at the kick off.
2. Clearer next steps
Many asked a simple but important question:
How can you participate and be involved in this? And what happens next?
The kick-off was just the starting shot, and the real work begins now. The goal is to hold separate announcements of results for the sub-projects, as well as an annual event where we review the main events of the current year and look ahead to the next year. You can already put it on your calendar that RYD Day 2026 will be held on Wednesday, December 2, 2026, from 12 to 3 p.m.
We currently have one development project underway: the BETK working group, which focuses on digitalizing the order-delivery chain for concrete elements, and we will tell you more about it at future events. You can find current issues and contact information for the BETK group here.
The next development project to be launched is Standardization and individualization of building location information led by Rakennustietomali Oy. We are currently gathering a project team so that work can begin in spring 2026. For more information about the project, please contact Tommi Arola.
The following sub-projects of the RYD project follow the published Digitalization 2.0 roadmap.
One thing is already clear: the digitalization of the built environment will not be a project of a single organization. It will only happen if the entire sector participates and commits to a common goal. Based on the feedback received, there is interest and will for it. Now our task is to ensure that this energy is transformed into concrete development work for the benefit of the entire sector.
For more information about the RYD project, please visit rt.fi/ryd and you can also contact me.
Also watch the video
Antti Aaltonen
Director, Construction Development
antti.aaltonen@rt.fi +358 40 514 3626Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries (CFCI)
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