Construction City awarded official innovation cluster status

Have Industry - Need Cluster

The Arena Program's mission is to incentivize industry collaboration to increase the degree of innovation and competitive power. This reflects the goals that Construction City have for their members from the entire value chain of the construction and real estate industry.

Torger Reve, Professor of Strategy and Industrial Competitiveness at BI Norwegian Business School har seen followed the launch of the cluster intently.

"No other industry will have better use of well-functioning cluster than the construction and real estate industry. It s Norway's largest onshore industry, and one with great potential for innovation and improved productivity, Reve says.

An important recognition

"We founded Construction City just one year ago. And already we are allowed into the innovation program Norwegian Innovation Clusters and awarded Arena status. We are building a strong ecosystem, and believe this recognition will make the work even more solid. Stakeholders that traditionally have worked against one another, are now working to solve more universal problems such as sustainability goals and efficiency, says CEO Benedicte Økland in Construction City.

In the first year alone, more than 50 companies and organizations has joined the cluster.

"Research shows that business clusters create greater value and growth for those who work together to create innovation and knowledge sharing. The time is ripe. The construction and real estate industry has to change the way we work in Norway, and we believe we have a great opportunity to make it work.

Scrambling to join

Interest in joining the cluster has been strong. Many new members have come to, and many are on their way. Statsbygg, Cramo, and Microsoft were among the new members in 2019.

Companies with more indirect ties to construction and real estate have also become members, like Telenor, Gjensidige and Lyse.

"We are building a strong ecosystem for the industry. It is paramount that we include the entire value chain", says Benedicte Økland.

"Many of us have wanted a greater degree of collaboration in the industry. At Statsbygg, we try to allow startups to test their solutions in real projects. Through this new cluster, we believe we can develop this aspect further. We are looking forward to being a part of developing the industry through the cluster", says Annett Andreassen, Director of Digitalization and Development in Statsbygg.

Bygg-, anlegg-, og eiendomsbransjen er Norges største fastlandsnæring med 57.000 bedrifter og 235.000 ansatte. Den samlede årlige omsetningen nærmer seg 500 milliarder kroner (kilde: SBB). Norsk BAE-bransje står overfor et tydelig utfordringsbilde som det er av nasjonal betydning å adressere. Digitalisering kan øke produktiviteten og realisere gevinster på opp mot 100 milliarder kroner årlig internasjonalt (kilde: Sintef). Bransjen står også for en betydelig klima- og miljøbelastning. SSB beregner at bransjen i Norge står for ca. 15 prosent av det samlede CO2-utslippet, 40 prosent av materialforbruket og 25 prosent av alt avfall.

Internasjonalt samarbeid

Construction City har satt seg som mål å være bransjens mest relevante forum for samhandling og nye løsninger, bygge et utstillingsvindu på Ulven innen 2024 og bidra til å etablere globalt anerkjente næringsaktører innen 2030.

Arena-status gir mulighet til lettere å koble seg på internasjonale nettverk, noe næringsklyngen er opptatt av. Økland mener at hvis de skal klare å møte det teknologiske taktskiftet og økt internasjonal konkurranse, er klyngesamarbeid på tvers helt nødvendig.