The first day of Procore Technologies' digital construction conference, Groundbreak, was marked by a range of new announcements and a message of positivity from company founder and CEO Tooey Courtemanche.
This was the first time the conference has been held digitally and a turbulent year was no deterrent for Procore to make moves and announce new products.
Announcements include:
- Procore's acquisition of Esticom, a construction estimating and takeoff software company – this will enable greater accuracy in cost estimates, helping contractors win more bids and reduce risk throughout a project's life cycle.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) to unlock insights from construction data – new features on the Procore platform will increase the use of data in construction, with AI-powered insights and industry benchmark data aiming to help Procore users make better, real-time decisions to improve their construction processes.
- Improvement to 3D building information modelling (BIM) use on construction sites – two new features in Procore BIM (Dynamic Wall Elevations and Follow Me, a location-based user collaboration feature) should make it easier to leverage 3D models during construction.
Tooey Courtemanche (pictured above) had a message of encouragement for the construction industry worldwide in his keynote address, after a year of shake-ups, with COVID-19 and political upheavals, particularly in the US.
"Construction is no stranger to building through pandemics, recessions, World Wars and more," he said. "This is definitely not the first time, nor will it be the last, that construction has helped the world rebuild and rebound.
"And let me be very clear with all of you: there is no doubt that construction will bounce back. This year has reinforced my belief that this industry has more heart and soul than any I've had the privilege to work in."
Founder and CEO Courtemanche went on to discuss the measures Procore has taken this year to support its users, such as the introduction of video conferencing between job sites and offices, and Procore's work with experts to release inspection templates for job sites.
The final day of Groundbreak begins on the morning of 29 October, 9am US Pacific Standard time.