The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) recently published a new framework for organisations to assess their digital capabilities and identify areas for growth. Simon Meyer, Digital Transformation Director at construction workforce management provider MSite, believes that this framework represents a major step forward in defining what digital competence means across the built environment.
The world around us is undergoing a digital transformation, and the built environment is no exception. Digital capability in construction is no longer a specialist function; it’s a core skill that underpins how we plan, deliver, and operate successful projects.
However, across the sector, there remains a lack of shared understanding of what digital competency truly means, both in theory and in practice. Without that common language, progress risks becoming fragmented at a time when coordinated action is essential. The Construction Leadership Council’s new digital competency framework aims to change that.
The framework provides a foundation for digital capability across all roles — from operatives and site managers to executives and asset owners — and reminds us that transformation depends as much on people as it does on technology. Tools alone will not transform our industry; people will.
Digital transformation in the built environment goes far beyond simply replacing paper with software. It requires an outcome-based mindset, which integrates data, systems and people to replace traditional processes with new ones that make the sector healthier.
For many organisations, the challenge isn’t access to technology but the ability to use it effectively. We talk about collaboration and data-driven decision-making, yet much of the industry still depends on paper sign-ins, spreadsheets, and disconnected systems. The gap isn’t technical, it’s behavioural.
True transformation happens when digital solutions become so intuitive, accessible, and trusted that they simply feel like part of the job. When compliance checks run automatically, when fatigue and attendance are monitored in real time, and when leaders can see their workforce performance instantly, the value of digital becomes clear. It reduces waste, boosts productivity, enhances safety, and helps projects run more efficiently.
The CLC framework identifies 10 core competencies, from digital literacy and communication to modelling, automation and data analytics. These are crucial, but they only deliver impact when applied in the field.
At MSite, we see this every day. Our platform connects pre-site onboarding, onsite operations and in-site reporting, giving construction leaders a unified view of their workforce and empowering them to make better decisions around safety, productivity, and sustainability.
Digital competence also supports the drive towards waste and carbon reduction. By optimising labour deployment, reducing duplication and cutting unnecessary travel, contractors can lower emissions while improving workforce management efficiency. This reinforces our conviction that sustainability and productivity are no longer competing priorities; effective digital transformation drives both.
The CLC has called on government and clients to lead by example, through actions such as embedding digital literacy into procurement and rewarding organisations that can demonstrate competence across their workforce.
That shift is already underway. Public sector clients now expect verifiable proof of ethical labour, ESG compliance and safety performance. The next step will be evidence of digital competence itself, not just ‘Are you compliant?’ but ‘Are your people digitally capable of working safely and efficiently in a connected environment?’. This is already more than possible through MSite.
By providing real-time visibility of workforce data, qualifications and access control across the supply chain, digital competence becomes measurable and a core part of both project delivery and reputation. That means making data relevant and accessible to everyone, not just analysts or engineers. It means ensuring digital systems work for people, not the other way around. And it means aligning technology with the realities of site life, not just boardroom.
When digital systems make safety, compliance and productivity easier to achieve, people adopt them willingly. When technology quietly removes friction from daily routines, we never look back.
The CLC’s digital competency framework sets a clear direction, but it’s the industry’s responsibility to bring it to life. Digital transformation will only succeed when every worker, every contractor and every project team feels empowered to use technology that improves their outcomes.
That’s the vision we share at MSite. Picture a construction sector where digital competence isn’t a programme or a policy. Instead, it’s part of how the industry operates every day, helping to deliver safer, more productive and more sustainable projects.
Header image: Simon Meyer, Digital Transformation Director at construction workforce management provider MSite
