Continuous exchange and development are essential in all areas of society, including the construction industry. For this reason, the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) hosted the "Digitally Planning and Building Infrastructure 4.0" congress at the Giessen Congress Hall, an event that has been held annually since 2014.
Under the motto "Building for the Digital Age," the focus was on digital transformation and Building Information Modeling (BIM) in infrastructure construction. With over 300 registrations, including 200 on-site participants and another 100 to 140 via livestream, the congress underscored its importance for the construction and digitalization sectors. Experts from across Germany, as well as Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, participated both in person and virtually. To engage young professionals, the organizers provided free livestream tickets for students, which were met with great enthusiasm nationwide.
THMVice President Prof. Olaf Berger opened the event, and President Prof. Dr. Matthias Willems welcomed the participants on the second day of the congress. Stefan Schnorr, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport, placed the event in the context of digital policy and provided insights into the Federal Government's plans. Yugo Masuya, Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, presented Japan's digitalization strategies in his keynote address. Deutsche Bahn AG, a long-standing cooperation partner of the congress, also provided insights into its model-based planning methods. Topics such as life cycle assessment as part of its sustainability strategy were a key focus.
A key element of the congress was the panel discussion on "End-to-End Digitalization in Infrastructure Construction – From Planning to Operation." Experts from the rail, road, waterway, and aviation sectors discussed current challenges and opportunities. Leonid Herter, lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, presented a live demonstration of the automated assignment of model-based calculation approaches for holistic 5D cost analyses.
In addition to the in-depth technical content of the presentations, the exchange of ideas among colleagues was an essential component of the event. The conference dinner at the Heyligenstaedt restaurant and the trade fair appearance of premium partners Autodesk, RIB Software, and Esri Germany provided ample opportunity for this. The exhibition stand, specially designed for these partners and manufactured in the model-making workshop of the Department of Civil Engineering, was very well received.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Joaquín Díaz, Dean at the THM- Department Civil Engineering, and Dipl.-Ing. Katja Däumer, the organizers of the congress, draw a positive conclusion: “Despite the lower number of participants due to internal restrictions at Deutsche Bahn, we were able to welcome many new faces and count on our loyal audience. The high quality of the participants is particularly noteworthy – the congress remains an important meeting place for the digital construction and infrastructure scene.”