As Southeast Asia powers ahead with multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects, a hidden crisis threatens to derail progress. Vitaly Berezka shares the urgent need for digital transformation in ASEAN’s construction sector and why smarter data coordination is key to building the region’s future.
From mega highways to smart cities, Southeast Asia is surging forward with a pipeline of high-profile infrastructure projects. While it’s easy to marvel at the region’s development momentum, a quieter threat is undermining progress across ASEAN’s booming construction sector: information loss. Project data is the most crucial asset for unlocking both operational and cost efficiencies, yet information loss is the most overlooked risk choking productivity, driving up costs, and delaying progress on the region’s most critical projects.
Outdated Communication Holds Back Megaproject Momentum
Despite the scale and complexity of megaprojects like Malaysia’s MRT or Indonesia’s new capital city development, most contractors and consultants still rely on manual methods to manage critical project data. Paper-based inspections, emails buried in inboxes, and siloed updates between teams continue to dominate.
This outdated model is incompatible with the high-stakes nature of today’s construction economy. When data is lost or delayed, decisions are made in the dark. When site reports are misfiled or not shared in real time, risk multiplies. And when communications break down across borders, languages, and vendors, timelines collapse.
As a result, construction firms across Southeast Asia are grappling with project delays,budget overruns, and costly rework. While material prices, supply chain delays, weather disruptions and manpower shortages are often blamed, the deeper issue here is disorganised and fragmented data workflows.
With the growing complexity of today’s construction industry, effective communication, coordination, and real-time information sharing are more crucial than ever. Layan Green Park faced significant project challenges in 2023 on a large-scale resort project in Phuket, specifically in managing a large, multi-faceted construction site involving numerous stakeholders.
The team needed a way to minimise mistakes, reduce delays, and improve collaboration across various contractors and departments. The project team engaged PlanRadar to address their problems, streamline communication, enhance collaboration and provide a unified platform to manage the construction process. This enabled the team on the ground to visualise and plan the entire project in a 3D model, which allowed for quicker decision-making and error identification.
This resulted in a reduction of approval times, enhanced efficiency and significant cost savings and time reduction, as well as helped identify issues early on to prevent costly mistakes. In a region where construction GDP is expected to surpass $1 trillion in the coming years, more than 65 percent of projects suffer delays due to coordination breakdowns.
Incomplete data, out-of-sync documents, and scattered communication, whether via WhatsApp threads, handwritten notes, or outdated spreadsheets, will quietly bleed the industry of time and money. Additionally, there’s costly rework to contend with. According to McKinsey, rework alone contributes up to 15 percent of total project costs in Southeast Asia. This clearly shows that it’s not a margin problem but a workflow crisis.
The True Cost of Poor Data Coordination
Bad data doesn’t just cost money, it damages reputations. When clients lose trust due to missed deadlines, or contractors are hit with penalties for overruns, and when quality issues emerge post-handover, the implications can be long-term and deeply damaging. In Singapore alone, digital inefficiencies cost the construction sector over SG$1.1 billion annually.
In Vietnam and the Philippines, up to 20 percent of project costs are attributed to rework caused by miscommunication. And globally, construction companies lost an estimated $1.8 trillion in 2020 due to poor data management. That’s a staggering number for an industry still reliant on forms and folders.
Tech-driven Coordination is Already Working
Across ASEAN, forward-thinking firms are already rewriting the playbook. Malaysia’s LRT3 project mandated the use of BIM and digital reporting tools, resulting in a 40 percent reduction in information delays.
In Vietnam, urban rail projects in Hanoi and HCMC are leveraging digital platforms to track progress, catch issues early, and keep stakeholders aligned.Modern tools and platforms can now organise how data is captured, shared, and actioned on construction sites, allowing teams to ditch the paper and move to mobile-first documentation, where photos, audio, and annotations are captured on-site and synced in real time.
Project managers can see progress at a glance, access audit trails, and generate reports with a few taps.Advanced technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), Internet of Things (IoT), and mobile apps are reshaping how construction projects are executed. These tools offer real-time updates, seamless collaboration, and comprehensive project tracking. Centralised platforms ensure that all stakeholders, from contractors to financiers,are aligned and informed.
Urgent Industry Action Needed
However, technology alone won’t fix the problem. What’s needed is a mindset shift. Leaders must stop seeing digital tools as optional and start viewing them as mission-critical infrastructure. It’s time to move beyond temporary fixes and invest in systematic data coordination strategies.
Project managers must become champions of transparency, while investors must demand accountability. And every stakeholder, from architect to subcontractor,must commit to clear, centralised communication.The next generation of construction in Southeast Asia will not be defined solely by the size of its projects, but by the intelligence of its processes. Firms that ignore this shift will find themselves left behind while those that embrace it will unlock not just productivity, but resilience, trust, and long-term growth
About Vitaly Berezka
Vitaly Berezka is leading business development across Central Asia, MENA and APAC regions for the prominent construction and real estate software company PlanRadar. With an engineering degree in construction, Vitaly also holds an executive degree in business administration.
His experience in the real estate development and construction industry spans more than 15 years. Since 2013, he has held management positions in international companies that provide innovative solutions to the construction and real estate industries. Besides lecturing on digitalisation topics at universities, he is the author of scientific publications and the co-author of three books. Vitaly is a member of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI)
