From Apple to Uber, digital disruption is reshaping entire industries. In the construction industry's case, technology brings opportunity.

Everything is transforming – in commerce, at home in healthcare, transport and in the construction and management of infrastructure.

Netflix disrupted video shops. Spotify disrupted the music industry. Uber disrupted the taxi industry. The iPhone displaced Nokia, who at the time held over 50 per cent of the global market.

Each was a different case in digital disruption. Common to them all was a platform (in the broadest sense of the word) that was simple, intuitive and made it easy to say ‘yes’.

For leaders, digital disruption can be challenging. It can be threatening and at the same time exciting.

The construction sector is no different, with systems being influenced and increasingly driven by data and technological advancement at pace. This doesn’t take away from the fundamentals of the sector and its connection to societal well-being and economic growth, it adds to it.

There is no question that Australia is going through a period of economic transition. The upside of this is that many established industries are seizing digitally enabled opportunities that were unheard of just a few short years ago.

Building Information Modelling demonstrates the power of the information age but it is just part of the big picture. BIM is changing some parts of the game, but it is the beginning of the story that includes virtual and augmented reality. Augmented reality is much more than Pokemon Go! but what better case study than city workers sneaking around bus stops and laneways publicly chasing Pokemon?

Increasing connectedness, the de-siloing of data and multi-platform collaboration will bring innovation, productivity and efficiency well beyond a single system or application.

Institutions, be they governments, companies, not-for-profits or political parties, need to deliver to the people in a way that people want. The era has passed when a little bit better than what has always been there will do. Ask your local video shop. Redefining value propositions must be front of mind.

Netflix, Spotify, Uber and Apple each took something people wanted and changed it from the customer end.

As Standards Australia enters its next phase of digital transformation, its focus is on those who contribute to, use, and are otherwise impacted by standards in Australia.

From the work that it does to the way it is mapping the digital contributor experience, the input of the community is critical.  Equally, as the conversation begins about what better access to standards looks like, end users must be front of mind.

As industries transition one thing is certain: the results will only be improved through collaboration and convergence.