An Exploration of COVID-19 and Its Consideration as a Black Swan for the Construction Industry in Switzerland

Adrian Wildenauer, Josef Basl

OAI: oai:igi-global.com:277122 • DOI: 10.4018/IJDIBE.20210101.oa1

COVID-19 and its devastating yet unforeseeable effects affect the entire global economy value chain. Effects will be long-lasting and interfere with the way construction worked so far. Losses in the industry are expected to run into billions; spending on new buildings are predicted to decrease sharply and on a global long-term. COVID-19 is, depending on the viewpoint, either a “White Swan,” which is a probable event, causing massive consequences, or a “Black Swan,” which is additionally not foreseeable. The European Green Deal presented by the European Commission could serve as a new Marshall Plan to enable the long-awaited digitisation of the construction industry. A whole industry sector is called upon to undergo a digital empowerment within a very short period, for which other branches of industry have had years or even decades. Can this crisis serve as a spark for eventually starting the digitalisation of the construction industry?

Geoinformatics Environmental, Agricultural, and Physical Sciences Environmental Science and Technologies