This is the final in a series of articles on the five states of digital transformation. 

Scaling can be one of the longest and most complex states in the digital transformation journey. Its purpose is to grow gradual maturity across the entire industry and communicate the change required in an easy-to-understand way to support adoption. 

Once scaling has achieved its initial goals, it can follow a process of continuous improvement, potentially leading to future programmes, cycling back through the justifying, mobilising, developing and implementing states. 

These messages, and more, are outlined in the Global BIM Network’s recently-released Public Sector Construction Digital Transformation Playbook which provides tailored links to the Network’s digital knowledge base, the Information Collection. 

Scaling spans national, organizational and project levels, necessitating adaptability to diverse contexts. Unique challenges arise, including the need for scalable capacity building and communication for thousands of stakeholders. Policymaker leadership is essential, with incentives and regulations to support adoption. Peer groups and communities emerge to support stakeholders, ensuring the change becomes business as usual, driving maturity and unlocking value. 

Key challenges for personas 

During scaling, three user types, or personas, play important roles. 

Policy / strategy personas continue to provide leadership and direction, albeit at a much-reduced capacity. They ensure the overarching strategy for the digital transformation stays aligned with government objectives. They may introduce regulatory measures to drive wider adoption and scale up again to look at new initiatives as the programme focuses on continuous improvement. 

Transformation programme personas support capacity building. This includes developing scalable training resources to accommodate the growing number of stakeholders. Communication is crucial. These personas also track progress, gather case studies, and adapt solutions for different sectors and contexts. They play a central role in supporting communities of practice. 

Procurer / owner / operator personas continue to provide feedback and fine-tune the transformation’s outputs. They engage in capacity building and implementation, ensuring their teams are prepared for the new way of working. They also adapt and align their practices with emerging industry standards. As the transformation becomes business as usual, they take on a larger role in supporting industry-led change.  

Seven considerations 

The following considerations are addressed in the scaling state: 

• Broad, scalable communications and change management; 

• Application of all transformation states for each implementing sector / organization / programme; 

• Adapting the solution for varying sectors and conditions; 

• Enablement of industry, academia and communities of practice to support capacity building; 

• Implications beyond BIM (problems and opportunities); 

• Transitioning away from legacy methods; and 

• Increasing maturity of digital requirements and solutions. 

Typical outputs 

In the scaling state, typical outputs are: 

• Incentives and enforcement (carrot and stick) 

• Capacity building solutions 

• Communities of practice 

• Case studies and lessons learned 

• Progress and benefits realisation reporting 

• Detailed guidance for specific contexts 

Read the Public Sector Construction Digital Transformation Playbook 

Send us your feedback on the Playbook  

Read the other articles in this series on the states of digital transformation: justifying, mobilising, developing, implementing.