Motivation
This initiative marks a decisive step in fib’s strategic vision to support and guide the civil engineering community through the digital transformation that is reshaping the construction industry worldwide. fib recognizes the critical importance of this moment and reaffirms its commitment to proactively guide this transition by initiating the Special Activity Group on AI and Digitalization.
Scope and objective of technical workTo achieve its goal, the SAG will focus on three objectives:
The SAG will operate through two dedicated working parties, ensuring that AI integration is addressed both at the strategic and operational levels, with a strong foundation in ethical responsibility and human oversight.
- Working Party 1 is dedicated to exploring the short- and long-term implications of AI adoption in the field of structural concrete. Its work will be guided by a clear focus on maintaining engineering integrity while embracing the opportunities presented by digital technologies. A vital aspect of this group’s mission will be to address the ethical considerations of AI use. As AI tools grow in capability, it is essential to reaffirm that engineering judgment, personal accountability, and ethical standards must remain central.
- Working Party 2 will focus on transforming fib’s vast technical knowledge into practical digital tools. By leveraging the federation’s extensive library of design codes, guidelines, and scientific reports, the group will explore the development of domain-specific AI language models to make expert knowledge more accessible and actionable.
The SAG will carry out a series of targeted activities aimed at guiding the responsible integration of AI into structural engineering. This includes defining a long-term vision for AI’s role in the field, conducting sector-wide surveys to identify current challenges and opportunities, and developing data governance frameworks to ensure trustworthy deployment. A central goal is the creation of an AI knowledge platform that builds on fib’s technical heritage, making expertise more accessible and usable. These efforts will reinforce fib’s commitment to global knowledge exchange, technical excellence, and innovation in structural concrete.
As structural engineering enters the age of digital intelligence, fib invites researchers, practitioners, industry leaders, and stakeholders worldwide to join this initiative and help shape the future of structural concrete.
Commission Chair
Deputy Chair
| First name | Last name | Country | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| David | Fernández-Ordóñez | Switzerland | fib |
| Sylvia | Kessler | Germany | Helmut-Schmidt-University/ University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg |
