CONNECTING THE DOTS OF NGĀKOPA CONSTRUCTION 4.0
A HERA led kaupapa where people, ideas,
& innovation converge.
HERA CONNECTS THE DOTS
Te tīmatanga
Where the movement began
Every structure starts with a foundation – and for Ngākopa, that was one kōrero. A conversation led by HERA that revealed a pressure point in the sector: construction in Aotearoa was siloed, inefficient, and disconnected.
It echoed again and again across their kōrero with industry – an untapped potential sat dormant between design, fabrication, and sustainability. The pieces were there, but the connections weren’t.
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As they listened, they began to lay the groundwork. Research relationships were formed, capability was built, and new tools began to take shape. The problem was clear, but so too was the opportunity: they needed a new way of thinking – one that embraced complexity, integrated mātauranga Māori, cared for our environment and leveraged technology to optimise the entire system…
CONSTRUCTION 4.0 THE PATH
Te nekeneke
Setting the system in motion
Construction is a complex system – made up of people, tools, data, and decisions, and for too long, that system has been operating in silos. Decisions are made in isolation. Opportunities are missed. The potential to optimise across the full project lifecycle is left untapped.
Industry 4.0 became HERA’s blueprint, and Construction 4.0 the framework for change.
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HERA dug deeper – commissioning a report to model the potential economic impacts of Construction 4.0 in Aotearoa. The findings were clear: adoption could be worth $8 billion, drive wage increases of nearly $3.5 billion, strengthen the middle-income bracket, and support a smarter approach to government spending.
This is because tools like IoT, AI, and real-time data unlocks visibility, connection, and smarter decisions — driving not just efficiency, but sustainability, resilience, affordability, and cultural alignment.
At its heart, Construction 4.0 is about systems in motion – it transforms construction from a linear process into a connected ecosystem. It sees buildings not as static outputs, but as dynamic products of thousands of interactions. It values collaboration across disciplines and uses complexity science to make sense of big data – not to reduce it, but to work with it meaningfully.
NGAKOPA EMERGED
I puta mai a Ngākopa
A hub for this movement
Ngākopa speaks to emergence. To ideas taking form, to knowledge passed on, to collective motion being shaped. It is a name, a tohu, a taonga born of pūrākau – formed from the whakapapa of creation: te kore, te pō, te ao mārama.
The Ngākopa construction hub is where technology meets tikanga, where data flows alongside whakapapa, and where where innovation is grounded in values, and research moves with purpose – not just progress.
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Ngākopa Construction 4.0 hub is more than a platform. It’s a living expression of how we transform the sector for future generations.
A place where researchers, industry, and communities converge to rethink how we build – through innovation, insight, and collective motion.
We’re driven by a simple but powerful belief: we build better when we build together.
Together across expertise.
Together across cultures.
Together, across generations.
Whether you’re here to lead research, trial new technologies, test better ways of building, or learn from others — Ngākopa Construction 4.0 hub exists to keep the sector connected, collaborative, and always in motion.
He whakamānawa nui
Acknowledgement
As HERA is the lead for Ngākopa Construction 4.0 hub, and is based in Manukau, we recognise Waikato-Tainui as mana whenua – particularly in relation to any mātauranga Māori reflected in HERA led research and within this digital hub itself. Our use of te reo Māori honours this connection by reflecting the local mita. This is also embedded in the genesis pūrākau of Ngākopa and the tikanga that guides the way we conduct our research.
We give special thanks to Saul Roberts of Waikato-Tainui, Te Waiohua (Ngāti Te Ata, Ngāti Te Rori) for the koha of knowledge he has gifted to bring Ngākopa to life. We recognise and uphold him as the kaitiaki of the Ngākopa Construction 4.0 kōrero. We also acknowledge Fleur Palmer (Muriwhenua, Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Awa) and Patricia Te Whatu (Ngāpuhi) – the Mātauranga Māori rōpū who work closely with Saul to guide this mahi into the light.
Ngā mihi to Maui Studio, for interpreting and visualising the Ngākopa karakia, honouring the wairua of the kōrero gifted. We also recognise Caitlin Symonds, Kim Nugent (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Rongomaiwahine), and Troy Coyle (HERA CEO) for their roles in bringing Ngākopa to life visually and strategically as part of the HERA team.
We also acknowledge Hemi Kelly of Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tahu-Ngāti Whāoa for his gift of reo Māori to key aspects of our research programme as a Te Reo Māori translator.
The Ngākopa Construction 4.0 hub website is an output of the HERA led research programme ‘Developing a Construction 4.0 transformation of Aotearoa New Zealand’s construction sector, funded through a 2022 Endeavour Fund of close to $10.3 million to support a four-year focus on transforming Aotearoa New Zealand’s construction sector.