Innovation-led construction company boss Gabriel Gaby Btesh shines a spotlight on his home nation of Panama’s thriving construction industry.
A renowned construction company owner from Panama City, Panama, Gabriel Gaby Btesh continues to remain at the very forefront of the nation’s thriving construction industry. Bolstered by continued innovation, today largely supported by the latest advances in technology more generally, Btesh offers a closer look at the topic.
“From digital measurement devices to construction drones, innovation has transformed the construction industry, particularly in recent years,” suggests Gabriel Gaby Btesh, speaking from his office in Panama City, Panama.
Dating back as far as the mid-19th century, mechanization was an early turning point for construction industry innovation, according to Gabriel Gaby Btesh. “Very early earth-moving equipment, for example,” says the expert, “marked a point of major progress for those in the field.”
In the years since, Gabriel Gaby Btesh goes on to point out, everything from computer-aided design to off-site fabrication and modular construction have seen the construction industry become ever more efficient and advanced.
Based in Panama City, Panama, Btesh is a more than 30 year veteran of the nation’s thriving construction industry. Today at the helm of the family construction business originally established by his father, Jack Btesh, Gabriel Gaby Btesh has long been an advocate for innovation. The construction company boss has also advocated for more socially conscious approaches to construction, where an emphasis is placed on well-being and increased standards of living.
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is renowned for a number of incredible construction and engineering feats. The most famous of these, without a doubt, is the Panama Canal, says Gabriel Gaby Btesh. “First completed more than a century ago, and connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Panama Canal remains one of the so-called seven wonders of the modern world,” he reveals, “according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.”
Initially finished in 1914, ongoing improvement and widening work on the canal continues today, with the engineering marvel now a world-famous conduit for maritime trade. “It is,” says Gabriel Gaby Btesh, “arguably the single most important thing for which the Republic of Panama is known globally, at least in terms of engineering, and is testament to our nation’s incredible construction industry.”
So, where next for innovation in construction, both in Panama and across the rest of Central and South America, North America, and worldwide? “Robotics, I believe, will begin to play an ever-larger part in construction across the board in the coming years,” Gabriel Gaby Btesh suggests.
“Elsewhere, I also expect to see significant investment into artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies,” he adds, wrapping up, “which, particularly combined with robotics, drones, and similar, could mark the biggest area of industry innovation since the advent of mechanization in the mid-1800s.”
