###### Abstract
Even more importantly, there is an urgent need for the development of new skills related to sustainability, measures about climate change and energy efficiency. Consequently, the green skills are crucial for the civil engineering sector; the sector will expect from its near-future workforce to have expertise in green skills such as resource efficiency (sustainable resource management), energy consumption, material reutilization and recycling, waste reduction, life-cycle analysis, environmental awareness, etc. The fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, is the other main factor that directly affects the competitiveness and future skills needs of the construction sector. The term \"Industry 4.0\" refers to  
Figure 1: Production and labor input in construction: Eurostat, production in construction (annual data) [1]. the novel manufacturing processes that are partially or entirely automated through the technological innovations which enable the machines along the value chain to share information with each other in an autonomous way [12; 13; 14]. The digital transformation is the foundation of the current industrial revolution [15; 16]. The emerging digitalization is profoundly altering the dynamics of almost all industries. The development of the smart digital technologies (e.g., Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Big Data, advanced robots, Internet of Things (IoT), etc.) facilitates a new phase of automation for the industry. Innovational, higher quality and more efficient processes, products and services are achieved through the integration of these smart technologies [13; 17]. Industry 4.0 can be acknowledged as an exceptional opportunity for the recovery and growth of the construction industry. However, the construction industry has been hesitant to embrace digital innovation [18]. As a result of the underinvestment in R&D and innovation, its labor productivity has hardly grown, at a quarter of the rate in manufacturing over the past two decades [19; 20], and it might fall behind in the race for innovation if the level of digitalization does not improve in the construction industry [18]. The sector has already introduced some 4.0 technologies through the whole construction value chain [21]. Nevertheless, the construction companies need to integrate more of these technologies in their processes and daily operations, maximizing their use of digital innovations and automation, thus transforming their business models. European policy-makers who are aware of this gap have already developed policies and taken actions aiming to facilitate the integration of digital technologies and promote a digital innovation in the construction sector [7; 8; 18; 20]. One of the main focuses of the European Construction 2020 Strategy (mentioned above) is digitalization. Moreover, the incorporation of the research activities and technological innovations along the construction value chains is also supported and promoted by other significant EU policies and (financial) instruments such as the Cohesion Policy, the Horizon 2020 and Competitiveness of enterprises and SMEs (COSME) 2014-2020 [2; 3; 18]. Smart and innovative 4.0 technologies would enable the construction sector to build in a faster and superior way and at lower costs, while maximizing resources use and increasing the profitability. They have a potential to make a major impact on the construction sector [18]. Some of these innovations are Building Information Modelling (BIM), the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D laser scanning and component printing, big data analytics, augmented reality (AR), robotic construction, artificial intelligence (AI), sensor systems, intelligent materials, drones, etc. along with further research into new materials and methods also provide great support to the construction industry looking for solutions regarding the new climate, energy and environmental challenges [3; 22]. BIM has become the main system to store digital information about a project related to construction or civil engineering [21].