As you may know Autodesk Industry Collections became available to government agencies as of February 1. This date also coincided with the retirement of perpetual licenses for most of its products, including AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Inventor, Revit, and more. But what’s so great about these new collections and how do they differ from the old Autodesk Suites?

First let’s explain what a collection is.

It always blows my mind when I talk to designers and engineers who are still using CAD, even Microsoft Visio, for engineering and design work. But when it comes to designing future transportation systems, where complex workflows, tight budgets, and multiple stakeholders complicate project success, CAD simply doesn’t cut it anymore.

Why? Drew Olsen, writing for the BIM on the Rocks blogs, shares some reasons:

You need a faster way to get in front of the stakeholder to advance reviews

If you’re looking for your investment in BIM to pay off even more, the answer may be in the cloud. That’s because several of the biggest challenges for building design teams can be solved through cloud-based collaboration.

Keeping everyone on the same page in the face of multiple documents and files are two of the top concerns that keep AEC professionals awake at night according to Autodesk sources, here are some more:

CAD managers are an asset to any organization, yet it’s a role that is often hard to pin down and continues to evolve. CAD managers wear many hats. They can fulfil management roles but also take on the role of drafter, IT expert, software procurement, CAD standard enforcement, hiring, and more.

Being a CAD manager can be a rewarding role. In the government sector, CAD managers play an important role in engineering departments, supporting civil, surveying, and public works infrastructure projects – and can be compensated well for their contributions.

The role of the Army National Guard has expanded significantly since 9/11 and represents 40% of the U.S. Army’s total combat capability supporting Joint Commanders across the range of military operations around the globe.

Over the last decade, BIM has radically transformed design and construction projects and is seeing increased adoption in the U.S. government sector.

As global temperatures rise, extreme downpours can result in flash floods that put a catastrophic strain on U.S. infrastructure. In fact, a new study from Nature Climate Change and reported by The Guardian, suggests that by the century’s end, storms that now occur once a season (like the Louisiana flood of 2016) could happen five times a season – a 400% increase.

As a government user of Autodesk software, you may be aware that Autodesk is changing its licensing policy. Effective, January 31^st 2017, the previous government extension will end and users will no longer be able to purchase perpetual licenses. You can read more about the specifics of the changes here.

Keeping track of all the documents involved in any construction or infrastructure project can be quite a headache. RFIs, design changes, estimates, mark-ups, approvals, and more, not forgetting the many-to-many relationships involved in the process. Sub-contractors are on and off the construction site, changes, issues, and requests are sent back and forth, new document sets are created and versions are updated.

The world drone market is anticipated to reach $127 billion in 2020, suggests PricewaterhouseCoopers. From real estate surveying and image capture to Hollywood films to hobbyists, the use cases are vast. But drones are also predicted to become a preferred tool for construction sites.