INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PROPOSAL Table of Contents Abstract 3 Chapter 2: Introduction 4 2.1 Overview 4 2.2 Background of the research 5 2.3 Research aims and objectives 7 2.4 Research questions 7 2.5 Problem statement 8 2.6 Significance of the study 8 2.7 Rationale of the research 8 Chapter 3: Literature Review 9 3.1 Introduction 9 3.2 Review of literature 9 Theme 1: Impact of ICT on construction engineering and management 9 Theme 2: Improvement in construction works and management 10 Theme 3: Future prospects of ICT in the field of engineering and management 11 Theme 4: ICT tools to support the unified approach to project management 12 Theme 5: Factors reducing the use of ICT in the construction industry 13 Theme 6: ICT and Communication Management in Construction 14 Theme 7: Data privacy and management in construction industry 16 Theme 8: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) innovation: Building Information Modeling (BIM) 17 3.3 Gaps in literature 18 Chapter 4: Methodology 19 4.1 Research Design 19 4.2 Research Philosophy 20 4.3 Research approach 20 4.4 Research on construction procedure with ICT role 20 4.4.1. Tender Phase 21 4.4.2 Design and construction phase 21 4.4.3 Drivers for ICT execution in the construction industry 22 4.5 Research Strategy 22 4.6 Data collection methods 22 4.7 Data sampling techniques 23 4.8 Data Analysis 23 4.9 Ethical Considerations 24 4.10 Limitations and recommendations 24 4.11 Virtual Collaboration and its limitations 24 Reference list 41 Abstract Communication plays an important role in construction projects. This paper provides information about the use of information and communication technology in the construction industry. The main reason for me to choose this topic is, most of the countries adopted the methods and technologies developed by ICT. Many countries made further investments in ICT. This investment had led to a great change in the productivity in construction industries. There is also a great increment in construction work, and it also helps in maintaining the finance of the company. This chapter provides a piece of clear information about the construction projects according to their lifecycle. These construction projects mainly depend on the need of the owner. The main aim of this research is to proper information about the strategies, methods that are involved in ICT. This paper is also provided proper suggestions that help the viewer to understand the concept of ICT easily. These methods and technology help in providing common information and also helps in improving communication in the construction industries. The firms that are developed by ICT help the construction industries in understanding the important points and helps in developing their construction industries. There are many advantages of using the information provided by ICT. This information helps the construction industries to maintain cost, it also helps in solving administrational issues and it also helps the construction industries in providing the information needed for completing projects. The main aim of this paper is to document Analyse the information that is provided by ICT. This paper also provides information about the obstacles that are faced by construction industries. ICT provides the information that helps the construction industries to overcome obstacles. This information contains works of literature and journals that help in developing communication in the construction industries. Many activities are being carried out by construction industries. These activities are performed by using the information that is provided by information and communication technology. ICT also helps the construction industries in monitoring the activities and protect them from being destroyed. These activities are used by the workers of the construction induction for future reference. ICT also provides some strategies that help the enterprises of the construction industries to successfully deliver the projects. By using the tools provided by ICT helps the construction industries in improving their accuracy in project works. These tools help the construction industries to identify the problems and provide solutions. The construction industries face some problems while implementing the methods provided by ICT. This may affect the work efficiency but helps the construction industries to provide quality projects. The information that is provided by ICT also helps in communicating between the parties that are involved in the project. There are some construction industries in which traditional methods are used. These methods make the construction process slow and cannot provide the required information for completing the project. This paper also shows a clear reference to the viewers about the difference between the techniques that are used in traditional methods and ICT methods. This paper is provided with proper information about the information provided by ICT by interviewing some people who are a part of the construction process. Chapter 2: Introduction 2.1 Overview Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a branch of engineering that has come into existence in recent years with the aim of widening the appositeness and relevance of technology in the living world. It has rightfully revolutionised the perspective of technology by impacting the society in such a way that now technology has become one of the basic things that people use in their lives on an everyday basis. Digital technology has widely accelerated technology information. With the introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), there is a need for every organization to concentrate and be focused on improving the service quality. In their review of the article Amusan et al., (2018), the construction department is said to be complicated and multi-dimensional. The use of information technology in the construction department can solve several problems. In recent times, compared to a manual solution, technological solutions can increase the competence of construction development. The communication streams are integrated with the appropriated software data of construction. According to Amusan et al., (2018), technology can enhance data and communication in the construction industry. ICT in the construction industry can enable the adoption of IT tools in the design, construction, and management of projects. According to Lin et al., (2014), workforce safety is an important topic across global construction industries. Site safety acts as the major performance indicator. The ICT-based approach can retrieve application-based safety procedures on different construction activities. With these safety approaches, the construction industry can focus and improve on day-to-day practices and management especially at the site. Technology advancements have emerged in obtaining various positive and negative changes in the environment. Among all, the positive change of improved productivity and quality can be achieved through ICT tools in the workforce. With these tools, there could be real-time tracking of every activity and can even identify the attacks or accidents if happens at the site. Increase demand for automation in the construction process can be observed in the ICT approach. In the digital era, technologies and their advancements are changing very fast. The focus on time management, construction sustainability, and cost management is essential in construction. So, digitalization in construction has increased the project performance with diverse applications. According to Wikforss and Löfgren (2007), ICT-based communication could practice and effective use of technical aspects of information modeling such as modeling, classification, and standardization. Technological communication can improve project procedures as well there could be sharing and transferring of knowledge in the construction department. While most of the projects face technical challenges especially in project management. But, ICT-enabled collaboration in the construction industry can eradicate these types of technical challenges by improving technological communications. Large adoption of ICT in the construction industry derives demandable advantages only if there is experience gained at its early stage. 2.2 Background of the research Information and Communication Technology can be defined broadly as the collective technologies that aid in the communication of humans with one another. The technology can be in the form of software or hardware. However, it may be mentioned that ICT is a broad subject that is still evolving to reach its full potential to serve mankind. ICT has made a prominent impact on the different phases of engineering and construction such designing, construction, maintenance and so on. The engineering and construction processes have become relatively easier, faster and as a result considerably more cost efficient than before (Latif et al. 2017). In the present study, the huge prospect of Information and Communication Technology in the field of engineering and communication has been pondered upon. There has been a good amount of studies done in the field of Information and Communication Technology in engineering and communication which educates about the various aspects of the topic. However, it still is the long way for this field of engineering to be explored and utilized to its highest potential. ICT has the ability to leverage the operating and functioning capability of various sectors of engineering and communication and hence can revolutionise these sectors by upgrading them to a whole new level. According to Peansupap and Walker (2005), ICT has been identified as an essential tool that widely improves communication in the construction process and may also create construction business opportunities. However, the manual process of construction would raise many issues such as miscommunication, improper management, and proper understanding. But, ICT provides opportunities globally for a construction business. In their review of the article by Kong et al., (2001a), ICT can create and support the construction business by improving and achieving customer service. The Nigerian construction sector is not aware of ICT according to the article (Amusan et al., 2018). The awareness should be provided on the benefits of ICT in the construction industry should be done by government bodies. According to Peansupap and Walker (2006), ICT implementation requires a greater commitment from a greater number of users where they are focused on IT innovation with individual ICT applications. In their review of the article Weippert et al., (2003), the construction industry is facing a significant challenge of inaccurate and untimely communications among project team members. Data management is a vital task that needs to be ensured of every construction industry. Even the change in work practices which is dependent on client-oriented has to be reviewed appropriately as it increases overall performance and productivity (Weippert et al., 2003). According to Rankin and Luther (2006), effective applications of ICT lead to efficient management of project execution and productive constructive industry. The development and approach of strategies need the construction industry. However, with an efficient strategy, the project contributions may analyze the construction adoption to technology (Rankin and Luther, 2006). While there are intangible factors in the construction industry that would quantify certain costs and benefits of ICT innovation. However, it is equally important for the construction industry to justify the ICT costs for the project. The critical review on the construction industry can reveal many uncertain factors such as unproductive, unsafe, and time conflicts. According to Gajendran and Brewer (2007), ICT was widely be used to increase the effectiveness of project delivery by minimizing the above uncertain factors. But, the productive gains by ICT would be achieved by proper strategies. However, the challenges and success factors of ICT may come within the firm. So, understanding the ICT integration is thus became essential for better ICT management (Gajendran and Brewer, 2007). The rise of harmony and conflicts may arise if there is adequate knowledge on ICT. 2.3 Research aims and objectives Aim The aim of the research paper is to analyse the feasibility and practicality of adopting ICT technologies in the construction industry in regards to challenges like the continuous and never-ending demand for regular upgrade of the software and the hardware in use, non-compatibility of the software, data security and others. Objectives The main objectives of the research are as follows: To understand the range of applications that Information and Communication Technology has in the field of construction engineering and management.To analyse the challenges like data security, regularly updating software and the hardware regarding the use of ICT technologies in the construction industryTo analyse the methods and mitigation steps for adapting more compatible hardware and software and reducing the need for regular updates to minimise the costs.To analyse the issues related to security of data and take mitigation steps to ensure the security of the data. 2.4 Research questions To what extent Information Communication Technology has impacted the field of construction engineering and management?What are the challenges in regarding the adoption of ICT tools and techniques in the construction industry from an economic and feasibility perspective?What are the steps that can be recommended for meeting the challenges and minimising costs for increasing feasibility?What are the measures that can be taken to maintain data privacy and maintaining the huge volumes of data being generated? 2.5 Problem statement Information and Communication Technology has impacted almost every field of human civilization in a revolutionary way and has brought about constructive changes in the day to day life. The adoption of ICT tools and techniques although a path breaking development in the field of construction brings along certain challenges and issues regarding successful implementation and cost feasibility in relation to factors like hardware, software, data privacy and others. The paper aims to analyse the problems regarding the adoption of ICT tools and techniques in the construction industry without burdening the budget and maintaining cost feasibility and practicality. 2.6 Significance of the study The present study focuses on the various aspects of the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on construction engineering and management. The study has made an attempt to have a deeper level of understanding of the topic and gather as much information as possible in order to have clarity of how big of an impact ICT has created on the mentioned sectors (Redwood et al. 2017). Furthermore, the limitations of ICT and the research gaps on the subject has also been studied and discussed through the course of the study. 2.7 Rationale of the research Understanding of the possible future prospects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on construction engineering and management together with the analysis of the present limitations of ICT in the engineering sectors have been the major rationale of the study. These factors are crucial points of research in order to explore the field of ICT in a vivid manner and utilize it to its fullest potential to upgrade the engineering and management sectors. Chapter 3: Literature Review 3.1 Introduction The future prospects of Information and Communication Technology in the field of construction engineering and management depends on the development of new technologies and their strategic deployment. However, a thorough review of the existing secondary sources provides a strong foundation of knowledge to proceed with the possible future prospects (Amusan et al. 2018). A rich literature revi
ew will help in identifying the key areas which need to be researched further or in a more comprehensive manner. Additionally, an intricate literary review furnishes an opportunity to critically analyse the existing works of the experts in the field of ICT application in engineering construction and management. 3.2 Review of literature Theme 1: Impact of ICT on construction engineering and management Information and Communication Technology is a major instrument that is capable of acting as a catalyst in the development of a country by modernizing the engineering and management sectors as suggested in the study of Adwan and Al-Soufi (2016). ICT has a tremendous potential to boost a countrys economy by filling the gaps created due to time constraints, low budget, lack of skilled workforce etc. It hugely impacts the functionality of an organization by the introduction of features like automation, digitalization and other advanced operations to upgrade the efficiency of the firm. ICT has played a predominant role in changing the scenario of present construction and engineering works in the present times and has completely updated the entire sector in that regard. As opined by Redwood et al. (2017), various pivotal aspects of construction projects such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), networking and other technologies for designing, monitoring etc have been completely upgraded by the application of Information and Communication Technology. As mentioned before, the application of Information and Communication Technology has furnished numerous beneficial implications on various aspects of the construction and management field. It has led to the development of a vast range of softwares that makes any kind of management work more effective by reducing the operational time, the cost and the overall expenditure. Furthermore, the ICT tends to cover a wide area of management expertise and considerably makes any task of engineering and management effortless and speedy. The same amount of work which used to be tedious in the past has definitely become less challenging and more productive. Overall, Information and Communication Technology has marvellous influence on every sector of construction engineering and management and has catapulted the economic prospects of an organisation as well as a country that has the knowledge or the access to the technology. Theme 2: Improvement in construction works and management According to Akinbile and Oni (2016), one of the major improvements that Information and Communication Technology has brought with it is the increased productivity in a limited period of time which ascertained that an enhanced quality of the work or product is attained. Additionally, ICT has further enriched the knowledge of a given construction and management task by channelling relevant and potent information which is crucial for the accomplishment of any task. It also promotes the ability to take logical decisions on the basis of the advanced information that can be obtained in the least period of time due to the available access to instant connectivity. ICT further provides efficient and better alternatives for a wide range of previously existing resources that becomes a huge factor to upgrade the quality of the task and also drive out best possible working capability from the taskforce (Gono et al. 2016). The collective cost of the task of construction engineering and management is also considerably reduced due to the fact that the overall time period also gets hugely shortened due to the multifaceted efficiency level. The overall quality of the engineering and management tasks revolutionarily gets improved and the affordability of the whole project is ascertained (Hasan et al. 2019). ICT has also contributed to the accuracy of the construction and management tasks by reducing the chances of errors in various levels and areas of the mentioned sectors. As a whole Information and Communication Technology helps in improving the public image of the entire organization which further increases the future prospects of the organization as well as the contributory technologies and software. More modern tools and technologies can be adopted for ensuring that feasibility and practicality can be maintained din terms of cost. Advanced tools like Big Data analytics can be adopted for maintain the huge amount of data being generated and ensuring that no instances of data uncertainty take place (Latif et al. 2017). Using such tools and techniques will ensure that various processes involved in the construction sector remain uninterrupted. Theme 3: Future prospects of ICT in the field of engineering and management The highlights of the deployment of Information and Communication Technology in the field of engineering and management is to accelerate the task, financial effectiveness, avoiding inaccuracies, better communications, access to abundant data, quality enhancements and finally simplification of the overall projects (Latif et al. 2017). Consequently, ICT has huge future prospects for the work efficiency and affordability of construction engineering and management projects to get modernized, provided the key limitations of the technology is conquered. ICT changes the structural and functional aspects of the engineering constructions and management and hence, impacts the future of the mentioned sectors in every aspect and how they will be perceived and interpreted. However, There are some critical areas for the Information and Communication Technology to explore in the future of the mentioned sectors, for instance building a system that will furnish master solutions to the ICT complexities, developing softwares that ensure safe and secure connectivity and exploring technological intelligence to a greater extent (Ozumba et al. 2019). ICT being an emerging field of technology has a huge potential to develop a plethora of prospects for the construction engineering and management sector and furnish enormous amounts of opportunities to explore. The technology also offers huge scopes of improvement and advancements in order to further strengthen the knowledge base which will ultimately raise the potential level of ICT. Future developments in the field of ICT will also witness major implications in the energy and resource management of an organization as the time and cost consumption will decrease to a great level as it has been discussed in the previous sections (Ozumba et al. 2019). The adoption of ICT tools and technologies in the construction industry has revolutionised the operations of the sector. For example, construction companies do not have to depend on developing physical prototype models but can easily create simulations for maintaining cost feasibility save time. One of the biggest challenges though in the adoption of ICT in the construction sector is regular updates of hardware and software and compatibility of the new technologies with redundant ones. Regular updates of software and hardware involves huge costs and therefore can overburden the budget and moreover, during the regular updates taking place, the system can be vulnerable to cyber-attacks and data pilferage attempts. Organisations need have a three pronged challenge in this regard. Firstly, adopting the latest hardware and software which will minimise the need for regular updates, secondly encrypting the data and installing firewalls for preventing any cyber-attacks or data theft (Latif et al. 2017). Lastly, developing sectors can start phasing out redundant tools and technologies to ensure that the compatibility of modern hardware and software is not compromised. By addressing these challenges, the organisations can drastically cut costs and improve profitability. Theme 4: ICT tools to support the unified approach to project management Froeses reviewed article (2010) illustrates that the ICT platform has to be understood and utilized by all the project participants. The author developed a framework to make ICT support project management. Project environment when used traditional tools and ICT may radically identify the comparison. With an ICT platform, a few tools may tend to be more efficient and an increase in functionality due to ICT-based project information (Froese, 2010). A new software introduction in the project can collect all individual information as overall project information. Here, the new software is acted as an information aggregator. With these aggregators, technology-based ICT can interlink and represent the project information most efficiently. Here technology-based Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) can categorize the data sets and represent them by applying various data visualizations. With the visualization views, every member in the construction project can identify their tasks and work accordingly. Here, information aggregators allow the project users to work with inter-relationships between others rather than working individually. The entire project workflow management systems can be automated automatically by the ICT platform. According to Ahuja et al., (2009), project management requires effective coordination and collaboration between project members. ICT provides opportunities for project management with real-time access to information. People and their communications are a vital part of the construction industry. So, the communication protocols would thus balance the coordination and collaboration among the project members. The main purpose of the article is to enable IT-enhanced communication protocols in construction project management. According to authors Ahuja et al., (2010), IT enhanced communication or the use of ICT includes generating, coding, processing, storing and communicating information. The authors have followed methodology by strategically where data collection and its analysis are conducted by both quantitative and qualitative research. However, IT adoption at the construction level requires a clear understanding of its opportunities when aligned with organization-level strategy. The authors Ahuja et al., (2010), found that a strategic model for enabling ICT diffusion for a construction project is approached by framework or protocol. This ICT diffusion suggests a benchmark process in a step-by-step approach for building and implementing strategies for increasing ICT users in the construction industry. In their excellent study of the article Yang et al., (2007), ICT can enhance the business strategy for building project managers for the successful delivery of the project. Both the small and large based enterprises have the major need for implementation of ICT framework in the construction industry. A technology-based approach such as BIM-based tools supports construction management with a unified approach compared to the traditional approach. Compared to other industries, construction industries are slow in adopting ICT (Yang et al., 2007). The particular attention to technology and its process require to formulate the ICT strategies. Technology advancements may reflect on global trends of obtaining a clear understanding of ICT processes can be distinct on a regional area of the project. The issues in traditional construction such as technical, managerial, cultural, social, and political are mainly arisen due to differing perceptions of construction project team members. The organization can identify the benefits of ICT adoption where those issues are mitigated. Theme 5: Factors reducing the use of ICT in the construction industry According to Adriaanse et al., (2010), ICT creates opportunities for more efficient and effective project execution. Often, construction projects are vast. Members from other departments have to collaborate temporarily. There would be the division of projects based on contractual agreements. So, these agreements use a particular ICT application. So, most construction firms react to external factors due to a lack of strategic vision on IT solutions. So, these external barriers such as time and costs approach for ICT-based solutions. The other important factor that ICT provides is detailing the roles and opportunities of project members. However, those opportunities may clarify the functioning and project progress (Adriaanse et al., 2010). An ICT-based model can enhance the factors such as personal motivation, external motivation, acting opportunities based on knowledge and skills. According to Hosseini et al., (2012), the construction industry is not at pace with the area of Communication and Information Technology (ICT). This is because of a lack of awareness by practitioners of utilizing ICTs in construction. According to the article, two main factors are market pull and technology push. The market is never being stable due to technological advancements in recent times. The driving force factors are productivity, globalization, and idiosyncrasies of the construction industry. An increased level and its necessity for productivity in the construction process may skip the ICT approach. Lack of framework facilitating has the keen scope in managing change in globalization. Thus, enhancing the factors and increasing the use of ICT within the construction can provide good outcomes. According to Gholizadeh et al., (2018), advances in ICT have enabled architects, engineers, and contractors to reduce project time and cost. One important factor that can be observed in the article is the willingness of the ICT approach by project managers and project members. Inadequate awareness of the ICT approach would make the unwillingness by project managers and project members. The reduction factors are most influential in construction industries. One major external factor that influences ICT is government regulations (Gholizadeh et al., 2018). It has become more prominent around the world. Adopting the ICT-based innovations even encourages other organizations to adopt the innovation. But the pro-innovation bias might not be the same in all cases. Thus, results in the factors that reduce the use of ICT in the construction industry. According to Jacobsson and Linderoth (2010), the project-based model of organizing conflicts analyzes the development of ICT. Indefinite time structures are altered due to improper management of project activities. So, the use of ICT-based applications can organize the projects with a well-defined strategy. When ICT-based applications are introduced in interconnected construction projects, the challenging factors create gaps for technological innovations. However, projects under their own and proper management require appropriate technology testing based on organizational agreements. The other major factor is when organizations implement the ICT-based technologies, then the other alternative spaces for innovation for testing ICT may lack in projects. In their excellent study of the article Jacobsson and Linderoth (2010), may focus on solving technical problems with an ICT-based approach irrespective of reducing factors. Theme 6: ICT and Communication Management in Construction According to the authors Kasim and Ern (2010), they want to identify the ICT implementation in the construction materials management process. If there could be any transformation of materials and contractors, then ICT could identify them in construction projects. The authors approached a triangulation research approach that combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The findings from the article reveal that the most used ICT tools are Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and hand-held devices. For construction materials, there is a resistance to the use of special software. This is due to exceptional high cost. The lack of awareness of software and its opportunities is also another reason for the resistance. The authors had concluded that barcoding and RFID are the most tools that are used for materials management. The other conclusion was on the acceptance of ICT transformation (Kasim and Ern, 2010). The purpose of Ozumba and Shakantu (2018) from their article is to identify the challenges in the adoption of ICT in construction management by using the South Africa context. They followed a systematical methodology with three main steps. The first step is carried