Factors enabling information and communication technology diffusion and actual implementation in construction organisations

Emerging information and communication technology (ICT) introduces opportunities for improving communication to enhance effectiveness of many construction processes at each project phase as well as creating new business opportunities. Thus, perceived ICT benefits have motivated numerous construction organisations to adopt and invest in this technology. However, many construction organisations have found that the ICT investment has failed to meet their expectations. One significant problem is a lack of understanding of how to actually implement ICT into a construction organisation. This may lead to ICT implementation failure or retardation by all users within a construction organisation. In addition, a lack of focus on actual ICT implementation may explain why ICT implementation problems still occur. Before substantial progress can be made to remedy deficiencies in ICT implementation, a better understanding is needed about the context and influence of a range of workplace, organisational and personal factors on ICT implementation. The general focus of this paper is directed upon ICT implementation in construction organisations, with a specific focus using results from a study of a small but indicative sample of Australian ICT literate construction organisations. An improved understanding of ICT implementation can be achieved through a general survey of the literature and then testing theory developed from the literature using a representative pool of general construction organisation. Alternatively, a narrow focus could be directed at organisations that are already well experienced in the use of ICT. The authors concentrated upon Australian construction organisations with over a decade of experience in ICT implementation so that salient lessons learned could be more readily available for dissemination more widely.