Use of ICT Applications in Construction: A Research Proposal

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report explores the use of ICT in construction.

Research Proposal
1

Contents
Project Title:...................................................................................................................................3
Research background and justification.......................................................................................4
Research Objectives, Research questions and Sub-questions...................................................5
Condensed Literature Review......................................................................................................6
Data Collection Method including Questionnaire Design........................................................11
References.....................................................................................................................................14
2

Project Title:
Use of ICT applications in construction.
3

Research background and justification
The research is related to the use of ICT applications in the process of construction. The
construction process becomes easier due to the use of ICT applications. This research can give
the knowledge related to the ICT technologies and several applications used in the construction.
The project team of the construction used the ICT applications to design, construct, operate and
manages the development (Wang and Chong, 2015). By using ICT applications, the industry of
construction becomes innovative. The development of smart buildings is at the intensive demand
for ICT. The ICT technologies help in making automated systems, intelligent building
management, and adaptive energy systems. The IOT (Internet of Things) is the main ICT
applications used in making the things of construction innovative.
This research justified several areas of construction that used ICT applications. The buildings can
easily be built by using ICT applications and attractive also towards other customers. Modern
construction methods are developed in the industry of construct, so the ICT applications are
important in this process. The use of ICT in construction needs proper planning and design so
that the project can be completed in limited time. The use of ICT applications reduces the
construction time, cost and maintain overall sustainability of the construction industry.
4

Research Objectives, Research questions and Sub-questions
Some of the research objectives are as described below-
 To study the use of ICT in the construction industry.
 To determine the several uses of ICT technologies in the construction industry.
 To analyse the impact of technologies and communication in the process of
construction.
 To determine the ways of using ICT technologies in construction.
Some of the Research questions are discussed below-
 How ICT affect the construction industry?
 What are the challenges comes in using ICT applications in the Construction
process?
 What are the several recommendations that make the use of ICT easier in the
process of construction?
 What are the main uses of ICT in constructed the smart buildings?
Some of the sub-questions related to research are described below-
 How construction management becomes easier by using ICT applications?
 What is the different process by which ICT highly impacted the construction
industry?
5

Condensed Literature Review
What is ICT?
According to Alaghbandrad, et. al., (2012), ICT can be understood as Information
Communication and Technology, that consist of the process that is used to store data, process it,
communicate it or receive electronic information. This is an integral part of any industry as this
helps in the development of communication and development of medium among the various
sections of the industry. As per Alaghbandrad, et. al., (2012), the different ICT technologies that
are most commonly used in the current scenario includes web-based information and
applications these include devices like videotapes, CDs, DVDs, email, or the World Wide Web.
As per the learning of Alaghbandrad, et. al., (2012), the application of ICT is different from
AT(Assistive Technology) as ICT is mostly focused on the application of technology and various
processes involved in the development of technology associated with the communication
network. The application of ICT is there in various industries like construction, education and
software development. The discussion will be on the construction industry.
Use of ICT in the construction industry
According to the (Ikediashi and Ogwueleka, 2016), construction is one of the largest economic
sectors which are a traditional industry but have a low innovation rate. Nowadays, ICT is
recently developed and make changes regarding the construction industry. The alignment of ICT
applications is linked with the business strategies in the construction industry. The construction
companies use internal and external tools of ICT to improve the overall efficiency of the projects
under construction. The ICT tools are greatly used in the construction like the construction of
smart buildings, construction of many innovative and technological buildings. The ICT will be
under development to increase the tools used by the construction industry. The ICT
implementation to business strategy gives a positive impact on the construction industry on
which a large economic sector depends. The strategy of ICT is very helpful in the industry of
construction as it occurs a large economy sector of the world. The main motive of ICT is to
managing the information to get a competitive advantage. This process supports the business
6

strategy. ICT is used to complete the needs of the customers, new internal process modifications
and new strategic options.
The technologies will increase the importance of the business. The ICT applications improve the
construction industry and help in making smart buildings and towers related to technology. As
per the understanding of Orihuelaa, & Pachecob, (2016) in the construction industry, there is a
constant need to innovate and create new methods to deal with the needs of the customers. There
are certain purposes of the construction to use ICT one of which is to improve the scope of the
construction industry and develop quality. Another purpose is to examine the current process and
develop methods to deal with the improvisation of them in the future aspect of the construction
industry. To identify all good practices involved in the development of an individual by taking
effective methods to deal with the same. As per Orihuelaa, & Pachecob, (2016) the use of ICT
can be seen in design requirements, site positioning, budget constraints, materials selection. All
of them are needed to be done with the application of skilled and knowledgeable resources.
Various features are involved in the development of industry like
Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) all these factors need ICT in their work to develop
better services to the customers.
According to Hosseini, et. al., (2012), to improve communication with the client, do data
analysis, visualisation, communications, and collaboration. There is a need to adopt ACT in the
system in the process thus affecting the growth and development of the industry. The main aim
of using ICT tools in construction is to give relevant details about the information and analytical
tools best for the development of the construction site. The major aspect for the development of
values and process in the development of the construction includes communications devices
which give access and allow communicating easily at local and international level like computer
hardware, software. In construction the application of ICT can be seen on the development of
communication platform among various individuals thus this can help in the integration of the
team members, developing communication and associating ideas of the team members. The
documented form can be used to develop synchronised services and information interchange in
the company.
7

As per Hosseini, et. al., (2012), ICT helps in the development of various building ideas such as
economical building, and a policy of green building and accounting of the whole life cycle of a
building object. Apart from that there are certain other functions of using ICT in construction
these are: definition of baseline as ICT can help in the development of Time, Cost and Scope,
apart from that it helps in collection of information about users and equipment this includes the
ease to use these applications and perform various activities in order to deal with the needs of the
construction site. ICT help in collecting information about the materials used in the construction
site and also analyse the quality and quantity of the same on the development of a company. This
also helps to document the amount of work done by the workers and the application of the same
on the maintenance of records associated values in the development of schedules. This can be
done by using Wi-Fi enabled devices and making software’s that analyses the work process and
effective application of the same in the scheduling of the work.
8

Impact of ICT in construction
ICT has been very helpful in the construction industry as it helps in various sections. As per
Hosseini, et. al., (2012), the application of ICT has helped develop creative methods to deal with
the needs of the construction site. As per the development of new services, this is necessary to
see the application in the designing and implementation of products involved in the development
of the construction site. The impact has also been seen in building communication with the
stakeholders and collects feedback on every step taken. This has helped in identifying the cause
of failure in various sections thus affecting the development of the construction. This has
developed the potential of the workers and has also developed various ways in which workers
can contribute to the site.
9

Methodology
The research methodology is a very important part of the research project. The research is a
systematic process by which the research can be analysed properly. The research methods are
used to identify the research topic and do a proper research project. The research method gives
support to the researchers to analyze the topic of the research. The effective research methods
give better results for the research. The research methods are of two type’s descriptive research
design and explanatory research design. The research design is the best to approach to make
effective and proper research which gives better outcomes of the whole research topic (Zhang
and Liu, 2015)
Data Collection is one of the main methods used in the research methodology. The whole
research depends on the method of data collection because the responses given by the
respondents can be analysed in the research. The data can be collected by the two methods which
primary method and secondary method (Thomas, et. al., 2018). The primary method includes the
questionnaire, surveys, and interviews and secondary method includes the literature review
process to collect the data related to the research topic. This research project adopts the
questionnaire to collect the data relevant to the research. The questionnaire method includes the
different questions related to the research topic and takes the responses of the questions from the
respondents. The research onion is the best method in the research methodology. This method
makes the process easier and completes the research in less time. The research onion includes
three philosophies which are ontology, Epistemology and Axiology (Taylor, et. al., 2015). The
research onion includes different layers that include different process and each process is
relevant to the research project and makes the research easier. The first layer of research onion
include philosophical instances, the second layer of the research includes inductive and
deductive approach, the third layer of the research onion includes strategies, the fourth layer of
the research onion include mix methods, the fifth layer of the research onion includes cross-
sectional and longitudinal methods and the sixth layer includes the data collection and analysis
methods.
10

Data Collection Method including Questionnaire Design
Data collection is one of the crucial steps in research development and analysis as this helps the
collection of various resources in research. The research will be based on primary data mostly as
this is a firsthand data that is collected using quantitative methods like survey, interview. The
research will also use survey on a selected sample of people that are of varied age, gender, and
experience in the development of the research. There can be a usage of certain secondary data as
well that can be used to deal with the needs of the community thus helping in the development of
various methods used in collecting data from secondary sources used to know about the use of
ICT in the construction industry. The data collection is an extension method that develops the
base of whole research as this helps in the development of foundation and platform for any
research thus giving practical application of the same in an industry (Terrell, 2012).
11

Questionnaire
Q1. Do you agree that ICT applications are very useful in the construction industry?
 Yes
 No
 Doesn’t know
Q2. Do you aware of the use of ICT applications in the construction process?
 Yes
 No
 Doesn’t know
Q3. What are the advantages of the use of ICT applications in the construction industry?
 Better buildings can be made
 The construction is done as per the use of technology
 Both of the above
Q4. Do you think that ICT applications create many disadvantages in the construction industry?
 Yes
 No
 Doesn’t know
Q5. Do you think that ICT applications create innovative constructions?
 Yes
 No
 Doesn’t know
Q6. Do you agree that ICT applications provide various benefits in the construction industry?
 Agree
 Disagree
 Strongly agree
 Strongly disagree
Q7. What are the processes of using ICT applications in the construction industry?
 By using technologies
 By using the communication process
 Both of the above
12