An appraisal of barriers to digitalisation of construction industry in developing countries: perspective from India

Figures & data

Figure 1. Illustration of the research methodology (source: Authors).

Table 1. Potential barriers to the adoption of digitalisation.

S/No	Barriers	References
1	High initial investment for implementing digitalisation tools and technologies	(Bajpai and Misra 2020)
2	Limited financial resources of most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the construction sector	(Akinradewo et al. 2022)
3	Insufficient awareness among construction industry stakeholders regarding digitalization concepts and available technologies.	(Perera et al. 2023)
4	Gaps in understanding the practical aspects of how to integrate digital technologies into construction workflows.	(Chen et al. 2022)
5	Cultural norms, hierarchical structures, and resistance to change within organizations	(Oesterreich and Teuteberg 2016)
6	Constant need for upskilling and reskilling of the workforce to effectively use and leverage digital technologies	(Aghimien et al. 2019)
7.	Prevalence of older and less tech-savvy workforce within the construction sector who may struggle with the learning curve.	(Singh et al. 2023)
8	The complexity and diversity of construction projects in India, including various building types, materials, and construction practices	(Perera et al. 2023)
9	Regional Disparities in the availability and quality of digital infrastructure across different regions in India	(Bajpai and Misra 2021)
10	Disparities in the overall success of digitalisation initiatives causing discouragement to further implementation	(Parwal 2023)
11	Data security and privacy, as construction projects involve sensitive information.	(Obiso et al. 2020)
12	Resources intensive need for continuous upgrades, maintenance, and support for long-term sustainability	(Taher 2021)
13	Daunting challenges of scalability of digital technologies within construction projects that are often unique.	(Omrany et al. 2023)
14	Fragmentation between industry stakeholders, including government bodies, construction companies, technology providers, and research institutions	(Maskuriy et al. 2019)
15	Lack of sufficient alternatives for affordable and user-friendly digitalisation solutions	(Maiti et al. 2020)
16	Lack of bespoke solutions specifically tailored to the needs and challenges of the Indian construction industry.	(Chen et al. 2022)
17	Inadequate data-driven analysis and case studies to overcome initial uncertainty and encourage organisations to adopt digital technologies	(Babaeian and Sutrisna 2022)
18	Lack of detailed documentation on ROI and cost-saving possibilities of digitalisation concerning specific examples from the Indian Construction industry.	(Bajpai and Misra 2021)
20	Irregular industry-wide campaigns and awareness programs	(HT Brand Studio 2020)
21	Secrecy of information that hinder inspiration and informed decisions about embracing and investing in digital technologies.	(Yap and Toh 2020)
22	Limited training and educational programs on digitalisation concepts within Indian Construction Sector	(Won et al. 2013)

Figure 2. Demographic data analysis (source: Authors).

Table 2. Demographic analysis of responses and reliability analysis.

ID/S.No	Barriers	Overall Responses by Sector				Cronbach’s Alpha	Cronbach’s Alpha if Item Deleted
		Architecture & Design	Project Management	Construction	Engineering
BAR1	High initial investment required for implementing digitalisation tools and technologies	4.18	4.53	4.20	4.15	0.488	0.919
BAR2	Limited financial resources of most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within construction sector	4.00	4.28	3.99	3.95	0.479	0.918
BAR3	Insufficient awareness among construction industry stakeholders regarding digitalization concepts and available technologies.	3.82	4.25	3.80	4.10	0.568	0.917
BAR4	Gaps in understanding the practical aspects of how to integrate digital technologies into construction workflows.	4.27	4.14	4.20	4.25	0.572	0.918
BAR5	Cultural norms, hierarchical structures, and resistance to change within organizations	4.55	4.36	4.09	3.85	0.564	0.92
BAR6*	Constant need for upskilling and reskilling of the workforce to effectively use and leverage digital technologies*	3.64	2.97	3.02	3.75	0.297	0.927
BAR7	Prevalence of older and less tech-savvy workforce within construction sector who may struggle with the learning curve.	3.55	2.89	3.82	3.65	0.489	0.921
BAR8*	The complexity and diversity of construction projects in India, including various building types, materials, and construction practices*	3.18	3.33	2.87	3.05	0.49	0.936
BAR9	Regional Disparities in the availability and quality of digital infrastructure across different regions in Indian.	4.55	4.44	4.20	4.05	0.554	0.918
BAR10	Disparities in the overall success of digitalisation initiatives causing discouragement to further implementation	4.27	4.28	4.48	3.90	0.578	0.918
BAR11	Data security and privacy, as construction projects involve sensitive information.	4.73	4.50	4.09	4.15	0.572	0.919
BAR12	Resources intensive need for continuous upgrades, maintenance, and support for long term sustainability	4.45	4.33	4.06	3.95	0.541	0.919
BAR13	Daunting challenges of scalability of digital technologies within construction projects that are often unique.	3.91	4.22	3.96	3.90	0.556	0.917
BAR14	Fragmentation between industry stakeholders, including government bodies, construction companies, technology providers, and research institutions	4.09	4.69	4.20	4.00	0.648	0.917
BAR15	Lack of sufficient alternatives for affordable and user-friendly digitalisation solutions	4.18	4.25	4.67	4.05	0.701	0.916
BAR16	Lack of bespoke solution specifically tailored to the needs and challenges of the Indian construction industry.	4.36	4.39	3.99	3.95	0.628	0.918
BAR17	In adequate data-driven analysis and case studies to overcome initial uncertainty and encourage organisations to adopt digital technologies	4.09	4.19	3.94	4.30	0.689	0.917
BAR18	Lack of detail documentation on ROI and cost-saving possibilities of digitalisation with respect to specific example from Indian Construction industry.	4.55	4.03	4.20	3.85	0.654	0.919
BAR19	Irregular industry-wide campaigns and awareness programs	4.18	3.17	4.08	4.25	0.752	0.917
BAR20*	Secrecy of information that hinder inspiration and informed decisions about embracing and investing in digital technologies*	2.73	3.08	2.34	3.10	0.303	0.929
BAR21	Limited training and educational programs on digitalisation concepts within Indian Construction Sector	4.36	4.31	4.21	4.10	0.717	0.917

Cronbach’s Alpha – 0.922, Strongly disagree: 2.18 ≤ Mean Index ≤ 2.69, Disagree 2.69 ≤ Mean Index ≤ 3.20, Neutral: 3.20 ≤ Mean Index ≤ 3.71, Agree: 3.71 ≤ Mean Index ≤ 4.22, Strongly agree: 4.22 ≤ Mean Index ≤ 4.73.

* Excluded from further analysis.

Figure 3. Scree plot showing components’ eigenvalue (source: Author).

Figure 4. Output showing extraction based on (a) eigenvalue greater than 1 (b) fixed number of factors.

(Source: Authors)

Table 3. Results of exploratory factor analysis.

	Extracted and rotated components	Factor loading	Eigen value	% of variance
Theme 1 - Financial and Resources Constraints			2.890	16.056
BAR1	High initial investment required for implementing digitalisation tools and technologies	0.511
BAR2	Limited financial resources of most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within the construction sector	0.634
BAR12	Resources intensive need for continuous upgrades, maintenance, and support for long-term sustainability	0.584
Theme 2 - Cultural and Organisational Constraints			2.717	15.095
BAR5	Cultural norms, hierarchical structures, and resistance to change within organizations	0.613
BAR7	Prevalence of older and less tech-savvy workforce within construction sector who may struggle with the learning curve.	0.719
BAR14	Fragmentation between industry stakeholders, including government bodies, construction companies, technology providers, and research institutions	0.643
Theme 3- Regional Disparities and Inequality Constraints			2.647	14.705
BAR9	Regional Disparities in the availability and quality of digital infrastructure across different regions in Indian.	0.714
BAR10	Disparities in the overall success of digitalisation initiatives causing discouragement to further implementation	0.693
BAR13	Daunting challenges of scalability of digital technologies within construction projects that are often unique.	0.701
BAR16	Lack of bespoke solution specifically tailored to the needs and challenges of the Indian construction industry.	0.720
Theme 4 - Data Security and Privacy Constraints			2.240	12.447
BAR11	Data security and privacy, as construction projects, involve sensitive information.	0.689
BAR17	In adequate data-driven analysis and case studies to overcome initial uncertainty and encourage organisations to adopt digital technologies	0.712
BAR18	Lack of detail documentation on ROI and cost-saving possibilities of digitalisation with respect to specific example from Indian Construction industry.	0.696
BAR19	Irregular industry-wide campaigns and awareness programs	0.787
Theme 5 - Awareness and Capacity Building Constraints			2.112	11.736
BAR3	Insufficient awareness among construction industry stakeholders regarding digitalization concepts and available technologies.	0.806
BAR4	Gaps in understanding the practical aspects of how to integrate digital technologies into construction workflows.	0.572
BAR15	Limited training and educational programs on digitalisation concepts within Indian Construction Sector	0.728
BAR21	Lack of sufficient alternatives for affordable and user-friendly digitalisation solutions	0.677

Figure 5. Themes of barriers emerged from the study.

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