Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Construction industry is one of the most booming industries in the world. It is

a data based and information dependent industry. Construction Industry is the

second largest sector in India after agricultural sector and has an employee size of

32 million people. Kochi, a city in the state of Kerala is witnessing a remarkable

growth in the construction industry, especially in the real estate construction. Still it

is expecting that many new players will enter the sector provided the current

economic situation and consumer preferences. The information generated and

exchanged in the form of drawings, contract documents, analysis results, planning

schedules, photographs, and reports1. Construction Industry has gone to a new level

with the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with its

construction projects involving large investments, tighter schedules, stringent

quality standards and widely dispersed project participants2.The studies and

researches prove that construction industry is not using the benefits of ICT to its full

potential, but the with limited adoption itself the gains achieved is enormous

The reasons for using ICT in construction projects are the improvement of the

interaction of the business process with each other, bigger profits, and service

quality improvements and to gain a competitive advantage. The main hindrance to

proper information management is hefty and slow information management

processes, culture issues and the barriers of ICT adoption3.

1 McIntosh, G and Sloan, B (2001) The potential impact of electronic procurement and global sourcing within the UK construction

industry. In: Akintoye, A (Ed.), 17th Annual ARCOM Conference, 5-7 September 2001, University of Salford. Association of

Researchers in Construction Management, Vol. 1, 231-40.

2 Alshawi, M. and Ingirige, B. “Web-Based Project Management.” www.construct-it.org.uk, 2002

3 Gyampoh-Vidogah, R., Moreton, R. & Proverbs, D. 2003. Implementing information management in construction: establishing

problems, concepts and practice. Construction Innovation, 3(3):157- 173.

1.3 Purpose of the study

This study is an attempt at assessing the effectiveness of ICT application in selected

construction companies in Kochi, Kerala. Kochi being an IT hub city provides an

excellent opportunity to study about ICT application.

1.4 Objectives

To assess the current usage of ICT tools by selected construction

companies.

To examine the effects of ICT integration on construction companies’

performance.

1.5 Research Questions

What is the awareness level of construction companies about ICT tools?

What are the current trends in the usage of ICT tools?

What are the effects of ICT integration into construction activities?

1.6 Scope and Limitations

The survey is conducted within Kochi city and a similar survey in other cities in

Kerala like Trivandrum, Kozhikode and cities outside Kerala like Bangalore, Chennai,

and Kolkata may produce different results. The primary data gathered and analyzed

in this study contains only 50 completed questionnaires and a larger sample may

produce better results.

CONCEPTUAL REVIEW

CONSTRUCTION SECTOR OVERVIEW BUSINESS STRATEGY DEVELO

According to the report on European Construction Research Network4, a

construction sector is termed as a source of economic and social benefits. The

major characteristics of construction sector as defined by the report are as follows

Fragmentation of responsibilities, processes and resources

For every construction projects the structure of responsibilities will be independent

in term of design, site works and operations. This results in confusion of

responsibilities and ambiguity in the communication. A construction industry is

highly fragmented with large number of small firms. So the size of the companies

will negatively affect in the absorption and utilization of new information and new

technologies. Fragmentation is also unfavorable for learning process.

Lack of focus on end-users

In many cases the client or user does not have a direct link with the construction,

which results in complexity. The lack of tools to communicate with users after the

initial discussions causes the user to imagine the consequences of 2D drawings and

its specifications. This will result in the final product without the proper interest of

the user. The tools like virtual reality systems can assist in a proper communication

with the clients.

Lack of performance indicators

“Value for money” is the mantra for most sectors since the product and services

compete on the basis of relationship between performance and cost. Customers

should be able to distinguish between competing offers on the basis of performance

factors like delivery time, capacity, size etc. Unfortunately construction has few 4 European Construction Research Network (2005), E-CORE strategy for construction RTD, Strategy report, available online at:

http://www.e-core.org/strategy, 10.2.2007.

such metrics; buildings and infrastructure are commissioned on the basis generally

of other indicators (e.g. capacity) rather than by reference to their effectiveness in

supporting the activities within them.

Short-term, price-based competition

The contractors tender to construct a building with a design already specified since

design responsibility is separated from construction. So the selection of successful

tender is highly influenced and determined by price. Considering the long term

performance, the separation of construction from operation provides no incentive to

contractors. This encourage to cost cutting at the expense of performance and

create an industry focused on short maximizing returns. The clients will be seeking

an optimum performance over the expected operational life of the facility, but this

is not reflected in the business process.

Highly regulated

A construction sector is subject to several regulations. These regulations reflect the

society’s concern that its outputs which have impact on every one who use or do

not use, which have to be operated for many years, should be constructed to

recognized standards of technical performance. In the areas were customers are

unable to make informed judgment, the regulations set minimum standards. They

can introduce new ideas by setting new ideas by setting high standards without

stating the means of compliance. When written in prescriptive form they may also

act as barriers to innovation. More the complex performance is required, and more

the safety risks, the regulations will become more prescriptive.

.

High labor intensity, poor image

Construction is a very labor intensive activity. Usually the number of labor figure is

underestimated as the self employed and in-house maintenance staffs that are

huge in number are not counted. In spite of being a labor intensive activity,

construction does not offer good working conditions with poor safety record.

Construction is placed second after mining in terms of probability of injury or death.

The site conditions are unhealthy and the facilities are poor. The project based

nature of construction leads to employment insecurity and reduces the investment

in the development of skills. The noise, disruptions and dusts which are commonly

associated with site works also add to the poor image of construction. A different

balance between on-site and off-site activities is aroused because of the shortage of

skilled labor and new recruits. The attempts in the past to implement industrialized

construction failed due to the inflexibility and incompatibility of the systems with

local variations.

High resource usage

Even though energy efficiency of new buildings has increased in the past few

decades, sector still remains the highest in usage of raw materials, energy and

water. The re-usage of materials has increased like in road construction, but it is

only in small proportion of the material usage. Construction is responsible for large

waste source, including the new materials removed from the construction sites. The

extraction, processing and transport of construction materials use large amount of

energy and impact much on the environment.

Local environmental impact

Construction site activities produce pollution and disturbances in its locality. The

major issues caused are noise, dust, water run-off and gaseous emissions. The

associated impact on the activities is traffic disruption, potential loss of business

and additional costs. The adoption of well planned operation process and

technology can help to minimize these problems even though it cannot be

eliminated.

Slow to innovate

The traditional structures and relationships create barriers to the acceptance of new

ideas. The long operation life expected of the build environment encourages the

caution in the adoption of new technologies and construction methods. The small

size of the enterprise means that they do not have resources to implement

innovative techniques and ideas. The price based approach rather than

performance based one hinder the investment in research to improve the final

performance of the output. The communication of new ideas generated through

research and other mean is reduced by the vast number of small companies.

Interoperability among project parties and the interaction with clients and users are

still adequate. For the information intensive nature of construction sector, better

use of IT is the key element for the sector’s future development.

Poor dialogue with society

Construction takes different forms from small in-house works to the creation of

Olympic facilities. Construction is always seen as a destroyer of nature and habitats.

Construction often fails to communicate with society about its role in providing

living and working environment, how it uses new technologies to promote its ability

to construct building with less environmental impacts or to provide visions of how

future buildings and infrastructure will boost our lives.

INDIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY – OVERVIEW

According to construction industry report by Credit Analysis and research limited5,

construction is termed as an important component for the infrastructure and

industrial development of a country. Construction is the largest economic activity

after agriculture. Construction is broadly classified into three segment such as

infrastructure, industrial and real estate. Infrastructure segment refers to the

construction of roads, rails, ports etc. Industrial segment is responsible for the

construction of projects such as factories, processing plants etc. Real estate

construction is sub divided into residential and commercial constructions.

Residential constructions focus on the construction of houses and apartments.

Commercial construction includes the construction of shopping centers, hotels,

office buildings etc.

The report shows that in the financial year 2008 construction sector has contributed

about 8.5% to India’s GDP. The construction sector has offered a major part to the

economic growth rate of India. From FY 06 to FY 08 the construction as a

percentage of GDP has increased from 8.0% to 8.5%. As the construction activity

being labor intensive, it has generated employment for about 33 million people in

India.

The construction industry in India is extremely fragmented. Many unorganized

companies in the industry are working on the subcontracting basis. Subcontracting

is done when the general contractors doesn’t have time or skills to do some tasks

and is a kind of outsourcing. Higher technology projects can generate more profits

for the companies than low technology projects like road construction. Majority of

projects in Construction industry are working capital intensive. It is forecasted that

about Rs. 10000 billion investments will be used in construction industry in the next

5 Indian Construction Industry, Credit Analysis & Research Ltd. (CARE Ratings),October 2008,pages 99, Available at

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?report_id=661754

five years. Similarly there will be an inflow of Rs 1500 Billion in the construction

industry on the back of the investments planned by various manufacturing sectors.

The real estate segments also create an investment of Rs 1000 Billion over next five

years. The bulging order book position of the construction companies reflects the

whole scene clearly.

The strengths of the Indian construction industry are its manpower strength

including manpower with high level technical and management skills, and

construction experience of every type of construction in all types of terrains and

climates; government initiatives for providing financial incentives to construction

organizations; manufacturing of varied construction materials and equipment in the

country; agility and adaptability to the changing global construction scenario and

working with overseas organizations6.

The major weakness identified in the Indian construction industry is it is not IT savvy

sector. The surveys have shown that the technology has done little to transform the

Indian construction industry except for some larger organizations. It is high time to

recognize the true value of ICT and reengineering of the traditional systems of

working.

The major barrier with respect to ICT is that the method of formal reporting is not

practices in these organizations7.

ICT-DEFINITION

6 Mejie, H.S. and Punia, H.S., 2004. Strategy to Enhance the Standing of India’s Construction Industry - Review of Strengths and

Weaknesses of Existing Systems and Technology, Proceedings of Construction Opportunities and Strategies for Action With Focus on

Asia Pacific, Middle East and African Regions, September 2004, 2, pp.1-10.

7 Ranadive, M.S. and Gaikwad, A.A., 2006. Information Technology in the Indian Construction Industry, In Swarup, P.R. and Kumar, B.

Ed. Proceedings of the World Conference for Design and Construction, INCITE/ITCSED 2006, New Delhi, India, November 2006, 4,

pp.22-32.

ICT is an acronym for Information and Communication Technologies. The World

Bank’s definition8 of ICT says that:-

“Information and Communication Technology consists of hardware,

software, networks, and media for collection, storage, processing,

transmission, and presentation of information (voice, data, text, images).”

Thus ICT refers to all technologies that facilitates the information handling and

enables the communication among human beings, electronic systems and

between them.

ICT TOOLS IMPORTANT

Internet is the worldwide system of computer networks used for transferring and

exchanging information. For an information system, Internet is the perfect platform.

Now a day’s Internet is not just a scientific network, it is a tool for generating

business, performing e-business, e-commerce and e-tendering. Internet is been

adopted by the construction industry to help in the effective and timely project

delivery9.

Internet will serve as a communication platform which helps to attain speedy

transmission of information and saves money in the communication process with

long distance construction sites10. Thus, Internet helps to communicate information

more effectively during the construction process.

Web application is an application accessed via a web browser over a network such

as internet. Web based application helps in solving problems caused by the

8 World Bank (2002). Information and Communication Technologies: A World Bank Group Strategy. Washington, DC, USA.

9 How to Get Started in e-Business, 2000b. UK: Construct IT for Business Report. Available from: www.construct-it.org.uk (cited in

Dec’2002)

10 C M Tam, Use of the Internet to enhance construction communication: Total Information Transfer System, International Journal of

Project Management Volume 17, Issue 2, April 1999, Pages 107-111

geographical fragmentation. The major benefits of using a web based data base as

a central repository for the project information are 1) Reduced manual distribution

costs 2) Integration of project information 3) Simple management of access rights

4) Document storage & archiving 5) Continuous access to project information and 6)

Minimal software requirement11. The effect and efficiency of the decision making

process is upgraded by the technical. The integration of the organization data base

and World Wide Web (WWW) functions upgrades the effect and efficiency of the

decision making process and supports the decision makers in conducting long

distance evaluation at various project sites12. A collaborative work environment is

enabled by the project web sites. A web based four dimensional (4D) visualization

enables a collaborative construction planning and scheduling13.

Researchers have identified twelve critical factors affecting performance of web

based project management systems as: project type, project duration, Internet

access availability, type of Internet connection, level of internal support, ability of

project managers, usage frequency of advanced features, level of support provided

by a service provider, functionality and reliability of the web based system, data

security and reliability, external integration ability of the system and the unique

characteristics of the organization using the system 14.

11 How to Get Started in e-Business, 2000b. UK: Construct IT for Business Report. Available from: www.construct-it.org.uk (cited in

Dec’2002)

12 Hsueh, S.L., Perng, Y.H., Yan, M.R. and Lee, J.R., 2007. On-line Multi-criterion Risk Assessment Model for Construction Joint

Ventures in China, Automation in Construction, 16(5), pp.607-619.

13 Kang, J.H., Anderson, S.D. and Clayton, M.J., 2007. Empirical Study on the Merit of Web-based 4D Visualization in Collaborative

Construction Planning and Scheduling, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 133(6), pp.447-461.

14 Nitithamyong, P. and Skibniewski, M.J., 2007. Key Success/Failure Factors and their Impacts on System Performance of Web Based

Project Management Systems in Construction, ITcon, 12, pp.39-59.

An Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) system in a construction company

can link together an entire organization’s operations such as accounting, finance,

human resources, manufacturing and distribution, etc and also connects the

organization with the customers and suppliers.

Supply chain software is also evolving towards Internet applications that

communicate with the Enterprise Resource Planning systems15. Internet has helped

in developing e-commerce applications for construction companies and hence the

buying and selling goods and services over internet are made possible.

Video conferencing is an element of collaborative work environment. As the

construction industry is more globalized and competitive than other industry, it

needs faster interaction to enable real-time collaboration, application sharing

between the office and construction sites. Video conferencing helps to conduct

meetings and share documents live over the internet and achieve real time

collaboration16.

The basic internal computer networks such as Local area network (LAN) and its

wireless technology (W-LAN) has become more common in construction companies.

The telephony services over internet which are called as Voice over internet

protocol (VOIP) helps in the communication cheaper and faster17.

Intranets are used by the construction companies to share information, collaborate

and manage across various technical platforms and information systems, and

across structural and geographical boundaries within the organization in a user

15 Green, F. B., 2001. Managing the Unmanageable: Integrating the Supply Chain With New Developments in Software, Supply Chain

Management: An International Journal, 6(5), pp.208-211.

16 Sahai, A., 2004. E-Collaboration in the Engineering Sector, Civil Engineering and Construction Review, March, pp.38-42.

17 ICT and e-business in construction industry, ICT adoption and e-business activity in 2006, Sector report No7/2006, pp 28-29.

friendly manner18. An extranet is a private network that uses Internet protocols and

the public telecommunication system to securely share part of an organization's

information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers or other

businesses.Extranets promote project collaboration, team working and e-

commerce19.

3D technologies are tools to generate three-dimensional drawings, plans and

construction outlines and to develop communication among the project

stakeholders.

3D technology is a part of digital construction process in which all the construction

project elements are created and stored in 3dimensional model20. 3D technology

provides better communication with the contractor or stakeholders and easier

evaluation of construction methods.

The development of Virtual Environment (VE) and Virtual Reality can help the

construction project stake holder in observation and in the successful completion of

project. The VR techniques can enrich the efficiency of all stages in the completion

of a construction project such as designing, planning and preparation. The ability to

review the design and rehearse the construction of the facility in a 3D interactive

and immersive environment can increase the understanding of the design intent,

improve the constructability of the project, and minimize changes and abortive work

that can be detected prior to the start of construction21.

4D model is developed by combining time sequencing in visual environment with

the

18 http://www.itcon.org/data/works/att/2007_27.content.00374.pdf.

19 Tayeh, A.E. and Gil, N., 2007. Using Digital Socialization to Support Geographically Dispersed AEC Project Teams, Journal of

Construction Engineering and Management, 133(6), pp.462-473.

20 Tredal & Johnsen 2005, 3D projketering hos rådgiver, BYG-DTU 2005.

21 W. Thabet, M.F Shirattudin , D. Bowman ,2002,Engineering computational technology Pages: 25 – 52. 

3 D geometrical model (x, y, z). ‘nD modeling’ is an extension of 3D model by

integrating all the design information needed at each level of construction project

life cycle such as time, cost, organizations etc

Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) is the material tracking device used in

the construction industry to identify and track materials in the supply chain with

help of small electronic chips.

A study is conducted on the application of an integrated Global Positioning System

(GPS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) technology to the reduction of

construction waste. The study is developed from automatic data capture system

such as the bar-coding system for construction material and equipment (M&E)

management onsite, whilst the integrated GPS and GIS technology is combined to

the M&E system based on the Wide Area Network (WAN)22.

ICT AND INFORMATION

In a Construction organization, information can be classified under three

sections

Information needed for managing the internal operations of the

organization,

Information needed for assessing the industry and organization’s

position in industry

Information needed for managing the construction projects.

22 Li, H., Chen, Z., Yong, L. and Kong, S.C.W., 2005. Application of Integrated GPS and GIS Technology for Reducing Construction

Waste and Improving Construction Efficiency, Automation in Construction, 14(3), pp.323-331.

For the first section of information, ICT is needed to integrate the

communication between various departments, branch offices and sub units of

a construction organization.

For the second section the need of ICT is to deliver nimbleness to the

information system. The constant flow of information from internal and

external sources allows informed decision making environmental scanning and

coordination of a response23.

The third part of information is generated by due to the communication

between the organization and different agencies which are part of the project

team. Project information are processed and presented data which enables

action24.

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

A study conducted by Syed Shah and Mohd Kamal25 investigated the factors

influencing the adoption of ICT in small and medium enterprises in Malaysia. Small

and medium enterprises are the back bone of industrial development in Malaysia

and play a pivotal role in its economy. Most of the Malaysian businesses and SMEs

are slow in adoption of technology. A survey instrument was initiated to get the

23 Retik, A. and Langford, D., 2001. Computer Integrated Planning and Design forConstruction, London: Thomas Telford.

24 Marsh, L. and Flanagan, R., 2000. Measuring the Costs and Benefits of Information Technology in Construction, Journal of

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 7(4): pp.423-435.

25 Syed Shah Alam, Mohd. Kamal Mohammad Noor, February 2009, ICT Adoption in Small and Medium Enterprises: an Empirical

Evidence of Service Sectors in Malaysia, International Journal of Business and Management, available online at

http://www.ccsenet.org/journal.html,Vol 4, No 2, pp.112-125.

feedback from the SMEs in Malaysia to assess the awareness, receptivity and

adoption of ICT in their business. The survey was conducted on a sample of 180

SMEs. Majority of the companies surveyed are in whole sale and retail business. Out

of 180 companies, 159 respondents were under local ownership which was 88.3%.

The foreign ownership company constituted only the remaining 11.7% which was

only 21 companies. More than 50% (53.8%) of the respondents surveyed were

middle managers which come to 97 respondents and executive’s came second in

this study with 27.8% followed by Managers with 12.8%. Due to the least

participation and lack of time, the top officials like CEO contributed only 5.6 percent

which is 10 out of 180 respondents. About 57.22% of the respondents specified that

they use computers in their company. 86 out of 180 respondents have indicated

that they have internet connection where more than 52.28% had been using

internet less than 5 years and 42.72% using internet for more than 5 years. The

results showed that most of the companies adopted Windows XP as their operating

system which was the latest OS at that time. There were 69 out of 103 respondents

using Windows XP which carried 66.99 % and 27 companies were using Windows

2000/98 as their operating system. Some of them were using Mac OS X but it was

as lower as 6.8%.

The study has showed ICT adoption as a dependent variable. The study has tested

five dependent variables such as perceived benefits of ICT, perceived cost of

adoption, ICT knowledge and skill of the employees, external pressure and the

government support.

The results in this study proved that a perceived benefit has a strong and significant

role in the ICT adoption. The adoption of ICT has given the business, a wide range of

possibilities. It helped to get access to new market opportunities and improved the

competitiveness. The immediate customer feedback is initiated and helps the

company to react fast to the changes. The respondents had agreed that the use of

Internet will be important for the future development and will generate desired

returns in terms of profit.

Perceived cost do not have direct impact in the ICT adoption. One of the reasons is

that Malaysian government is providing full financial support to the SMEs and also

SMEs will have other options for financial support for their ICT investment. These

reasons reduced the importance of perceived cost in ICT adoption.

The relation between the ICT knowledge and skill of the employees is very

important. The employee’s knowledge, skills and previous experiences will help and

influence the organization in ICT adoption. The opportunity of ICT use in

organizations increases with the knowledge and ability of the managers and

owners.

The external pressure always has critical importance. But the Malaysian SMEs are

not much involved in global business. So the external pressure from the customers

and suppliers is very less in adopting ICT.

The result showed that government support has a significant role in ICT adoption.

The government policies and initiatives have a direct impact and helps in producing

faster technology diffusion.

Adoption and usage of ICT in developing countries: Case of Ugandan firms

Information and Communication technologies play a major role in the economic

development of developing countries like Uganda. The study conducted by Joseph &

Michael (2007)26 investigated the extent of ICT usage and adoption in 101 firms in

Uganda. The study analyzed various characteristics, ICT usage, E-commerce;

Internet usage and connectivity, perception on the contribution of ICT to firms,

Government policies and barriers to the ICT adoption and use. The study reveals the

followings:

Majority of the medium sized firms were foreign owned. The large firms were locally

owned or joint ventures. 33% of the foreign firms and 8 % of the local firms were

less than 10 years old and 27% of foreign firms and 15% of local firms were

between 10 and 20 years old. 70% of the foreign owned firms, 77% of the local

firms and 83% of the joint venture firms were more than 20 years old.

All the firms surveyed had computers and internet access. When surveyed in terms

of ownership, results showed that all foreign and joint ventures had been using

computers for more than 5 years and 80% of foreign firms and 83% of joint firms

were using internet between 3 and 5 years.

The ICT access in terms of employees showed that those in administration and

finance have more access to computers and internet. Marketing & sales employees

had also similar access to computers, but their internet access is very less. Other

employees like support staffs and production had also very less computer and

internet access. The main use of computers by the employees was for word

processing, accounting, information processing, and inventory control and storage

optimization.

26 Joseph Ssewanyana and Michael Busler, International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication

Technology (IJEDICT), 2007, Vol. 3, Issue 3, pp. 49-59.

61% of the firms have website on the internet. Whilst 27% had their own website

hosts and 73 % of them outsourced their web hosting. Leased line and wireless

internet were the major type of internet connection used by small and medium

sized firms. The main use of internet was for communication and surfing. Only 27%

of the firms used internet for e-commerce (buying and selling of goods& services

over internet). The adoption of ecommerce was higher in medium sized firms than

larger firms.

The firms were asked to respond to various policies put forward by the Ugandan

government.75% agreed that the expanded coverage of radio and TV in the country

had improved the firm’s market share.71 % agreed that increased number of

telecom operators had reduced the firms operating costs. When asked whether the

increased number of telecom operators and ISPs had enabled firms to invest in

Internet, 31% strongly agreed and 56% agreed. Whilst 50% agreed and 28%

strongly agreed on the availability of well trained ICT personnel would encourage

the firms to invest in ICT.

The major perceptions or benefits as responded by the firms were increased

savings, increased efficiency, improved service delivery, low transaction costs and

improved market performance.

The major barriers to the adoption and use of ICT were expensive hardware and

software, expensive qualified personnel, high taxes on hardware and software and

lack of security on the internet.

The study proved that level of ICT adoption and use was still not favorable as

compared to developed countries. Medium and large firms were better in the

adoption of ICT as they were owned my foreigners than smaller firms.

ICT APPLICATION IN A DAIRY INDUSTRY: THE E-EXPERIENCE OF AMUL

Milk27 products are very important in India which is having a large vegetarian

population. A large number of farmers are depending upon the milk production and

dairying for their livelihood. When it comes to dairy industry in India, first name

coming to the mind will be Amul and its parent company, Gujarat Cooperative Milk

Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF). There is an argument that the investments

related to ICT in rural areas are not effective, but the case of Amul eliminates all

such arguments with its effective and efficient application of ICT. The Kaira District

Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd, popularly known as Amul diary is Rs 67113

million turn over institution. It is an institution built up with a network of over 10000

Village Cooperative Societies and 500000 members. Amul initiated the dairy

cooperative movement in India through an apex cooperative organization called

GCMMF which was formed in 1946.

A study was conducted by Bowonder, Raghu Prasad and Anup Kotla28 on the ICT

application in the dairy industry: the e-experience of Amul. Almost 4000 rural

locations in the dairy sector is already using computer for processing milk buying

and selling transactions in a transparent manner and daily around 500000 people

are benefitted by ICT. Amul had installed Automatic Milk Collection Unit System

27 http://www.amul.com/index1.html

28 B. Bowonder, B R Raghu Prasad and Anup Kotla,ICT application in a dairy industry: The e-experience of Amul, available online at

http://planningcommission.gov.in/reports/sereport/ser/stdy_ict/3_amul.pdf

(AMCUS) in all villages’ societies to increase the clarity in the transaction between

the farmers and cooperative society. AMCUS has helped to reduce the processing

time to 10 % than before. The entire supplier information is made accessible

through this system integration.

Each farmer is provided an individual identification card. At the milk collection

centre the farmer drops the card to the machine and the data is transmitted to the

computer attached to it. An electronic fast test machine is used to weigh and test

the milk. The information about members, fat content, volume of the milk procured

and the amount payable to the member are available to the Co- operative Society in

the form of a database. The zonal offices, regional offices and the dairy members

are connected through VSAT. Thus a seamless flow of online information is

achieved. Centralized monitoring is the major benefit gained from an ICT platform.

All the sales offices and distributors are connected through TCP/IP internet mail

account for information exchange. A Global Information System is also used by

GCMMF. It has got an all India map that enable it to plot the zone and distributor

location. GIS is used for sales and distribution planning and also for business

planning and optimization of collection process. With the success of AMCUS, Amul

diversified the use of ICT into all value chain activities to attain ‘Better management

practices’. An Enterprise wide Integrated Application System (EIAS) integrates and

optimize the logistic and supply chain activities. DISK (Dairy Information and

Services Kiosk) is an initiative started by Indian Institute of Management

Ahmadabad with GCMMF. It facilitates the data analysis and decision support in

improving milk collection.

The study has identified various benefits of ICT in dairy industry as follows:

Reduction in time

Human errors are minimized

Spot payment for farmers possible

Reduction in wastage

Transparency in operation

Integration of operations

It is a challenging task to implement and conceptualize ICT in the dairy industry.

There are many factors associated with it.

To design a customer oriented ICT platform, the start should be made from the base

line operations. The understanding of ground conditions helped Amul creating a

customer based system. The acceptance of new technology was enhanced by the

reputation of the agency. The customers were benefitted with reduction in waiting

time. The rate of diffusion of ICT will be high when the benefits weigh higher than

the costs. Amul always treated their customers identically. It helped to build trust

which enabled them to reinforce the working relationships.

EXPLORING THE EXTENT OF ICT ADOPTION AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN MALAYSIA

A study conducted by Bee Theng Lau and Chia Hua Sim29 in Malaysia explored the

extent of ICT adoption among Secondary School Teachers.

A survey was conducted among some 250 secondary school teachers of

Mathematics and Science to collect the qualitative and quantitative data.29 Bee Theng, Lau and Chia Hua, Sim. Exploring the extent of ICT adoption among Secondary school Teachers in Malaysia.

International Journal of Computing and ICT Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp.19-36. http://www.ijcir.org/volume2-number2/article 3.pdf.

The respondents were asked to specify the frequency of ICT usage in teaching,

classroom management, communication and personality development was

investigated.

The report showed that ICT usage in teaching & instructional on daily or weekly

basis has a higher percentage with 75%. The ICT use in classroom management

activities came to 49% and in communication with 26%. The less frequent usage of

ICT was in personality development.

The use of ICT applications on daily or weekly basis showed higher percentage to

teaching courseware (73%), presentation tools (43%), internet browsing (53%), and

spreadsheets (32%). The lower rated applications were graphical visualization tools

(24%); multimedia (22%), simulation programs (14%), and online demos (7%).

The teachers were asked to rate their competence level in basic computer

applications including word processing, spreadsheets, presentation tools, e-mailing,

internet browsing, statistical tools, and teaching courseware. The teachers

responded themselves to be competent , either excellent or good in word processing

with 71 %, teaching course ware (63%), presentation tools (50%), emailing (41%),

and spreadsheets (39%), statistical tools (31%).

When asked to rate on what extent does they agree with the perceptions about ICT

adoption, the teachers responded that ICT makes them more effective in their

teaching (75%), organizing their tasks (80%), and helps to meet the needs of the

students (48%). They also agreed that with the increased use of internet and

technology, their lessons plans are getting richer (55%). These results showed the

positive perception of teachers towards ICT.

About 85% percentage of teachers specified that they like to integrate more ICT

application into their teaching. 87 % of the respondents perceived ICT as an

important tool to finish their tasks.

The major barrier for the ICT adoption as indicated by the teachers is the lack of

technical support. Then the lack of time, limited knowledge on how to make full use

of ICT, Limited understanding on how to integrate ICTs into teaching and Lack of

software or websites that support state standards

The study investigated the level of ICT use by teachers in schools, their

competency, perception and also the barriers for ICT adoption. The research showed

a positive attitude of teachers towards ICT and also the need of proper training in

the technology for teachers.

A SURVEY ON THE ICT ADOPTION OF BUSINESSES IN MAURITIUS

The National Computer Board, Mauritius (2001)30 conducted a survey to

assess the extent of ICT level in various Businesses in Mauritius. A sample of 300

establishments was taken from a population of 2132 establishments having more

than 10 employees. Of the surveyed establishments, 48% came from tertiary sector,

45.3 % from secondary sector (manufacturing & construction) and 6.7% from the

primary sector (agriculture).

All the establishments surveyed have more than 10 employees and can be

considered as large establishments. 60 % of the establishments have annual

turnover over twenty million rupees and 79.7 % of the establishments are 10 years

or more old.

Around 83.3% of the establishments have at least one computer and it

suggested the extent of adoption of technology, since the computer is the basic

term in ICT. The usage of computer by the business processes came in the range of

50% to 100%. The establishments with no computer have responded with no

necessity of it as the reason for it. But a 42% of those not having computer is

planning to computerize and 76% of them would be doing it in less than two years.

37.3 % of respondents have one to three servers for their computer network.

24.3% have one to three PCs and 20% of them have more than 20 PCs. The use of

Notebooks, laptops and thin clients are very low. About 90.3% of the respondents

are willing to upgrade their computer.

The office tools (96%), Accounting software (44.8%), inventory/stock control

system (28.4%) and pay roll system (27.2%) are the widely used software packages

30 National Computer Board Mauritius, 2002, http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/ncb/file/ictusagesurvey2001.pdf

by the establishments. For the IT security establishments have used antivirus

software (96.4%) and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) with 73.6%. Whilst 90.4 % of

establishments have a practice of taking backups and 60.8% of them did it daily. A

55.2% of the establishments have a back up for their server. Even as 83.6% of the

business establishments reviewed their security procedures once in a year.

43% of the establishments indicated that they have Local Area networks and

12.7 % have Wide Area Networks. At the same time as 90% of the establishments

have access to internet. The use of internet was high in sectors such as

manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage

and communication and banking and finance. The usage of internet in education

and training sector is 63.2% and in public administration is 72.7% .The internet

usage was less in Construction (58.3%), banking (45%) and health (40%).

The main challenges faced by the e-commerce adoption are the limited size

of market (42.2%), inadequate infrastructure (31%), shortage of IT skills (26.2%) and

goods or services do not provide themselves to the transactions over the internet

(23%).

The establishments having ICT spending of greater proportions of their annual

budget are software (43.2%), consultancy (15.9%) and hardware (14.8%). All

establishments mentioned that they have a minimum of 50000 Rs of annual budget

for their ICT spending.

The proportion of ICT staff to the total number of employees turned out to be

11%. Around 46.1% of the staffs are computer literate. The survey showed that

there is a need of training for staffs in Office tools and operating systems and staffs

who is IT specialist is less than 1 %.

In terms of the benefits of ICT, 79.6% have responded that they are satisfied

with the return on IT investment and a great proportion of 88 % have indicated that

the technology have a positive impact on their organization. Whilst 68% of them

have confirmed that their turnover has increased in the range of 1-10%.

CONTEXTUAL REVIEW

THE CURRENT STATE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY USAGE BY SMALL AND MEDIUM TAIWANESE CONSTRUCTION

COMPANIES

Hung-Ju Chien and Stephen Barthobe31 conducted a research to find the current

state of Information and Communication Technology usage by small and medium

Taiwanese construction companies. To accomplish the goal they conducted a

questionnaire study on 100 small and medium construction companies in Taiwan.

They divided the small and medium construction companies into two categories

such as one with turnover between TWD 0.1 -2 billion (USD 3 – 61 million) and other

below TWD 0.1 billion (USD 3 million).

The study showed that majority of the companies (72.5%) specified that their ICT

investment is less than 0.1% (TWD 1 million) of their annual turnover. 25.5%

responded that their ICT investment is between TWD 1 million and 5 million and

only a 2% of the companies have a reasonable ICT investment between 5 million

and 10 million.

31 Chien H-J, Barthorpe S (2010) The current state of information and communication technology usage by small and medium

Taiwanese construction companies, ITcon Vol. 15, pg. 75-85, http://www.itcon.org/2010/5

The survey on the use of ICT applications revealed that accounting (76.5%) leads

the list. The other applications used are Financial Management (56.9%), Electronic

Document Management Applications (54.9%), Estimating (49%), Project

Management (47.1%) and Human Resource Management Applications (39.2%).

The ICT applications such as Accounting, Financial Management, and Electronic

Document Management were found to be more useful for the effectiveness of

Construction management

The use of CAD software was found to be so common such that 92.2% of the

respondents were using it. Even 87.5 % of the firms with turnover below TWD 0.1

billion have CAD software using in their company. The CAD software was found to

be 85.6% useful in the effectiveness in designing and drawing.

37% of construction firms with turnover between TWD 0.1 billion and TWD 2 billion

and 33.3 % with turnover below 0.1 billion used Virtual Reality technology. VR

technology is found to be 76 % useful in the effectiveness of marketing and

communications.

The main communication tools used by the construction companies are e-mail

(96.1%), intranet (58.8%) and video conferencing (33.3%)

Only a 29.4% of respondents used Knowledge Management software to handle

company’s knowledge and it is considered to be 67 % of useful in the effectiveness

of knowledge management

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF ICT IN THE NIGERIANCONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

A survey was conducted by Adebayo A. Oladapo32 to investigate the use of

ICT in the Nigerian Construction industry. The respondents targeted were mainly

Engineers, Architects and Quantity Surveyors.

Most of the respondents (98.5%) used computers and among them desktop

computers (91.9%) was the common one. The use of Laptops was 60.6% and of

notebook computers were 17.6%. The commonly used Operating System was

Windows XP (59.6%), Windows 2000 (55.1%) and Windows 98 (47.1%).

MS word (67.6%), Word Perfect (36.8%) and MS excel (55.9%) were the word

processing and accounting software used by the companies. Among the

presentation software MS power point (59.6%) was the commonly used.

The companies used CAD software for designing and drawing purposes.

AutoCAD (73.6%) was the leading software used by the companies. WinQs used by

41.5% is the most common Quantity Surveying Software. MS project (45.6%) was

the only project planning software used by the respondents.

66.9% of the respondents have internet communication facility in their

company. Other communication methods like intranet (19.1%) and voice mail

(12.5%) were used very less.

The respondents were asked to rate the importance of various benefits of use

of ICT in construction companies on a scale of Very high to very low. The most

important benefit was the improvement in the quality of work.

32 Oladapo A A (2007) An investigation into the use of ICT in the Nigerian construction industry, ITcon Vol. 12, Special Issue

Construction information technology in emerging economies , pg. 261-277, http://www.itcon.org/2007/18

The ranked benefits from very high to very low are:-

1. Improves quality of work2. Makes complex tasks easier to perform3. Saves time4. Improves productivity5. Enhances public image6. Saves cost7. Facilitates decision making

The main barrier for the use of ICT in construction was inadequate and erratic

electric supply, since the electric supply in Nigeria was very unreliable. The other

barriers that comes next were high cost of hardware/software, lack of sufficient

jobs, fear of virus attacks and high rate of waning of hardware/software

The survey showed that even the present state is not so good, majority of the

respondents were very optimistic about the future of ICT in the Nigerian

Construction Industry.

A SURVEY OF INTERNET USAGE IN THE MALAYSIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Internet is an important tool in the ICT. The Internet came into Malaysia in the year

1990. Since then the development in the technology with the help of internet in

Malaysia is clearly visible. The study by Lim Y M, Rashid A Z, Ang C N, Wong C Y and

Wong S L33 investigated the current level of usage of Internet, its advantages and

disadvantages in the Malaysian Construction industry.

According to the survey 94% of the respondents had internet access. Whilst 84 %

33 Lim Y M, Rashid A Z, Ang C N, Wong C Y and Wong S L (2002) A survey of Internet usage in the Malaysian construction industry,

ITcon Vol. 7, pg. 259-269, http://www.itcon.org/2002/17

responded that Internet is an important tool for their company and only 14 % had

said that it is not important. 96% of the respondents were using Internet for

emailing purposes. 59% were using the internet for research and information

gaining purposes and 38% for marketing. For contracting, estimation, project

management and virtual meeting the respondents were only 35.6%.

When asked about the benefits of usage of Internet, 60% had said it as time saving

in the work. 51.4% agreed the benefit as Internet improves efficiency and 47%

responded with cost saving. For the benefits like expanding business and reduction

of employee, the respondents were 8.6% and5.7% respectively.

As mentioned by the respondents the main disadvantages of Internet are

downloading problem (59%) and virus problem (50%). About 47% responded that

the problem as connection problem or Internet traffic. Other disadvantages were

the difficulty in the extraction of data (27%), e-mail sending and receiving errors

(21%)) and security problems (21%).

24% of the firms had their own websites and 21% of those not having websites were

planning to own their websites in the near future. When asked about the reason for

setting websites, 49% responded with no reason. It showed that majority was

having website for the reason that others was having.

12% were using the website for advertising purposes, 11% for company status and

10& for information for employees. For the reasons like getting feedback from

customers, the response was 7% and for sharing information it was 5%.

The main problem for setting up websites was time consuming (52%). Other

reasons were security problem (12%) and cost (29%).

A SURVEY ON THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ONTHE CANADIAN ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING ANDCONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The survey conducted by Hugues Rivard34 studied on the current use and impact of

Information technology in the Architect, Engineering and Construction Industry in

Canada (2000). The main respondents were engineering firms, contractor firms and

architectural firms. The gross revenue of the companies surveyed ranged between

$ 100000 and $ 100 million. The survey checked the computer availability, use, CAD

tools, network & communications and various research directions.

Almost 99% of the firms responded that they have computers and the result was

very encouraging than previous years. While in 1996 only 65% of the construction

industry was using computers. With the technology advancement, decrease in the

price, increase in usefulness and popularity of computers have made this result

more positive.

The average number of computers per employee was 0.8. 90% of the employees

used computers or their work and 80% have their own computer in the company to

do their work. As working on sites most of the times, contractors have less

proportion in computer availability.

Microsoft was main operating system (90%) used in the construction companies.

Among the office software, word processor (98.6%) and spreadsheet (91.5%) were

used by most of the companies. The usage of database (65.4%) and project

planning (47.4%) software was not so encouraging, but firms are planning to use in

the future.

34 Rivard H (2000) A Survey on the Impact of Information Technology in the Canadian Architecture, Engineering and Construction

Industry, ITcon Vol. 5, pg. 37-56, http://www.itcon.org/2000/3

The extent of computerization of various business processes was classified into

three categories such as highly computerized, partially computerized and not

computerized. The business processes like book keeping, invoicing and

specifications comes in the highly computerized category. Materials control and

purchasing was still done manually or without computerization, while costing,

budgeting and technical calculation were partially computerized.

The CAD software was mainly used by engineering and architectural firms and only

26.4 % of the contracting firms used CAD. Among the firms having computers, 76%

used CAD software. AutoCAD was the leading software used by the firms. Other

CAD software used was MicroStation and Visio Technical.

Geographical Information System (GIS) is a software application meant to analyze

and store geographical information and is used in land planning, surveying,

infrastructure management etc. GIS was mainly used by engineering firms (20%)

and only 5% of architectural firms used GIS software.

Most of the drawings and design work was done by CAD software. 71% of the firms

used CAD software for 80% to 100% of their drawings. The majority of the drawings

(94%) were two dimensional and only 4% of the firms used 3 dimensional drawings.

64% of the firms have computers connected through LAN (Local Area Network).

75% of the engineering firms used LAN, and the use of LAN in architectural firms

was 44%. 90% of the firms have access to internet. 97% of the engineering firms,

86% of architectural firms and 83% of contractors have internet connection.

E-mail was used by 87% of the construction companies surveyed. In terms of the

type of firms, the use of e-mail was engineering firms with 96.1%, architectural

firms (83.6%) with and contractors with (73.8%). 43% of engineering firms, 27% of

architectural firms and 27% of contractors have their own website.

The main benefit as mentioned by the firms was better quality of work. Other

important benefits were work done more quickly, better financial control, better

communications an simple and faster access to common data. The reduction in

staff, decrease in the use of paper, telecommuting and staff contentment was not

found to be major benefits by the firms.

The main obstacles for the application of IT in AEC industry were continual demand

of upgrading, high cost of investment and greater know how required by the staff.

The areas of future research as responded by the firms were the implementation of

computer integrated design and development of new tools to assist designers.