Digital Technology Adoption and Implementation Plan: A Case of the Egyptian Construction Industry

Construction industries are major laggers in adopting new technologies compared to other industries, thus efficient delivery of projects is hindered. Inefficiency in construction project delivery became acute during the outbreak of the COVID-۱۹ pandemic. Researchers suggest that adopting Digital Technologies (e.g., Building Information Modelling (BIM), Robots, Drones, etc) could have a major impact in mitigating the challenges facing the construction field. Most research unfortunately focused mainly on the benefits of BIM software with less interest on other related; technologies, hardware, standards, procedures, protocols that are essential aspects for a complete innovation. Furthermore, there is paucity of research about how to manage changes associated with the adoption of the innovative technologies by construction firms. This study focuses on developing a Digital adopting plan for a main contractor in Egypt. Data is collected through a quantitative method, where respondents are practitioners who have experience in Egyptian projects. Status of the firm and barriers preventing implementation were dissected from the data-collection. Strategic planning SWOT tool is used to analyze the data and propose strategies necessary for a comprehensive implementation plan. A financial appraisal is then conducted identifying the return of investment to the overall cost. Finally, organizational and project change management plans are proposed for adopting the innovative technologies. This research can update policies that can be used to expand the use of digital technologies specially BIM in practice.

Keywords:

BIM , Construction Industry , Digital Construction Technologies , Covid-۱۹ , Return on investment , Strategy Planning