Importance of information & communication technology in construction industry

Abstract

In today’s world where speed and efficiency is improving on a daily basis, the importance of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) is critical. ICT has become the backbone of every part of human life and Construction Industry is no different from the others. ICT in general is a mix of software & hardware which are specialised applications for construction industry. Earlier construction has been all human labour centric starting from Neolithic age, copper & Bronze Age to Iron Age in terms of using tools for construction. Till the late 1800’s construction were using similar technologies till steel has been used as a material which brought the new era in construction. Earlier all knowledge of design and drawings has been stored in paper in 2D format. Also all those knowledge was communicated in drawing or texts. This entire process of knowledge gathering & distribution has been revolutionised with the invent of ICT. Now ICT has been adding value to different phases of construction such as preconstruction, design, construction, operation & maintenance. ICT is useful in improving each phases and improved collaboration between teams where with right ICT usage can give all data centrally in single location. This has increased speed of error tracking and corrective action which in turn has reduced overall cost by timesaving & reduction in waste. Also ICT has changed the construction industry perspectives for environmental impact, health & safety, gender equity, increased confidence on the industry, increase in appetite for adopting new technologies etc. ICT in construction industry includes the adoption of IT tools in design, construction, operation and management of infrastructure projects.