Building a data-driven future for construction team? Capabilities matter

Abstract

Emerging technologies in the construction industry are generating an astounding amount of data, pointing to an optimistic digital future with data analytics. Despite the potential benefits, many big data projects fail to deliver value. Talent and skill shortages are significant challenges in the journey to become data-driven. Construction project managers (CPMs) play the lead role in creating innovative ways for successful project delivery. Therefore, this study seeks to understand the capabilities of a CPM that are important for developing a data-driven team in which the potential of data is highly valued and leveraged to enhance project efficiency.

Through a literature review, the opportunities and challenges of data usage in construction project teams were identified. Questionnaire surveys were distributed to collect information on the data awareness and usage in the project teams and how the CPMs evaluated their peers demonstrating data-oriented capabilities. The Mann–Whitney, Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric tests and Pearson correlations were used for data analytics. The top three CPMs capabilities which were strongly correlated to project team data usage are: (1) Ensure basic tasks to be completed proficiently; (2) Keep a problemsolving mind-set; and (3) Maintain a high ethical standard when capturing and using data. This study supports CPMs and maps the skills and training required for the future-oriented CPMs as they respond to the digital challenge in the construction industry. Outputs of this research that develops future capability in the digital age will support the construction industry in a journey towards a safer, more productive and sustainable future.