Application of mobile IT in construction

In recent years, the construction industry has been compelled to explore all possible options for improving the delivery of their products and services. Clients are now expecting a better service and projects that meet their requirements more closely. This has challenged the industry to become more efficient, integrated and more attractive, with benefits for its potential workforce and for society as a whole. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are an enabler to facilitate the improvements required for modernisation. However, due to the geographically dispersed and nomadic nature of the construction industry’s workforce, many people are prevented from efficiently and effectively using the ICT tools adopted to date. Mobile technologies providing the ‘last mile’ connection to the point-of activity could be the missing link to help address the ongoing drive for process improvement. Although this has been a well-researched area, several barriers to mainstream adoption still exist: including a perceived lack of suitable devices; a perceived lack of computer literacy; and the perceived high cost. Through extensive industry involvement, this research has taken the theoretical idea that mobile IT use in the construction industry would be beneficial, a step further; demonstrating by means of a state of the art assessment, usability trials, case studies and demonstration projects that the barriers to mainstream adoption can be overcome. The findings of this work have been presented in four peer-reviewed papers. An ongoing dissemination programme is expected to encourage further adoption

Opportunities and challenges for location aware computing in the construction industry

This paper describes the opportunities for location aware computing to enhance information capture and use within the construction industry. The construction industry is characterized as being slow to take up innovative mobile ICT, despite the highly mobile workforce who must collaborate with a range of on and off-site personnel, and make use of large volumes of information. Based on fieldwork and workshop activities within COMIT (a large-scale mobile IT project within the construction industry), the information used within two key business processes – health and safety audits, and site design problem resolution – is outlined, and the opportunities for support by location aware computing discussed. Some potential challenges are also identified, as is the need to understand how to provide real value (as opposed to just information) to the end user

Using mobility as a conceptual framework for informing the design of mobile ICT for construction professionals

This paper illustrates how the concept of mobility can be used to consider how contextual factors shape user requirements for mobile ICT. The spatial, temporal and contextual mobility of construction professionals is described based on fieldwork conducted within the UK. A distinction between the mobility of workers when they are operating remotely within a geographically distributed team and when they are working cooperatively with others co-located on site is reported. The implications of this finding are discussed in relation to the mobile ICT needs of construction professionals

Facilitating the link between point-of-production workers and corporate ICT systems in construction

Web-based project management systems (WPMS) are becoming more widespread within construction and have shown to be beneficial in improving communications and document transfer between project participants. However, the challenge of integrating point-of-production workers into such systems still remains largely unrealised. This paper describes current applications within construction that are addressing these challenges. The technologies employed vary from tablet PC's, PDA's to RFID tags. The paper examines in detail a web-based data capture and management system for piling works, utilising a site-based web server and wireless network. The system effectively allows for the expansion of existing WPMS to include construction site workers, whilst improving the management and understanding of the project in terms of quality, cost and progress. The paper also agues that improved data reliability and robustness can be achieved by integrating the point-of-production operations into corporate ICT systems