Highlights

Abstract

Graphical abstract

Keywords

۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Overview of cloud computing

۳٫ The need for cloud computing in the construction industry

۴٫ Methodology

۵٫ Findings

۶٫ Use cases of cloud computing in construction industry

۷٫ Insight from the systematic review

۸٫ Challenges of cloud adoption by construction industry

۹٫ Future opportunities of cloud computing in the construction industry

۱۰٫ Implications for practice

۱۱٫ Conclusion

Declaration of Competing Interest

References

Abstract

Cloud computing technologies have revolutionised several industries for several years. Although the construction industry is well placed to leverage these technologies for competitive and operational advantage, the diffusion of the technologies in the industry follows a steep curve. This study therefore highlights the current contributions and use cases of cloud computing in construction practices. As such, a systematic review was carried out using ninety-two (92) peer-reviewed publications, published between 2009 and 2019. A key highlight of the findings is that cloud computing is an innovation delivery enabler for other emerging technologies (building information modelling, internet of things, virtual reality, augmented reality, big data analytics) in the construction industry. As such, this paper brings to the fore, current and future application areas of cloud computing in the construction industry. The paper also identifies barriers to broader adoption of cloud computing in the construction industry and discusses strategies for overcoming these barriers.

۱٫ Introduction

The construction industry is data intensive as heterogeneous data are continuously generated as the project progresses. The data from different stages of the project are usually stored in silos; team server or desktop, individual desktop, laptops, smartphones, etc. Data integration is thus required for the overall project coordination because the inability to access a holistic view of data often leads to wrong decisions that could delay the project and also impact on performance and profitability of the project [1]. The traditional Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solution is to acquire high-end capacity system to store, process and analyse data from its subcontractors. Deploying on-site solutions require a massive overhead (power, cooling, security, availability, updates) which comes with huge operational cost burden. Therefore, it is impractical to commission on-site ICT infrastructure for all projects due to the huge initial investment requirement. Besides, in-house computing provision is static in capability and usually more expensive to upgrade to meet a sudden upsurge in computing needs. The construction industry is about 90% small and medium enterprises (SME) [2] and cannot afford to invest heavily in the state-of-the-art ICT infrastructure that is a prerequisite to benefit from the current digital innovations. Hence, construction industry is one of the least digitised industry.

Construction industry is investment intensive hence may not be too willing to experiment with new technology and thus being observed to be slow in technology adoption. While there is a huge potential for cloud computing in the construction industry, such applications are not widespread [3]. Cloud computing technology provides affordable and scalable computing facilities using a pay as you go pricing model [4]. Hence the suitability of cloud computing functionality to the SME. As cloud computing eliminates acquisition, installation and maintenance cost of computing facilities [5], which has been a significant hindrance to the adoption of ICT in the construction industry [2]. To assist the construction industry to adopt cloud computing technology, researchers need to expose the potential benefits of the cloud computing technology to the construction practitioners. The need to fill this knowledge gap led to the research question of this study.