IT barometer 2003: survey of the Singapore construction industry and a comparison of results

SUMMARY: The IT Barometer 2003 has been conducted in Singapore, a country which aspires to become the IT and business hub of Asia. Singapore has an on-going IT development programme for the construction industry known as the CORENET which started in 1993. Several industry projects have been implemented to help the AEC firms adopt IT. The survey is a timely check on the levels of general adoption of IT and specific adoption of IT originating from the CORENET. The survey results of Singapore are compared with those of the countries surveyed, particularly, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, under the IT Barometer project. The response rate of the Singapore survey is 11.1% based on 84 returns from a total of 754 questionnaires mailed out. The data collected from the survey is analysed using the SPSS software version 11.0. The key findings on IT usage in Singapore and selected Nordic countries are summarised from the comparison. The four lessons for construction industries intending to adopt IT on a large scale are: (1) To avoid the “technology for the sake of technology” trap; (2) To develop standards, integrated databases and interactive applications; (3) Business strategy must support investments in information systems; and (4) To focus on people, their IT needs and ability to manage change.