Rethinking the Digital Divide of BIM Adoption in the AEC Industry

Abstract

Extant research studies have attempted to evaluate the Building Information Modelling (BIM) divide in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry; however, these studies are often premised on material access or technology-centric perspective. Consequently, this study examines the BIM divide from a multi-faceted perspective and evaluate its contextuality via firmographic variables. It mobilizes the digital divide model from the information technology discipline. The contextualized model depicts the BIM divide through four categories of motivational, physical, skills and usage access. The model was empirically tested through the Generalized Structured Component Analysis (GSCA) with data from an international questionnaire survey. The findings underscore the need to rethink BIM adoption as a multi-faceted and dynamic process against the extant static two-tiered representation. It highlights a notable BIM divide between firms in developed and developing economies. The findings necessitate further scrutiny of the effect of firms' size and age on BIM adoption and the unavoidable 'Mathew effect' of the BIM divide. Lastly, it provides paths in driving BIM implementation for stakeholders and policymakers and highlights the need to be context conscious in advocating for the transferability of global best practices in BIM adoption.

Institutional isomorphism and adoption of building information modelling (BIM) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the Nigerian Construction Industry

“…Similarly, consultancy firms have prior exposure to the use of CAD before BIM and corroborate the findings of Saka et al (2022a). Also, the coefficient of determination for BIM awareness and adoption in the study is 0.307 and 0.562 respectively with few exogenous constructs which indicates a parsimonious model with a satisfactory predictive level (Hair et al, 2016).…”

“…This signifies that firms that have been existing longer in the construction industry and consultancy firms have a higher level of awareness compared to young firms and contracting firms which agrees partly with Chen et al (2019). Similarly, consultancy firms have prior exposure to the use of CAD before BIM and corroborate the findings of Saka et al (2022a). Also, the coefficient of determination for BIM awareness and adoption in the study is 0.307 and 0.562 respectively with few exogenous constructs which indicates a parsimonious model with a satisfactory predictive level (Hair et al, 2016).…”

“…Extant studies have highlighted that BIM adoption varies across different countries, organisation sizes, clients and professions (Hong et al, 2020). Developed economies are implementing BIM faster than most developing economies as a result of the existing digital divide and government supports (Saka et al, 2022a). Similarly, more large firms are implementing BIM than Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry (Hong et al, 2018).…”

Evolutionary Game Analysis for Key Participants’ Behavior in Digital Transformation of the Chinese Construction Industry

“…The following conclusions were obtained. 1 Whether the enterprise is transformed depends on whether the income payment of the basic solution is positive. However, whether a company undergoes a comprehensive digital transformation depends on the benefits of the system solution; the greater the benefit, the more active the enterprise.…”

“…In the era of the digital economy, digital technologies such as cloud computing, BIM, big data, artificial intelligence, robotics, and blockchain are gradually disrupting and changing global business practices and procedures [1,2]. Faced with the impact of the digital wave, the UK has issued a digital charter, Japan has promoted the superintelligent society, and Singapore has proposed the smart nation plan.…”