Digital Transformation is the New Norms in Construction Industry

Abstract

Covid-19 pandemic has had severe consequences for the country's economy especially in the construction industry. The Movement Control Order (MCO) period has restricted the non-critical construction industry to be temporarily suspended and under-interest to be closed. This restricts direct interaction between the parties involved in the construction phase of the project. Therefore, various digital technologies are now capable of increasing collaboration virtually, increasing employee motivation and new ways of working on new norms. The objective of this study is to identify the types of technologies used in construction projects management during the pandemic. Also, to identify the problems faced by project management in adapting digital technology and its solutions. The study method used for these objectives is through the e-questionnaire medium. It has been analysed using nominal and ordinal analysis. This study was conducted on small-medium class construction firms, G1-G5 and the large class, G6-G7 in the field of contractor and project manager during the construction phase covering the entire state of Johor, Malaysia. The results of the study found that the technology that is often used is connectivity element which is text message, email, 5th generation broadband network, cloud storage and teleconferencing. The problem is that it requires digital knowledge, skills and requires rapid access to the internet. Then, initiative that can be taken by provide skills training in technology control and the implementation of new technology transformation.