A Longitudinal Study of the Adoption of IT Technology in the Swedish Building Sector

The rapid development of IT technology has in the past three decades created opportunities for faster and more efficient processes as well as innovative new working methods in the building industry. This paper presents the results of a longitudinal survey-based study (the ”IT barometer”) of IT use in the Swedish building industry, conducted at several intervals over the period 1998-2011. The results show a rapid increase in general IT use as well as in the use of sector-specific tools. Improving communication and information sharing is a strong driving force for taking IT into use, for instance technologies such as EDM and EDI, although the adoption of the more complex applications (ie BIM) is slower. Interestingly “demands from employees” has over the years become a very important reason for companies to increase their IT use. Leading areas for planned IT investments include document handling and mobile equipment, with BIM technology rather low on the list.