Assessing knowledge and skills gap for construction 4.0 in a developing economy

Abstract

Most developing economies are plagued by a low supply of skilled human capital, which is a known driver of economic growth and development. The introduction of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) concept to the construction industry referred to as Construction 4.0 has introduced new technologies that require an increase in knowledge and skills requirement for workers. This comes with a host of challenges for developing countries. To this end, the current study focuses on Nigeria, which is the largest economy in Africa and a fast developing country. The study therefore seeks to explore the knowledge and skills gap among professionals within the Nigerian construction industry. This was achieved via a structured survey research design to elicit information from professionals in the construction industry. A convenience sampling technique was used to select 136 respondents. Data collected from the questionnaire were analysed using mean score, Pearson chi‐square and t test of SPSS V23. The findings revealed a moderate knowledge level of Construction 4.0 technologies and a low level of training among professionals. Also, the result shows a high skills gap in human machine communication, data analytics and cyber security. The study recommends the promotion of human capital development to enhance the implementation of Construction 4.0. This can be achieved via a review and redesign of existing curricula in educational institutions and commitment on the part of management and professional bodies to training and re‐skilling of the workforce.

Construction 4.0 Organisational Level Challenges and Solutions

“…In line with their argument, the successful implementation of C4 calls for moving beyond technology in the investigation of barriers to change [38]. Such a barrier is the limited availability of skilled labour, especially in developing countries [45]. While the CI has already struggled with the lack of human resources and labour [15], the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought further mental health and burnout challenges to the industry [46].…”

Operational Technology on Construction Sites: A Review from the Cybersecurity Perspective

“…Pärn and Edwards (2019) specifically emphasizes the need for the identification of bespoke cyber threats and mitigation methods for CIs. Finally, Adepoju and Aigbavboa (2020) analyzes the skill gaps in the construction industry, focusing on Nigeria, and concludes that cybersecurity is one of the domains in which construction professionals are highly incompetent.…”

“…OT-related interpretations and challenges Potential remedies and suggestions Green cluster (Construction automation and cyber-physical systems) Bulgakov et al (2018), Carra et al (2018), Czarnowski et al (2018), Gu et al (2018), Inoue and Yoshimi (2018), Dakhli and Lafhaj (2017), Lundeen et al (2017), Tamayo et al (2017), Bock and Linner (2016), Golubeva and Konshin (2016), Adepoju and Aigbavboa (2020), Akinosho et al (2020), Mantha et al (2020a), Mantha and García de Soto (2019), Nawari and Ravindran (2019a), Pärn and Edwards (2019), Safa et al (2019), Gračanin et al (2018), Grundy (2017), Boyes (2015), Richey and Sawyer (2015), Zhang et al (2019), Ahmed and Mathur (2017), Babu et al (2017), Genge et al (2017), Khan et al (2017), Sugumar and Mathur (2017), Khorrami et al (2016), McLaughlin et al (2016, Zhang et al (2016), Drias et al (2015), Knowles et al (2015), and Yang and Zhao (2015) • Cybersecurity aspects have been lacking in construction automation publications.…”

Assessment of the Awareness of Nigerian Professionals in the Built Environment on the Big Data analytics (BDA) Applications in the Construction Industry.

“…The variables put forward in this study are viewed significantly in the research framework and therefore deemed to propel a better understanding of BDA. The conceptual framework (Figure 1) is designed based on the discussion in previous studies to evaluate the proposed variables; knowledge level, level of application/adoption, success level, and opportunities level (Adepoju and Aigbaboa, 2020;Ezeokoli et al, 2019;Izhar and Shoid, 2016;Tennakoon and Lasanthika, 2020). Figure 1 depicted the presumed association.…”

“…The study efforts by Tennakoon and Lasanthika (2020) is limited to Sri Lanka's landscape and cannot suffice as it was based on assessing university students' awareness of the subject matter. Whereas the works of Adepoju and Aigbaboa (2020) and Ezeokoli and Onyia (2019) assessed knowledge and skill gaps and examined the state of readiness of professionals towards digital transformation in the Nigerian context, they are both generic in their approach and failed to capture specific issues around big data Analytics. In lieu of this, this study examines the level of awareness of the built environment professionals on Big Data Analytics and its applications in the built environment.…”