Internet of things in construction industry revolution 4.0: Recent trends and challenges in the Malaysian context

Abstract

Purpose

In this advanced era of Industrial Revolution 4.0, as an element of cyber physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT) has been applied in many different industries; however, its adoption in the construction industry is still limited to a few applications. This study uncovers, identifies and assesses the challenges of adopting IOT in construction projects. The challenges have been identified through the briefed literature review and a survey instrument from construction industries in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the quantitative research approach has been used and data have been collected through a questionnaire survey for construction practitioners. Whereas, respondents to the questionnaire are practitioners from the Malaysian construction industry. The method of sampling implied is random sampling technique whereby the final sample size is 132 participants. Moreover, the gathered data has been analysed using univariate approach via standard deviation and average index in SPSS Software 22.0.

Findings

The results of this study indicated the most dominant challenges are lack of safety and security, lack of documented standards, lack of benefit awareness, improper introduction of IOT and lack of robustness in connectivity. This study also examined that the awareness of construction practitioners toward the understanding of IOT and its possibility to be applied and extended in construction projects and determined that construction practitioners are aware of IOT benefits to improve the efficiency of construction projects.

Practical implications

The study presents a better understanding of IOT in the construction industry and their potential challenges, which helps the construction policymakers to avoid encounters related to challenges and provide education-based campaigns to educate construction practitioners on the concept and importance of using IOT in the construction sector.

Originality/value

This is a unique study because of its nature in this advance era of industry 4.0. Furthermore, it is specifying the latest trend associated with IOT in the construction industry and addressing the challenges of implementation, which is crucial to exploit and take advantage of the full potential of IoT benefits.

Citation

Gamil, Y., A. Abdullah, M., Abd Rahman, I. and Asad, M.M. (2020), "Internet of things in construction industry revolution 4.0: Recent trends and challenges in the Malaysian context", Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 1091-1102. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-06-2019-0164