Impact of Technology Use on Time Needed for Information Retrieval for Frontline Supervisors in the Construction Industry

In the construction industry, information is considered to be the lifeblood of modern construction projects. As a data-dependent industry, information retrieval and technological innovations are essential for optimizing construction performance. The construction industry is currently experiencing rapid adoption of new technologies and innovations. Existing research highlights the positive impact of technological use on construction sites, particularly on performance and information access. However, no research has yet evaluated how technological adoption impacts the time needed to receive or gain access to requested information. The objective of this paper is to analyze and understand the impact of technological adoption on the time needed to receive or gain access to requested information among frontline supervisors in the construction industry. To achieve the research objective, 1138 construction frontline supervisors were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The participants in this survey were asked to specify which technologies are being used on their construction sites; and evaluate the average time needed to receive or gain access to requested information. Key findings show that the adoption of six out of 13 technologies had a statistically significant positive impact in decreasing the time needed to receive or gain access to requested information among frontline supervisors in the construction industry.