Economic considerations in the procurement and deployment of construction informatics applications

The construction industry has witnessed a significant increase in the uptake of construction informatics applications. From being notoriously slow in the deployment of emerging information and communication technologies, the industry is now leveraging new applications in the construction project delivery process. This chapter explores the economic considerations in the procurement and deployment of these applications. It starts with a brief background on the nature of the construction industry and the adoption of these technologies in the construction industry. This is followed by an overview of current and emerging technologies that are of interest to the industry. The specific economic considerations in procuring and deploying these technologies - in-house development, off-the-shelf solutions, costs, training, return on investment, etc. - are then discussed at length. Conclusions are then drawn on what construction-sector organizations should do to ensure that they maximize the benefits of their technology investments.