APPRAISING BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF USING WEB BASED DATABASE SYSTEM (WBDBS) FOR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT BY CONSTRUCTION FIRMS IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
Information is most often processed on a construction site using traditional methods, which are relatively slow, associated with a high risk of human error and thus inefficient. It is essential to disseminate IT tools and techniques in order to improve information flow and management throughout the construction project life cycle. The aim of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of a web-based database system in the construction industry. A questionnaire was used a tool for evaluating the usefulness of a web-based database system in the construction industry. From the studies we found that respondents were willing to use the web-based database system and also the importance of having it as a tool to simplify their work, improve accountability, productivity, communication and reduce costs.
CHAPTERl1l
INTRODUCTION l
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1.1 l Background lto lthe lStudy l
Information lmanagement linvolves lthe lacquisition, lclassification, lcollection,
lprocessing, lpresentation, ldissemination land limplementation lof linformation. l Construction land linstallation lcompanies lmanage la lwide lrange lof ldata lflow. lHadaya
land lPellerin lbelieve lthat lan limportant lfeature lof lthe lconstruction lproject llife lcycle,
laffecting lthe lconditions lof linformation lmanagement, lis la llarge lnumber lof
lparticipants lin lthe lproject, lwho lare lin ldifferent llocations, luse la lvariety lof
linformation ltechniques land ltools land lwork lwith ldata lat ldifferent llevels lof
lspecificity land lwith linformation lat ldifferent llevels lof labstraction. l
According lto lBankvall let lal. lit lis lessential lto ldisseminate lIT ltools land ltechniques
lunder lthese lspecific lconditions lin lorder lto limprove linformation lflow land
lmanagement lthroughout lthe lconstruction lproject llife lcycle. lInformation lstandards
lshould lsupport lthe ldigitization lprocess. l
The lInternet lis lan lideal lvehicle lfor lintegrating land ldisseminating linformation laround
la lnetwork lof lparticipating lgroups land lorganizations. lIt lhas lbecome la lcosteffective,
luniversally laccepted land lreadily lavailable ldelivery lsystem. lThe lWeb loffers
lunparalleled lcommunication lopportunities lfor lthe lconstruction lindustry,
lparticularly lits lfacility lto laccommodate la lwide lrange lof lmedia ltypes l(text, lvoice,
lobjects, letc). lIt lis lnow lpossible lfor lconstruction lfirms lto lbuild lup llocal land/or lglobal
linformation lnetworks lwith llow laccess lcost lusing laffordable lhardware land lsoftware. lThe laccess lcontrol land lsecurity lmeasures lavailable lon lthe lInternet lcan lensure ldata
lprotection land lintegrity. l
Web-based lconstruction linformation lmanagement lsystems lcan lmake luse lof
lbrowsers, ldata lhandling ldevices land lother lInternet ltechnology lto lcreate la lnetwork
lfor lsharing land lmanipulating lcorporate linformation lin la lway lthat lwill lassist
lconstruction lproject lmanagers lto lcomplete lwork lon ltime land lwithin lbudget. l
By lproviding lan lefficient lcentral ldata lfacility lit lis lpossible lto lcreate land lmaintain
lgoals, lschedules, lstandards, lpolicies land lprocedures lthat lare lshared lby lall lof lthose
linvolved lin lthe lconstruction lprocess. l
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1.2 l Problem lStatement l
The luse lof ldigital linformation lin lthe lconstruction lindustry lis la ldeveloping ltrend,
lwhich lstrongly laffects lthe lability lto lanticipate land lsolve lengineering lproblems
lthroughout lthe lconstruction lproject llife lcycle. lThe lincreasing lavailability lof
ladvanced ltechniques lgenerates lnew ltypes lof ldigital lsets lof linformation, lelectronic
ldocuments land lmodels lof lbuildings, las lwell las lspatially loriented linformation lthat lis
larchived lusing lthe lglobal lpositioning lsystem. lInformation lis lmost loften lprocessed
lon la lconstruction lsite lusing ltraditional lmethods, lwhich lare lrelatively lslow,
lassociated lwith la lhigh lrisk lof lhuman lerror land lthus linefficient. lFurthermore, lproject
lparticipants ldo lnot lknow lall limportant lparameters lof lthe lprocesses lcovered lby lthe
lconstruction lproject. lThis limplies lmanagement lchallenges, lespecially lin lthe larea lof
lconstruction lcontrol. lThe lsupply lchain lphase lin lthe lbuilding llife lcycle lis lan
limportant larea lof lresearch lon linformation lmanagement lin lthis llife lcycle. l
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1.3 l Aims land lObjectives l
The laim lof lthis lstudy lis lto levaluate lkey lissues lin lusing lWBDBS. lThe lobjectives lare: l
- Ascertaining lthe llevel lof lexperience lof lthe lrespondents lin lthe lconstruction
lindustry. l
- Evaluate ltheir llevel lof lunderstanding linformation lmanagement lin lthe
lconstruction lindustry. l
- Evaluate lthe lpossible lchallenges lof lmanaging linformation lusing ll
- Evaluate lthe lbenefits lof lusing lWBDBS lin linformation ll
- Evaluate lthe lkey lperformance lareas lof lInformation lManagement lusing
lWBDBS. l
- Evaluate lthe lrelevance lof lInformation lManagement lusing lWBDBS l
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1.4 l Scope land lLimitations l
The lscope lof lthis lstudy lis levaluating lthe luse land limplementation lof lWBDBS lin lthe
lconstruction lindustry. l
The llimitations lof lthis lstudy lare: l
The lWBDBS lsupports lonly linternet lenabled ldevices, lit lcannot lbe lused lon lnon
linternet lenabled ldevices. l
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1.5 l Significance lof lthe lStudy l
The laim lof lthis lstudy lis lto levaluate lkey lissues lin lusing lWBDBS, lhence lhighlighting
lthe lusefulness lof la lproper linformation lmanagement ltool lin lthe lconstruction
lindustry. l
APPRAISING BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF USING WEB BASED DATABASE SYSTEM (WBDBS) FOR INFORMATION MANAGEMENT BY CONSTRUCTION FIRMS IN NIGERIA