Over 40% of companies in the UK construction industry say they will increase spending on IT in the near future.

This is according to the IT Construction Forum which has surveyed 5000 companies. The Forum was launched in July this year and is funded by the DTI.

The survey also reveals that 67% of these organisations will be investing this money in new ways of working and making strategic activities more effective.

Over 60% of those surveyed said the extra spend on IT would be aimed at automating technical tasks. Almost half will be using the investment to control on-site processes.

One strong driver for greater use of IT is to keep ahead of competitors. But 64% of respondents said that the investment was needed to stay up to date with clients – demonstrating the key role that clients play in driving innovation and improvement in the industry.

Firms face barriers to investing in IT. High cost and fast-moving technology are the main factors preventing extra spend.

Source

Building Sustainable Design