Investigating potential barriers to construction digitalization in emerging economies: A study in Vietnam

Digitalization holds immense promise for boosting efficiency and quality in construction, but emerging economies face unique challenges in adopting these technologies. This study investigates the potential barriers hindering construction digitalization in Vietnam, a rapidly growing market. We surveyed 248 construction professionals across client, contractor, and consultant groups, examining their perceptions of 31 potential barriers. Employing statistical techniques such as reliability tests, descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and analysis of variance (ANOVA), we uncovered significant differences in barrier importance among these stakeholder groups. The findings revealed that social and habitual resistance to change emerged as the most significant barrier to construction digitalization in Vietnam, followed by high costs of software and hardware, lack of market data for technology integration, security concerns, and the absence of standardized practices and guidelines. Expanding knowledge on digitalization barriers in emerging economies, this study empowers policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers with insights for crafting effective strategies to boost construction performance.