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The Digital Adoption Blame Game: Construction Industry in Search of the Real Barriers to Technological Transformation
- Construction Management & Quanity Surveying, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; Building Technology, Koforidua Technical University, Koforidua, Ghana; African Institute for Sustainable Development, Accra, Ghana
Abstract
The construction industry continues to invest in digital technologies, yet their adoption remains slower than expected. Although extensive research has identified barriers to digital transformation, limited attention has been given to how responsibility for slow adoption is assigned within the academic literature. This study examines the “blame game” surrounding digital transformation in the construction industry by investigating who or what the literature identifies as responsible for adoption difficulties. Using 1,500 Scopus-indexed publications published between 1989 and 2026, the study employs bibliometric and text analysis to examine adoption barriers across five dimensions: technological, human, organizational, institutional, and systemic. The findings show that institutional factors receive the greatest research attention, followed by technological and organizational factors, while systemic barriers also feature prominently. These findings challenge explanations that place primary responsibility on inadequate technologies or resistance among construction professionals and organizations. Instead, the literature portrays slow digital adoption as a multifaceted problem shaped by the interaction of technology, people, organizations, institutions, and the wider structure of the construction industry. The analysis also reveals a substantial increase in research on digital adoption barriers since 2021, highlighting the growing importance of this issue. By examining where responsibility for adoption difficulties is placed, rather than simply listing barriers, this study provides a different perspective on digital transformation in construction. The findings can help researchers, practitioners, and policymakers develop responses that address the broader conditions shaping technological transformation rather than focusing on individual barriers in isolation. Nigerian Architectural Education Training and Adoption of Gen-AI Epoch to Achieve Agenda 2063 in
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