Potentials of internet of things (IoT) in Malaysian construction industry

Abstract

IoT is a man-made technology conceptualized by intelligent virtual objects, which capable of knowing all things and allows the devices around themselves to interact automatically without human control. Every year, the number of IoT devices usage is exponentially increasing and estimated as much as 75.44 billion devices will be connected in IoT network. In line with the expansion of the IoT network, the construction industry should take into consideration as otherwise the construction industry will be left behind by other industries. This is because the construction industry should utilize the applications offered by IoT to ensure the smoothness of the construction industry in the project. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the types of IoT applications used in the construction industry in Malaysia. The research method used to identify the types of IoT applications used is through the questionnaire method. The questionnaire was analysed using nominal analysis. A study was conducted on construction industry players which comprising of government agencies, developers, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and class G7 contractors covering all states in Malaysia. The findings show that among the many types of IoT applications used by construction industry players are social media such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook for discussion and communication purposes, the use of email for information and communication exchange and website usage as a source of reference to obtain data on company profiles, acts and policy, price quotes and so on.