Overview of the digitalization of project management in the construction industry of the gulf region

Abstract

The expeditious innovation in the field of technology merged with the outcomes of the global pandemic over the past years, have brought the digitalization concept into the world of engineering, especially project management. The intense increase in the employment of digital media in the last decade, has led the way for businesses to transform from traditional to digital space. This transformation is mainly illustrated in the use of software instead of manual work which is considered hectic and time-consuming. Building Information Modeling and Project Management Information Systems are the most popular software in the project management domain. This literature review-based research studies the current condition of digitalization in project management, particularly in the Gulf region, by evaluating the performance of BIM 360, Primavera and Microsoft Project, and highlighting the digitalization progress and role in the construction industry of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The outcomes have shown that despite the slow and humble implementation of these digital tools even in advanced countries, they enable project managers to control and track project progress, improve communication and collaboration between team members, and reduce project delays. However, this integration also has its downsides, such as lack of skillful expertise, high investment costs of software, hardware, and staff training, which might also cause project delays