Building a sustainable future: the role of digitalization in Nigerian heavy engineering projects

Purpose: Digital technologies (DTs) have the potential to revolutionize various aspects of heavy engineering projects by providing innovative solutions to traditional challenges. Therefore, this study explores and identifies critical areas for implementing DTs in heavy engineering projects in Lagos State, Nigeria, to increase productivity, reduce costs and enhance project delivery. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative research approach informed the formulation of a structured questionnaire, which was then disseminated to construction professionals. The data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The relative importance index (RII) was employed to rank the significance of each application area. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) then grouped the various application areas for DTs before fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) was used to evaluate the significance of the identified key categories. Findings: Based on the RII, the top five significant application areas identified were project management, cost estimation and budgeting, quality assurance and control, risk management and mitigation and construction site management. These areas were further grouped into three clusters: pre-construction phase, construction phase and post-construction phase. Originality/value: A majority of existing studies have been focused on regular construction projects, with limited research addressing the unique challenges and opportunities within heavy engineering projects. This study fills this gap by specifically examining the implementation of DTs in heavy engineering projects, offering sector-specific insights that are distinct from those in regular construction.