Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery: An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience

Matthew Ikuabe; Clinton Aigbavboa; Samuel Adekunle

doi:10.1007/978-981-96-2802-5_19

Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery: An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience

Matthew Ikuabe
, Clinton Aigbavboa
, Samuel Adekunle

Construction Management and Quantity Surveying

University of the Witwatersrand
University of Johannesburg

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

One of the fallouts of the covid-19 pandemic in the construction industry is the urgent need for a redirection towards the uptake of innovative technologies for project delivery. Implementing these technologies potentially would have helped abate some of the encumbrances faced by the construction industry during the pandemic. Hence, this study presents the outcome of evaluating the benefits of using smart wearables in the delivery of construction projects in the post-covid-19 era. The study employed a quantitative technique that elicited responses from the target respondents, who were purposively sampled, using a questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The retrieved data were analysed using mean item score, standard deviation, and one-sample t-test. Results from the analysis indicate that the most significant benefits of using smart wearables for construction project execution are improvement in efficiency and productivity, enhancing the safety of workers, and remote supervision and technical support of construction works. The study’s outcome contributes to the propagation of the need for implementing innovative technologies for the execution of construction projects. Furthermore, it opens a new vista on the deliberation on the uptake of innovative technologies for construction projects as ‘armour’ for future scenarios like covid-19 pandemic.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Creating Capacity and Capability
Subtitle of host publication	Embracing Advanced Technologies and Innovations for Sustainable Future in Building Education and Practice - Innovations and Technologies in Building and Construction
Editors	Mostafa Babaeian Jelodar, Ruggiero Lovreglio, Zhenan Feng, Daniel Paes, Vishal Kumar, Chandana Siriwardana
Publisher	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages	243-250
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Print)	9789819628018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-2802-5_19
Publication status	Published - 2025
Event	46th Australasian Universities Building Education Association Conference, AUBEA 2023 - Auckland, New Zealand Duration: 26 Nov 2023 → 28 Nov 2023

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering
Volume	564 LNCE
ISSN (Print)	2366-2557
ISSN (Electronic)	2366-2565

Conference

Conference	46th Australasian Universities Building Education Association Conference, AUBEA 2023
Country/Territory	New Zealand
City	Auckland
Period	26/11/23 → 28/11/23

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Keywords

Construction
Covid-19
Innovative technologies
Smart wearables
South Africa

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Civil and Structural Engineering

Access to Document

10.1007/978-981-96-2802-5_19

Cite this

Ikuabe, M., Aigbavboa, C., & Adekunle, S. (2025). Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery: An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience. In M. B. Jelodar, R. Lovreglio, Z. Feng, D. Paes, V. Kumar, & C. Siriwardana (Eds.), Creating Capacity and Capability: Embracing Advanced Technologies and Innovations for Sustainable Future in Building Education and Practice - Innovations and Technologies in Building and Construction (pp. 243-250). (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering; Vol. 564 LNCE). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-2802-5_19

Ikuabe, Matthew ; Aigbavboa, Clinton ; Adekunle, Samuel. / Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery : An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience. Creating Capacity and Capability: Embracing Advanced Technologies and Innovations for Sustainable Future in Building Education and Practice - Innovations and Technologies in Building and Construction. editor / Mostafa Babaeian Jelodar ; Ruggiero Lovreglio ; Zhenan Feng ; Daniel Paes ; Vishal Kumar ; Chandana Siriwardana. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025. pp. 243-250 (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering).

@inproceedings{0aee3b40eb6e4af29ce12e6f5bc2b661,

title = "Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery: An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience",

abstract = "One of the fallouts of the covid-19 pandemic in the construction industry is the urgent need for a redirection towards the uptake of innovative technologies for project delivery. Implementing these technologies potentially would have helped abate some of the encumbrances faced by the construction industry during the pandemic. Hence, this study presents the outcome of evaluating the benefits of using smart wearables in the delivery of construction projects in the post-covid-19 era. The study employed a quantitative technique that elicited responses from the target respondents, who were purposively sampled, using a questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The retrieved data were analysed using mean item score, standard deviation, and one-sample t-test. Results from the analysis indicate that the most significant benefits of using smart wearables for construction project execution are improvement in efficiency and productivity, enhancing the safety of workers, and remote supervision and technical support of construction works. The study{\textquoteright}s outcome contributes to the propagation of the need for implementing innovative technologies for the execution of construction projects. Furthermore, it opens a new vista on the deliberation on the uptake of innovative technologies for construction projects as {\textquoteleft}armour{\textquoteright} for future scenarios like covid-19 pandemic.",

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Ikuabe, M, Aigbavboa, C & Adekunle, S 2025, Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery: An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience. in MB Jelodar, R Lovreglio, Z Feng, D Paes, V Kumar & C Siriwardana (eds), Creating Capacity and Capability: Embracing Advanced Technologies and Innovations for Sustainable Future in Building Education and Practice - Innovations and Technologies in Building and Construction. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol. 564 LNCE, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, pp. 243-250, 46th Australasian Universities Building Education Association Conference, AUBEA 2023, Auckland, New Zealand, 26/11/23. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-2802-5_19

Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery: An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience. / Ikuabe, Matthew; Aigbavboa, Clinton; Adekunle, Samuel.
Creating Capacity and Capability: Embracing Advanced Technologies and Innovations for Sustainable Future in Building Education and Practice - Innovations and Technologies in Building and Construction. ed. / Mostafa Babaeian Jelodar; Ruggiero Lovreglio; Zhenan Feng; Daniel Paes; Vishal Kumar; Chandana Siriwardana. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025. p. 243-250 (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering; Vol. 564 LNCE).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery

T2 - 46th Australasian Universities Building Education Association Conference, AUBEA 2023

AU - Ikuabe, Matthew

AU - Aigbavboa, Clinton

AU - Adekunle, Samuel

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - One of the fallouts of the covid-19 pandemic in the construction industry is the urgent need for a redirection towards the uptake of innovative technologies for project delivery. Implementing these technologies potentially would have helped abate some of the encumbrances faced by the construction industry during the pandemic. Hence, this study presents the outcome of evaluating the benefits of using smart wearables in the delivery of construction projects in the post-covid-19 era. The study employed a quantitative technique that elicited responses from the target respondents, who were purposively sampled, using a questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The retrieved data were analysed using mean item score, standard deviation, and one-sample t-test. Results from the analysis indicate that the most significant benefits of using smart wearables for construction project execution are improvement in efficiency and productivity, enhancing the safety of workers, and remote supervision and technical support of construction works. The study’s outcome contributes to the propagation of the need for implementing innovative technologies for the execution of construction projects. Furthermore, it opens a new vista on the deliberation on the uptake of innovative technologies for construction projects as ‘armour’ for future scenarios like covid-19 pandemic.

AB - One of the fallouts of the covid-19 pandemic in the construction industry is the urgent need for a redirection towards the uptake of innovative technologies for project delivery. Implementing these technologies potentially would have helped abate some of the encumbrances faced by the construction industry during the pandemic. Hence, this study presents the outcome of evaluating the benefits of using smart wearables in the delivery of construction projects in the post-covid-19 era. The study employed a quantitative technique that elicited responses from the target respondents, who were purposively sampled, using a questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The retrieved data were analysed using mean item score, standard deviation, and one-sample t-test. Results from the analysis indicate that the most significant benefits of using smart wearables for construction project execution are improvement in efficiency and productivity, enhancing the safety of workers, and remote supervision and technical support of construction works. The study’s outcome contributes to the propagation of the need for implementing innovative technologies for the execution of construction projects. Furthermore, it opens a new vista on the deliberation on the uptake of innovative technologies for construction projects as ‘armour’ for future scenarios like covid-19 pandemic.

KW - Construction

KW - Covid-19

KW - Innovative technologies

KW - Smart wearables

KW - South Africa

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105017370480

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DO - 10.1007/978-981-96-2802-5_19

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:105017370480

SN - 9789819628018

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A2 - Jelodar, Mostafa Babaeian

A2 - Lovreglio, Ruggiero

A2 - Feng, Zhenan

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A2 - Siriwardana, Chandana

PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH

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ER -

Ikuabe M, Aigbavboa C, Adekunle S. Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery: An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience. In Jelodar MB, Lovreglio R, Feng Z, Paes D, Kumar V, Siriwardana C, editors, Creating Capacity and Capability: Embracing Advanced Technologies and Innovations for Sustainable Future in Building Education and Practice - Innovations and Technologies in Building and Construction. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. 2025. p. 243-250. (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering). doi: 10.1007/978-981-96-2802-5_19

Towards the Use of Smart Wearables for Construction Project Delivery: An Aftermath Assessment of the South African Covid-19 Experience

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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