Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry

M. Sarshar U. Isikdag
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M. Sarshar U. Isikdag, (2004),"A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry", Engineering, Construction and
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A survey of ICT use in the
Turkish construction
industry
M. Sarshar and
U. Isikdag
The authors
M. Sarshar is based at the Faculty of Built Environment,
University of West of England, Bristol, UK.
U. Isikdag is based at the School of Construction and Property
Management, University of Salford, Salford, UK.
Downloaded by University of Florida At 22:03 30 January 2016 (PT)
Keywords
Communication technologies, Turkey, Construction industry,
Modelling
Abstract
This paper assesses the awareness and use of information and
communication technologies (ICT) systems within the Turkish
construction industry. The findings will assist in identifying the
future directions and priorities for how to use ICT as an enabler
in this country. The research has been carried out via 22 semi-
structured interviews with senior construction professionals
within government and private organizations. It investigated the
usage and applicability of current information systems and
technologies. The interviews then explored the appropriateness
of some of the newly emerging technologies to the industry in
Turkey. The findings are reported under three categories of: ICT
infrastructures and strategies, the use of information systems,
and views on emerging technologies. The last item has been
expanded and discussed in more detail, in the paper.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0969-9988.htm
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 11 · Number 4 · 2004 · pp. 238–247
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0969-9988
DOI 10.1108/09699980410547595
238
1. Introduction
Construction companies face dramatic changes
in today’s competitive market conditions. ICT is
increasingly becoming a competitive tool in this
market place. The industry is taking a fresh view of
how to use ICT in order to improve productivity of
the sector (Sarshar et al., 2002).
This paper explores the current use and needs
of information and communication technologies
(ICT) in the Turkish construction industry.
The authors interviewed 22 senior practitioners in
government organisations, professional institutes,
major construction contractors and academics
between September-December 2001.
The aim of this study was to investigate the
use and the priorities of ICT in the Turkish
Construction Industry. This assists in setting an
agenda for future developments and directions.
The interviews also added value by raising
discussion and awareness of the issues, within the
industry.
The research methodology was based on
literature research and semi-structured interviews.
The authors conducted a literature search on the
global directions and needs for ICT within the
construction industry. This was followed by
semi-structured interviews to establish how
Turkey fits into the global picture.
2. The global directions for construction
ICT
Background literature research was carried out to
identify the international research perspectives on
the needs of ICT in construction. In particular,
the following works were examined in detail.
A Vision for Construction IT 2005-2010 (Sarshar
et al., 2000), examines how construction projects
and their processes will be supported by ICT in the
next 5-10 years. The vision was formed after
academic and industrial expert workshops, and
was formatted in the form of seven major themes.
ELSEWISE (www.Lboro.ac.uk/elsewise) was
an EU funded research project. ELSEWISE is a
user reference project directed at understanding
the information flows within the industry. It then
defined the Information Technology and Product
Data Technology needs of the European large-
scale engineering industry. The ELSEWISE
project was a pilot study, which focused on
industry requirements and had a bias towards
building and civil engineering construction.
Priority Topics for Construction Information
Technology (Aouad et al., 1996) examined the
priorities of ICT in the UK construction industry
for the next 10 years. The paper started with
examining 1990-1996 period, to understand the
 A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry
M. Sarshar and U. Isikdag
priority topics for the construction of ICT in the
future. Sixteen ICT topics were identified in the
paper and a questionnaire survey was conducted
with academics and industrialists to identify the
priority topics.
Information Technology in Construction – Making
IT Happen (NSW Government Discussion Paper,
1998) proposed the NSW Government (Australia)
strategy to improve construction processes
through the use of information technology. This
strategy aimed to improve productivity, thereby,
reducing cost and time of the capital works
procurement process. It also aimed to improve the
delivery of a building or facility, meeting clients’
needs. The role of ICT in the future of the
construction industry was discussed, and a
three-step approach was proposed for bringing
about a rational adoption by the industry of
information technology.
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Defining a Research Agenda for AEC Process/
Product Development in 2000 was a workshop held by
Berkeley-Stanford in 1999. It aimed at defining a
research agenda for AEC Process/Product
Development in 2000 and beyond. The
proceedings of this workshop have been examined
to find out new trends of construction ICT
in the world. Over 150 papers were presented.
In particular, the following papers were examined:
Brandon (1999), Brouwers (1999), Broyd (1999),
Case and Griffith (1999), De Grassi et al. (1999),
ElSersy and Haddad, (1999), Fix (1999), Froese
(1999), Hobbs and Dawood (1999), Horvath
(1999), Howard (1999), Issa (1999), Junge (1999),
Kunz (1999), Kuprenas (1999), Mahalingam
(1999), Pace (1999) Prudhomme (1999), Sawhney
(1999), Scarponcini (1999), Schwegler (1999), Shi
(1999), Soibelman (1999), Songer (1999),
Teicholz (1999), Thabet (1999), Turk (1999),
Veeramani and Russell (1999), Wang (1999), van
Woundenberg (1999) and Zhilang (1999).
The other work examined was “A Survey of
Computer use in the New Zealand Building and
Construction Industry” (Doherty,1997).
2.1 Summary of literature search findings
Based on the literature search, one can categorise
the use of information technology in construction
as follows.
ICT as an enabler for integration through the use
of 3D modelling and visualisation applications,
virtual reality (VR) applications, object-based
product models, four-dimensional computer aided
design, and construction process simulation
applications.
ICT as an enabler for collaboration and knowledge
management through the use of virtual engineering
teams using Groupware applications, knowledge
and expertise management systems, data and
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knowledge warehouses, enterprise management
systems, advanced AI applications (decision
support systems, expert systems, neural network).
ICT as an enabler of new ways of procurement
and site management through the use of: digital
catalogues, GIS applications, and mobile
computing. The needs of construction industry
to adopt the new information technologies are
addressed through business integration, software
integration, formulating data exchange standards
of Internet ICT education, implementing the
project life cycle perspective, desktop engineering,
and implementing the virtual enterprise approach.
ICTas an enabler for process improvement through
the use of work flow tools, process mapping and
modelling, KPI measurement tools.
In the light of these international views,
semi-structured interview questions were
developed to establish the situation in Turkey.
3. Analysis of current situation in Turkey
The Turkish survey was based on semi-structured
interviews. The participants were all senior
industry or government figures. The detail of the
participants is given in the Appendix. Each
interview lasted approximately for 2 h. It started
with a presentation that explained the concepts
of construction using information technology,
and how construction organisations can benefit
from IT. After the presentation, the participant
was interviewed around the semi-structured
questionnaire, which is explained below. After the
questionnaire the priorities of Turkish
construction ICT were explored through an open
discussion.
The questionnaire consisted of three parts.
Part one investigated the general ICT
infrastructure and use within an organization.
Questions were asked about hardware platforms,
networking architectures and operating systems.
To understand organisations view on information
technology, questions were asked on the current
importance of ICT to the organization and future
plans for expansion in this area.
Part two consisted of questions about various
ICT applications and systems. The topics were
identified after investigating similar studies in the
world, as explained in Section 2. The questions
considered the local situation of the Turkish
construction industry.
The participants were interviewed about their
use of group ware tools, CAD applications, cost
estimating applications, project management
tools, geographical information systems (GIS),
multimedia tools, AI applications (e.g. Neural
Networks), construction simulation applications,
VR tools and applications, office automation
 A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry
M. Sarshar and U. Isikdag
systems and engineering analysis tools.
The organisations were also asked about their use
of databases.
Part three was more of an open discussion.
The participants were asked to choose/identify the
important topics for Turkey from the set of topics
listed above. The participants shared their views
on the research/development/education (RDE)
activities to enable the Turkish construction
industry to fully benefit from IT.
3.1 Part 1 findings: ICT infrastructure and
strategy of the Turkish construction industry
In this section, participant organizations were
asked about their hardware platforms, their
operating systems and the importance of ICT to
their current and future operations.
The majority of the organisations (95 per cent)
use PC’s. Microsoft Windows OSs are dominant in
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the industry (90 per cent) and most of the firms are
planning to upgrade to Microsoft Windows 2000/
XP in the near future.
The majority of the organisations (90 per cent)
have LAN and 37 per cent of them also have WAN
that helps them to communicate with their
construction sites and offices around Turkey.
Nearly all of the respondents (95 per cent) are
currently using client/server as a network
architecture.
A small percentage (19 per cent) of the
respondents use their network as an Intranet/
Extranet. These organizations would also like to
achieve improved material procurement through
the use of Intranets. The companies, which have
operations abroad, use Internet as a
communication media. They consider the Internet
as a very cost-effective solution to their
communication problems.
Sixty per cent of the organizations believe that
their usage of ICT is at the strategic level and ICT
is critical to sustain their future business strategy.
Forty per cent of them believe that their usage of
ICT is at turnaround level and ICT may be
important to the future success of their
organisation.
3.2 Part 2 findings: the use of information
systems in Turkish construction industry
This consisted of questions about various ICT
applications and systems. The systems categories
were selected after examining similar studies in the
world, during the literature search.
The results indicate that a minority (17 per cent)
of firms use decision support systems (DSS). The
DSS used here generally comes as a part of an
enterprise resource planning (ERP) package and
extracts strategic operational information. The
majority (55 per cent) of the firms believe that
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construction professionals will become more
familiar to DSS in the next 5 years.
E-mail, which is used by 81 per cent of the
firms, appears to be the most commonly used
electronic communication tool. Chat is rarely used
(22 per cent) and only 20 per cent of the firms use
e-papers and e-drawings. The respondents have
never mentioned that they use whiteboard or
discussion forums. The results show that the
Turkish construction industry does not fully
benefit from groupware tools and applications.
Majority of the firms (64 per cent) use CAD
tools for 2D and 3D designs. Forty-six per cent of
the firms are aware of the advantages of electronic
drawing exchange and VRML, but most of them
(64 per cent) cannot use them due to lack of
educated staff. The respondents also think that
CAD related technologies would change the way
they exchange design information in the next
5 years.
Majority of the firms (64 per cent) use computer
aided cost estimation (CACE) tools as stand alone
software packages, which are not integrated with
any project management package. Some ERP
software (e.g. Oracle Suite and J.D. Edwards
software are adopted as an ERP tool for the
Turkish construction industry) have some
components/modules that are used in cost
estimation process. The minority of cost
estimation software (20 per cent) can
automatically calculate the cost by using CAD
drawings. Fifty per cent of the respondents believe
that the new procurement philosophies and
e-commerce will make today’s CACE software
redundant, and Internet related technologies will
change the way we use CACE software.
Most of the firms (64 per cent) use off-the shelf
packages for time and resource planning and
management. Primavera P3 and Microsoft Project
are dominant packages in the market. Forty-five
per cent of the respondents believe that the
Internet and related technologies will change
project management concepts, and the industry
will share project management information via
electronic project management portals. They
believe that research should be focused on CPM
and PERT related resource planning tools that
could be accessed over the Internet.
When asked about the use of databases, the
results show that 50 per cent of all the respondents
use databases to hold customer contact details,
stock details, material specific information and
machinery details. Forty-one per cent use
databases to store time and resource planning
information. Ten per cent use databases to hold
information about their e-papers and e-drawings.
The majority (64 per cent) of the respondents
think the developments in database technologies
 A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry
M. Sarshar and U. Isikdag
will change the traditional database approach to
object oriented databases and also think that
developments in database technologies will have
a positive impact on the way they exchange
information.
When asked if they use data warehousing and
data mining tools, 55 per cent replied no, but it is
foreseeable that most of them will start to use data
warehousing tools in the near future.
The minority (10 per cent) of the respondents
uses GIS for site planning or in surveying practice.
The majority (60 per cent) of the firms think that
in the near future GIS tools will help them in site
selection, and management.
Twenty-five per cent of the respondents use
multimedia applications for improving
communication with customers and 18 per cent
use it for training purposes. Thirty-six per cent of
the respondents do not use multimedia
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applications. Half of the respondents (50 per cent)
are willing to use Internet-based multimedia
applications in the near future, and also think that
multimedia applications will be used as a main tool
in company presentations and in firm training
activities.
None of the respondents use neural network
applications. The industry is not aware of the
importance of advanced AI. Also, none of the
respondents are using tools for construction
process simulation; only 22 per cent of them think
that they are going to use construction process
simulation tools or 4D CAD in the next 5 years.
Most of the firms believe that these tools will not
turn into commercial products in the next 10 years.
The VR applications are rarely used. One out
of 22 respondents uses VR technology, but
45 per cent of the respondents are willing to use
VR applications in the near future.
Eighty-six per cent of the respondents use all
components of office automation systems (word
processing, spreadsheet, etc). Microsoft products
are commonly used products in this area. Half of
the respondents (50 per cent) believe that they will
use Internet-based office automation systems in
the near future.
3.3 Part 3 findings: Turkish construction
industry’s view on emerging information
technologies
This was an open discussion section.
The participants were presented with a number of
topics. They were asked to discuss the importance
of these topics to the future of their organisation
and the industry. The results indicate the
perceived priorities, as well as non-critical issues
for the future of construction ICT in Turkey.
The topics, which were discussed, included:
3D modelling and visualisation, virtual
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engineering teams and GroupWare applications,
knowledge warehouses, object oriented product
models, digital catalogues, VR applications,
GIS applications, 4D computer aided design,
AI applications, and supporting activities and ideas
include implementing the life cycle thinking,
understanding the system perspective,
understanding the virtual enterprise concept,
participating in ICT training activities and
understanding the concept of desktop engineering.
The results of this part are explained in detail in
the following sections.
4. Priority topics for the future of
construction of ICT in Turkey
During the Part 3 discussion, the following topics
were perceived as priority areas.
4.1 3D modelling and visualisation
Kunz (1999) argues that effective visualisation of
both product and process models is required to
enable all facility stakeholders to understand
models, and identify their impacts on their work
plans. Schwegler (1999) explains that the industry
needs fully parametric 3D modelling tools.
Eighteen per cent of respondents found 3D
modelling and visualisation as a vital area, while
50 per cent found it as an important area.
Organisations are currently seeking qualified
employees in this area.
The industrialists would like to see more
research in the area of integration of 3D modelling
applications with other applications like analysis
tools, cost estimation packages and project
management packages.
4.2 Object oriented product and project
models
Case and Griffith (1999) explains, shared
engineering models based on object oriented and
relational databases are the next major step in
collaborative engineering.
In this context, product models provide models
for the final construction product, namely the
building (Froese, 1995). A project model is a
model that combines both product and process
views (Alshawi and Putra, 1997) in the
construction life cycle, whereas, a product model
would include building objects such as walls, doors
and foundation, a project model would also
include items such as schedule, subcontractor,
contract, etc. A project model defines
.
how a building is built, and
.
provides details of the components of the
building.
 A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry
M. Sarshar and U. Isikdag
Thirty-two per cent of the firms find the project
model approach as vital and 36 per cent of the
respondents find this approach important.
It is interesting to note that the interviewees
were aware of the importance of product models
despite the fact that it is a new emerging
technology. The respondents think object oriented
project models will be important in the future of
construction ICT. But R&D activities in Turkey do
not seem satisfactory in this area. They will use
off-the shelf packages when these kinds of products
become commercially available.
4.3 Integration of software
Zhiliang (1999) argues that we have to find
methodologies for software integration. Firms
stated that they have data, time and financial losses
because the software used for different aspects of
the project are not integrated. For example, you
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cannot extract time planning information from a
CAD drawing or you cannot transfer data from
project planning package to a workflow
management system.
Thirty-six per cent of the respondents find this
subject as a vital issue and 18 per cent grade it as an
important requirement.
4.4 GroupWare applications in construction
Pace (1999) states that Internet and computer
aided communication enables project partners to
have a real time access to the same information
(regardless of the location), and to make the
changes in collaboration rather than isolation.
The collaboration in construction has been found
as one of the most important topics.
The participants think that communication is a
big problem on large-scale multi-national projects
and groupware tools appear as the only cost-
effective solution to this problem. Firms believe
that they can reduce financial and knowledge
losses by effective use of collaboration systems.
Fifty percent of the industry think that their
communication problems will be solved by
advanced ICT applications and find this subject as
a vital area of research for the future. Twenty three
percent of the respondents find this subject as an
important area of Construction IT.
4.5 Data warehousing applications
Data warehousing applications has been found as
a vital area of research by 36 per cent of the
participants and has been found important by
23 per cent.
Companies believe that they do not have a
reasonable level of control on their data and
explain that data warehousing and data mining
techniques will be very helpful to manage data
resources.
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4.6 Knowledge warehousing applications
Brandon (1999) believes in the need of knowledge
warehouses to enable knowledge sharing between
all parties. Although we use the term
“warehousing” for both data and knowledge,
knowledge warehousing differs from data
warehousing. As we know information is the
processed form of data. The knowledge is defined
as the ability to turn information and data into
effective action. Knowledge warehousing is a more
advanced subject and KM applications are more
advanced applications, usually that depend on
AI algorithms.
Forty-five per cent of the industry finds
knowledge warehousing applications as a vital area
of research and 23 per cent of them think it as an
important requirement for industry. They believe
that this area will minimise the loss of information
and lead to improved communications.
4.7 Effective use of ERP in the construction
industry
Thirty-two per cent of the firms think that the
effective use of ERP is a vital area for the
construction of ICT. For 23 per cent, this subject
is important for the industry.
Many of the firms complain that, most off-the
shelf ERP packages (e.g. Oracle, J.D. Edwards,
SAP) do not fit and cannot be tailored for the
construction industry. They believe that the main
reason for is that these packages have been
developed to address the needs of manufacturing
sector, and are not easily applicable to the
management of construction projects.
4.8 Multimedia applications
Multimedia applications are found as a vital
requirement by 14 per cent of the respondents,
but 55 per cent consider it as an important topic.
Multimedia can be used as an efficient medium
for marketing and educational purposes.
The industry is aware of the benefits of
multimedia applications, but there is a lack of
trained employees.
The industry mostly outsources multimedia
projects but with IT-training they think they will be
able to develop multimedia applications to use for
in-house education and marketing.
4.9 Digital product catalogues
De Grassi et al. (1999) used XML to implement
B2B electronic commerce among small and
medium sized companies. In his demonstrator, the
designer can choose among online catalogues of
several suppliers, and integrate the product data of
the item in the product model she is working on.
Thirty-two per cent of the respondents think
that digital catalogues will be a vital tool for the
 A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry
M. Sarshar and U. Isikdag
future of procurement and 36 per cent of them find
it as an important requirement. Digital catalogues
will be an effective medium for the construction
procurement in the future.
4.10 Information technology training for
construction industry professionals
Pace (1999) explains that the construction
industry will face specific challenges in
implementing this new technology. Re-education
and training will be necessary to promote wide
acceptance of technology. ICT training has been
found as the most important requirement of
construction ICT in Turkey.
Fifty-five per cent of the respondents think that
training as a vital issue and 18 per cent of them
think it is important. All firms agree that their
employees need more ICT training.
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5. Non-critical issues
The participants perceived the following issues as
non-critical.
.
VR applications are found to be non-critical for
the future. The firms think they cannot afford
to invest in expensive hardware. The industry
is aware of the benefits of VR, but they do not
think investments on VR would be feasible in
the next 5 years. This is due to the fact that the
industrialists’ understanding of VR is high-
end expensive platforms. They are not familiar
with low-end PC-based VR applications.
.
4D CAD and life cycle applications are not
found critical for the near future. The
participants think these systems will not be
fully beneficial in modelling all construction
processes and in allocating all the resources.
The participants think a lot of research should
be focused on resource planning in integrated
systems and they think that these systems
should be able to manage workflows, before
they can become commercial tools.
.
Data standardisation. The Turkish industry
does not seem to be aware of data
standardisation needs and efforts. The
benefits of IFCs, XML and STEP related
technologies could not be understood by
industry, and the subject was marked as
non-critical.
. Process simulation. The industry thinks that
construction processes are fuzzy and cannot
be simulated effectively.
.
AI application. The results show that the
participants are not aware of advanced AI and
its benefits.
.
GIS systems. The industry believes that
off-the-shelf GIS systems are important.
However, the major barrier is the absence of
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Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 11 · Number 4 · 2004 · 238–247
educated staff. In general, the potential
benefits and applications of GIS are not fully
appreciated by the industrialists.
.
Desktop engineering. The industrialists strongly
disagrees with the approach of desktop
engineering. They believe that an experienced
engineer should not sit in an office and should
rather work on the construction site. This
result is in contradiction with the situation in
Europe, where it is important to improve
workforce productivity. In Turkey, the
workforce is currently relatively cheap.
.
Virtual enterprise. The industrialists explain
that the ICT infrastructure in Turkey is
insufficient to support a virtual enterprise
environment. Activities such as e-bidding will
not be successful in Turkey, before the
country has a well-developed ICT
infrastructure.
6. Discussion on the perceived future
needs
Table I shows a summary of critical and
non-critical topics. There are some contradictory
results in this table. For example, some of the
technologies are overlapping and there is much
synergy in how they are applied, as well as their
benefits. However, one is identified as critical, and
the other as non-critical. These include:
.
3D modeling and visualisation VS VR
technologies
.
object oriented project models VS IFCs and
data exchange standards
.
integration of software VS 4D CAD and
project life cycle approach
This indicates that there is no shared
understanding of these concepts.
Some of the findings are also inconsistent with
the global research directions. In particular, the
interviewees found the areas of GIS and AI non-
critical. This is in contrast to much of the existing
work in this area. For example, Isikdag (1999),
Prudhomme (1999) and Veermani and
Table I Critical and non-critical issues for Turkish construction industry
Priority issues Non-critical issues
3D modelling and visualisation Virtual reality applications
Object oriented product models 4D CAD
Integration of software Data exchange standards
GroupWare applications Simulation of construction process
Data warehousing applications AI applications
Knowledge warehousing applications Effective use of geographical IS
Effective use of ERP Project life cycle approach
Multimedia applications Desktop engineering
Digital catalogues Virtual enterprise
Information technology training
 A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry
M. Sarshar and U. Isikdag
Russell (1999) are some of the researchers who
demonstrate how AI can benefit the industry.
Sarshar et al. (2000) and Zhilang (1999) provide
examples of how GIS could add value.
Despite these areas of inconsistencies, there are
also some areas where the Turkish needs are
different to the needs of more developed countries.
For example:
.
In Turkey the workforce is relatively cheap.
Therefore, the commercial drivers for
automation of some tasks do not exist.
.
The ICT infrastructure of SMEs is very
limited. This limits the use of construction
portals and document management systems
on a project-wide basis.
However, the larger contractors who operate
globally seem to have systems similar to the EU
countries, for their internal use.
During the interviews, the industrialists
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indicated the need for an action plan, which will
explain the responsibilities of the State,
contractors, consultants, procurers and other
parties to enable effective use of ICT in the
Turkish construction industry. Turkish
Association of Informatics mentioned that they are
ready to share their ideas and experience with the
authors to prepare this action plan. According to
the participants, this action plan should address
the following issues.
(1) Responsibilities of the state:
.
state should increase ICT training
activities for all its construction engineers
and designers, and
.
tax reduction should be made to ICT
investments of construction firms.
(2) Responsibilities of the companies:
.
ICT training should be given in tactical
and strategic levels of the organisation, and
.
ICT investments should be increased.
(3) Responsibilities of the universities:
.
further ICT education should be given to
engineers and architects.
Some of the developing countries such as
Singapore (Singapore Ministry of Power and
Ministry of Development, 1999) and Malaysia
(Hamid and Sarshar, 2002) are currently
experimenting with such government led
initiatives. It is still too early to learn from the
experiences of these countries.
7. Conclusions and future research
This paper examined the ICT capabilities of the
Turkish construction industry, via 22 interviews
with senior industrialists. It highlighted the current
capabilities, and explored the perceived future
priorities.
244
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
Volume 11 · Number 4 · 2004 · 238–247
Some key findings from the interviews are as
follows.
. The Turkish construction industry faces
similar challenges as other countries, in terms
of difficulties in communication and loss of
information.
.
IT is viewed as strategic by senior industry
figures. They are, therefore, prepared to spend
time and effort in order to increase awareness
and improve training.
.
In general, the software packages used by
larger organisations are similar to the ones
used in Europe. However, the SMEs have less
ICT awareness and capabilities. It is,
therefore, more complex to use ICT across the
supply chain.
.
Owing to the absence of trained staff, many of
the technologies are underutilised. ICT
education is critical for future advancement
and uptake of technology by the industry.
.
The workforce in Turkey is cheaper than in
Europe. Therefore, the business needs for
automation of some of the processes are less
urgent.
The industrialists prioritised the following RDE
themes for Turkey, which need to be addressed
through national R&D funding and initiatives:
.
3D modelling and visualisation,
.
object oriented product models,
.
integration of software,
.
GroupWare applications,
.
data warehousing applications,
.
knowledge warehousing applications,
.
effective use of ERP systems,
.
multimedia applications,
.
digital catalogues, and
.
information technology training.
In order to maximise the benefits of ICT in the
short-term, the community needs to focus on
education and training. Currently, there are no
university taught programmes in this area. There
are also no government bodies which promote
training in ICT skills within the Turkish
construction industry. Training must address the
differing requirements of senior industrialists,
managers and professionals.
In the long term, the industry needs to engage in
R&D programmes, linking local and global
industry needs to current and future technological
directions. Turkey is recognised as an associate
European state and can participate in EU research
agenda. This type of networking and research
would expand and enhance the knowledge base in
Turkey.
In the medium-term, the government must
focus on creating a supply, and demand
relationship among the academics and
 A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry
M. Sarshar and U. Isikdag
industrialists to maximise exploitation and
commercialisation of technologies and knowledge.
This also remains a challenge for construction of
ICT in Europe. Some of the European barriers to
commercialisation of ICT are explored in Sarshar
(2004). It is important to learn from the
experiences across the countries, in order to
address this critical need.
The interview participants indicated a need to
set-up a national body, which can address these
short-, medium- and long-term requirements.
This body must have representation from the state,
contractors, consultants, procurers, universities
and other potential stakeholders. It is important to
learn from the experiences of other developing
countries such as Singapore and Malaysia who
have already taken initiative in this area.
Downloaded by University of Florida At 22:03 30 January 2016 (PT)
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Appendix

Table AI List of the interviewees

Organisation name Type Contact person Position
Downloaded by University of Florida At 22:03 30 January 2016 (PT)

Middle East Technical University University Dr Yasemin Nielsen Lecturer

Middle East Technical University University Dr Irem Dikmen Lecturer
Yildiz Technical University University Dr Mustafa Zorbozan Lecturer
Ministry of Construction State Org. Adnan Aybar Head of Project Planning Department
Ministry of Construction State Org. Mahmut Kucuk Minister Consultant
Prime Ministry EU General Secretariat State Org. Sevinç Atabay Expert
State Hydraulic Works Directorate State Org. Ugur Aydin Head of ICT Department
State Hydraulic Works Directorate State Org. Salih Pasaoglu Head of ICT Department
Turkish State Planning Organisation State Org. Selcuk Kavasoglu Head of ICT Department
Turkish State Planning Organisation State Org. Umut Gur Expert/Strategic Research Department
Turkish State Planning Organisation State Org. Yusuf Isik Expert/Strategic Research Department
Turkish State Planning Organisation State Org. Cem Ozenen Expert
Turkish State Planning Organisation State Org. Hasan Coban Expert/Directorate General
Amp Software Consultant Faruk Gunes General Manager
IBM Turk Software Consultant Can Ozler Head of Private Sector Department
Koc Sistem Software Consultant Bulent Gonc General Manager
Prota Software Consultant Joseph Kubin General Manager
Sayisal Grafik Software Consultant Kivilcim Tezcan Representative
Sta Software Consultant Serdar Amasrali General Manager
Turkish Parliament Parliament Professor Ziya Aktas M.P./Head of ICT Group
Turkish Foundation of Informatics Foundation Faruk Eczacibasi President
Akfen Contractor Selim Kucukalioglu Manager of ICT
Ata Contractor Mehmet Ayan Manager of ICT
Borova Contractor Metin Akhoundzadeh Manager of ICT
Dogus Insaat Contractor Meltem Kant Manager of ICT
Enka Contractor Mustafa Esitgen Manager of ICT
Gama Contractor Mehmet Besen Manager of ICT
Guris Contractor Handan Yucel Manager of ICT
Kayi Contractor Pinar Asil Project Engineer
Koray Contractor Dr Vehbi Tosun Manager of ICT
Maya Contractor Habil Yılmaz Manager of ICT
Mesa Contractor Semra Cankirili Manager of ICT
Metis Contractor Secimer Tez Manager of ICT
Soyak Holding Contractor Dr Mehmet Toptas Strategic Planning Manager
Soyak Toplu Konut Contractor Ufuk Caki Assistant General Manager
Stfa Contractor Kumru Dayi Manager of ICT
Stfa Contractor Nuri Igmen Planning Manager
Tepe Grubu Contractor Ferhat Bolukbasi Manager of ICT
Yuksel Contractor Adil Hindistan Manager of ICT
(continued)

246
 A survey of ICT use in the Turkish construction industry Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
M. Sarshar and U. Isikdag Volume 11 · Number 4 · 2004 · 238–247

Table AI
Organisation name Type Contact person Position
Seyas Consultant Bahadir Ozcihan Project Engineer
Seyas Consultant Huseyin Ozcelik Project Engineer
Seyas Consultant Kemal Asan Manager of ICT
Suis Consultant Kerim Orhon Manager of ICT
Turish Chamber of Civil Engineers Chamber Muzaffer Tuncag President
Turkish Association of Consultants Association Sevil Yalcin Administrative Board Member
Turkish Association of Informatics Association Dr Atilla ElçI Committee of Honour Member
Turkish Association of Informatics Association Ahmet Ayvalı Administrative Board Member
Turkish Contractors Association Association Yilmaz Gurer Secretary General
Turkish Contractors Association Association Tuba Gunay Assistant Secretary General
Downloaded by University of Florida At 22:03 30 January 2016 (PT)

247
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