Barriers to Technology Integration in the Construction Workforce

9 pages•Published: June 2, 2026

Rachel Mosier, Tulio Sulbaran, Sanjeev Adhikari and Sandeep Langar

Abstract

Emerging technologies are at the forefront of the ever-changing modern business environment, impacting industries in the US, including construction. Although the construction industry has made significant strides in adopting innovation over the last two decades, it has historically lagged in adopting technological innovations. This is because technological innovation adoption is not a straightforward process, and numerous barriers can affect it. Some of these barriers include the environments in which potential adopters operate, implementation costs, and the geographical locations in which construction businesses might operate. This study explores barriers to integrated technology adoption and implementation in the construction industry in states with poverty rates above the national average. An online survey was used to collect data, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze it. The study population included construction workers in three states with significant persistent poverty, measured by the percentage of counties with persistent poverty. The results indicate that a dual bottleneck fundamentally stalls technology adoption in construction: the initial cost burden and the internal inability to effectively utilize the investment. These findings from this study support the possible roles of vendors and academic institutions in helping the construction industry overcome barriers to integrating technology into its operations.

Keyphrases: barriers, construction innovation, construction workforce, innovative technology adoption

In: Wesley Collins, Anthony Perrenoud and John Posillico (editors). Proceedings of Associated Schools of Construction 62nd Annual International Conference, vol 7, pages 704-712.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/TSDn
	https://doi.org/10.29007/kbbs

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2026:Barriers_Technology_Integration_Construction,
  author    = {Rachel Mosier and Tulio Sulbaran and Sanjeev Adhikari and Sandeep Langar},
  title     = {Barriers to Technology Integration in the Construction Workforce},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of Associated Schools of Construction 62nd Annual International Conference},
  editor    = {Wesley Collins and Anthony Perrenoud and John Posillico},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {7},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/TSDn},
  doi       = {10.29007/kbbs},
  pages     = {704-712},
  year      = {2026}}

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