ITcon Vol. 12, Special Issue Editorial on construction information technology in emerging economies , pg. 193-206, http://www.itcon.org/2007/13

The scenario and trends in the Brazilian IT construction applications’ experience

SUBMITTED: December 2005
REVISED: August 2006
PUBLISHED: March 2007
EDITOR: Serpell A and Barai S V

Sergio Scheer, Prof. Dr.
Graduate Program on Construction Engineering and Civil Engineering Research Centre, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
email: scheer@ufpr.br http://www.cesec.ufpr.br/~scheer

Sergio R. Leusin de Amorim, Prof. Dr.
Graduate Program on Architecture and Urbanism, Fluminense Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
email: leusin@civil.uff.br

Eduardo Toledo Santos, Prof. Dr.
Graduate Program on Construction Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
email: eduardo.toledo@poli.usp.br http://toledo.pcc.usp.br

Rita C. Ferreira, Architect, Graduate Student
Graduate Program on Construction Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
email: rita.ferreira@poli.usp.br http://ritaferreira.pcc.usp.br

André Mendonça Caron, Civil Engineer, Graduate Student
Graduate Program on Construction Engineering, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
email: andre_mendonca_caron@yahoo.com.br

SUMMARY: IT application in emerging countries faces many specific constraints, not only in infrastructure but also from cultural and economic differences. In Brazil, despite quite satisfactory IT technical education with qualified staff, we have encountered AEC professionals with insufficiently well-developed IT skills, except in CAD systems. This has contributed to a full range of potential IT uses not being considered by the large majority of companies. Most of these companies are small and medium-sized organizations, with limited budgets and technical capacity. The greater part of the market happens to be outside the regulatory context and so, they are not particularly concerned with quality and productivity. The construction sector scenario is therefore reflected in the IT companies, the majority of which are small companies developing customized proprietary systems, thus creating inter-operability difficulties. On the other hand, only a few large contractors have begun to use ERP systems, due to the financial investment and time required to implement them. Besides these barriers, some other factors are also pushing the envelope, requiring more intensive IT use. This is mainly as a response to the formal competitive market that requires quality systems and new trends in documentation and management. To overcome these difficulties some urgent actions have been listed: i.e. improvements in IT education for AEC professionals and cooperative development programs for IT and construction companies.

KEYWORDS: scenario, trends, Brazil, IT development

FULL TEXT: file.pdf (106,038 bytes)

CITATION:

Scheer S, Leusin de Amorim S R, Santos E T, Ferreira R C, Caron A M (2007) The scenario and trends in the Brazilian IT construction applications’ experience, ITcon Vol. 12, Special Issue Construction information technology in emerging economies , pg. 193-206, http://www.itcon.org/2007/13