Drivers and barriers of technology adoption in Ontario’s infrastructure

Technological underutilisation has long been associated with inefficiencies and delays in construction projects. This study examines practitioner-reported factors associated with the adoption of construction technology in Ontario’s infrastructure sector. The study combines insights from a structured literature review with empirical evidence gathered through a questionnaire survey. The survey results, analysed using frequency analysis and importance index ranking, indicate that the most significant drivers of technology adoption were software meeting internal business needs (II = 0.54), leadership support for implementation (II = 0.61), and software technological advancement (II = 0.66). The most critical barriers identified were high implementation cost (II = 0.51), lack of knowledge and understanding of use (II = 0.59), and insufficient leadership commitment (II = 0.63). From an economic perspective, the prominence of cost-related barriers suggests that technology adoption delays may contribute to avoidable inefficiencies in project delivery, including duplicated administrative effort, delayed reporting, and limited real-time cost control. For small and medium-sized enterprises contractors, modest digital efficiency gains such as reduced rework or faster reporting cycles can translate into measurable cost savings at the project level.