Abstract
Abstract
In recent years more and more construction projects used information technology applications to support execution and management tasks. However, construction companies in the world and accordingly in UAE still wrestle with information technology applications in construction (ITC) and how they could be effectively applied on their specific projects. One main reason for this struggle is that an account about how ITC have been used in the past or could be used in the future is missing. This research aims to provide new impetus to UAE's growth and competitiveness in construction engineering and management areas.
The paper presents some areas that ITC could be applied in oil & gas construction sector of UAE. It offers practitioners such an account of the application areas of ITC technologies including the purposes for which these technologies have been applied. The paper qualitatively aggregates the results of more than 200 papers to show how ITC have been applied to address different projects challenges. The paper presents samples of key practical areas for simulation modelling applications in construction industry that are proposed by author for oil & gas projects. The main finding of this analysis is that ITC could play significant role in controlling key indicators of oil & gas construction projects performance including, but not limited to, schedule, cost, safety, quality, team work, and scope management. It could help project managers solving critical concerns such as claim analysis, cash-flow optimization, resources optimization, camp management, and many others.
Keyword: Oil & Gas, construction, UAE, information technology, project performance, ITC