Copyright © 2018 Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7 (3.27) (2018) 492-499 International Journal of Engineering & Technology Website: www.sciencepubco.com/index.php/IJET Research paper Benefits, Barriers and Applications of Information Communication Technology in Construction Industry: A Contemporary Study Dr. T. G. Vasista 1 , Mr. Abraham Abone 2 1&2 Construction Technology and Management Department, Mizan-Tepi University, Tepi Campus, Ethiopia *Corresponding author E-mail: tgkvasista@gmail.com Abstract In the construction industry there is a necessity for improving the construction efficiency through adopting innovative methods. Infor- mation and Communication Technologies (ICT) help in increasing the client satisfaction by reducing coordination errors and provide a greater understanding among project participants in terms of better handling issues and requirements. Better efficiency can be achieved by making a building smarter. Construction projects are faced with many challenges that must not be ignored or underestimated. Some of the wicked problems and challenges such as understanding how one decision will impact decisions in other areas; problem of addressing the risk due to dynamic and uncertainty existing in the environment; resolving conflict where there are competing claims resulting both good and bad outcomes from the same value system are required to be well managed, if required using innovative methods such as using ICT and software packages. Therefore Objective of this research is to explore and describe the use and applications of information and communication technologies in construction industry. It involves examining the current trends of ICT based construction practices and also to assess the potential for its improvement by way of innovation. In this the journey started with describing what innovative method- ologies are required to be considered to drive the discussion of adopting and using ICT to handle the wicked problems in construction industry. Two rationalities are considered as a basis for working on ICT applications in construction management viz.: (i) Six stages of Project Life cycle management and (ii) Nine project management knowledge areas as described by Project Management Institute (PMI). Keywords: Construction Industry, ICT Applications, Construction Project Management Solutions, Current trends in Construction Practices, Energy Effi- ciency in Building Construction, IoT in Construction Management. 1. Introduction In the construction industry there is a necessity for improving the construction efficiency through adopting innovative methods (Oad, 2016). Information and communication technologies and their usage will help in increasing the construction efficiency and solve the special challenges such as sustainable construction and its management. The construction industry is well-known for its highly fragmented and competitive environment (Kalinichuk, 2013). Nowadays majority of the building projects are hardly treated without communication facilities and information transfer (Bjork, 1999). The Architecture, engineering and construction industry is showing great interest in accepting new technologies in achieving visualization, data analysis, information sharing, com- munications and collaboration activities (Thomassen, 2011). These ICT technologies help in increasing the client satisfaction reduce coordination errors and provide a greater understanding among project participants in terms of better handling issues and requirements (Kalinichuk, undated). Better efficiency can be achieved by making a building smarter. A smart building is an intelligent space that optimizes efficiency, comfort, safety for people and asset performance within the building (Intel, 2015). IoT can play a good role in managing smart building systems and in building automation (Intel, 2015). IoT based solutions that are based on open platforms give property owners and building managers a higher level of com- mand and fine control comparing to today's closed and proprietary building management systems. By 2020, it is expected that more than 50 billion devices will be connected to the cloud and each other in what is commonly called the IoT -Internet of things (Intel, 2015). 2. Problem Statement Construction projects are faced with many challenges that must not be ignored or underestimated. These projects are increasingly becoming competitive, complex and difficult to manage. Using traditional approaches may not provide solutions to address such wicked problems. The challenge becomes greater when joint ven- tures, partnerships and sub-contracting agreements are involved. In such scenarios adopting ad hoc and traditional approaches to construction management often fail to perform and managers need to consider adopting alternative approaches to solve these wicked problems. Some of these wicked problems typically are as fol- lows: understanding how one decision will impact decisions in other areas; problem of addressing the risk due to dynamic and uncertainty existing in the environment; resolving conflict where there are competing claims resulting both good and bad outcomes from the same value system (Maqsood, Finegan and Walker, 2003).