ICT-Readiness in Industrialised Building System (IBS) Management Processes: Case Studies Peniel Ang Soon Ern 1 , Narimah Binti Kasim 2 Department of Construction Management Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) Parit Raja, Baru Pahat, Malaysia peniel.ang@gmail.com 1 narimah@uthm.edu.my 2 Abstract — Extensive use of modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools supports the different Industrialised Building System (IBS) processes by enabling more accurate documents and hence good conditions for an effective production where errors are discovered early and problems in the manufacturing and assembly phases can be avoided. However, the acceptance of ICT at the organisational level is still in its infancy. Despite the potential benefit of ICT, convincing construction organisations to embrace its use and implementation has proved a difficult task. Hence, this paper aims to report on the findings from the case studies conducted on a few industry stakeholders. The case studies assessed the current industrial ICT acceptance for IBS management processes, identified the key barriers affecting the ICT-readiness and established the enablers for greater ICT uptake in the IBS management processes. The case studies were executed through semi-structured interviews conducted with a few main IBS manufacturers and government policy makers. Analysis was done with NVivo 8 software. Results indicated that current ICT acceptance in Malaysia is rather low. Thus, there is a great opportunity for the future development of more effective frameworks to encourage ICT-acceptance in the IBS construction field and thus for the increased ICT adoption for the overall construction industry. Keywords — ICT-readiness; ICT; IBS; Malaysia; construction management; precast I. Introduction Industrialised Building System (IBS) Roadmap 2003- 2010 in Malaysia has defined IBS as a construction technique in which components are manufactured in a controlled environment (on or off site), transported, positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site works [1]. The endorsement of IBS Roadmap 2003-2010 in Malaysia expressed the importance and urgency of IBS implementation in Malaysia. Nevertheless, the government of Malaysia considers that the usage of IBS is low despite the potential advantages. IBS Mid Term Review in 2007 reported that approximately only 10% of the complete projects used IBS in the year 2006. Less than 35% of total construction projects (using at least one IBS product) in year 2006 had been reported in IBS Mid Term Review as compared to forecasting IBS project of 50 % in 2006 and 70% in year 2008 as projected by IBS Roadmap. Lack of R&D, low Information Technology (IT) adoption and limited technology availability are observed to have generally discouraged IBS take up in Malaysia [2]. In point of fact, extensive use of modern IT tools is able to support the different IBS processes by enabling more accurate documents and hence good conditions for an effective production where errors are discovered early and problems in the manufacturing and assembly phases can be avoided [3]. With the effectiveness of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) implementation, IBS uptake will too increase. However, the current practice of ICT implementation in the tracking of IBS components in Malaysia is rather rare. It appears that most innovative system and components are using innovative materials which are based on imported technologies which are obviously more expensive and difficult to purchase by local contractor [4]. Hence, there is a need to study on the ICT-readiness of Malaysian IBS construction players in the management of IBS processes and provide a possible way out to encourage ICT take-up in their projects. The terminology of ―ICT-Readiness‖ is described as the readiness of its people to adapt to a new technology [5]. For the context of this research, ICT-Readiness is described as ―the susceptibility of an organisation or individual in embracing, implementing and incorporating ICT into the processes of IBS components management‖. This paper aims to present the findings of the case studies conducted among some prominent industry stakeholders in the construction industry in Malaysia. This study is significant in recognising the existing ICT implementation in the current IBS process management in Malaysia, identifying the resistant factors to ICT-readiness and to establish further potential to deal with the ICT- readiness issues.