Assessing the Impediments to Digital Adoption in the Moroccan Construction Industry: A Stakeholder-Based Analysis

Abstract

Digitalisation may improve building efficiency and quality, but emerging economies confront specific obstacles in adopting these technologies. This paper addresses the research vacuum by analyzing the challenges to construction digitization in Morocco, a fast-growing sector. We asked 150 client, contractor, and consultant construction professionals about 31 possible hurdles. The poll questions were based on extensive literature analysis and expert interviews. We found substantial variations in stakeholder group barrier relevance using reliability tests, descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The biggest barriers were cultural and habitual aversion to change, expensive software and hardware costs, lack of market data for technological integration, security concerns, and the lack of defined procedures and norms. Policymakers, business leaders, and researchers need these insights to design targeted policies to boost Morocco's construction sector's digital transformation and global competitiveness.