Omoseni Adepoju - Re-skilling Human Resources for Construction 4.0: Implications for Industry, Academia and Government

Springer Tracts in Civil Engineering (STCE) publishes the latest developments in Civil Engineering - quickly, informally and in top quality. The series scope includes monographs, professional books, graduate textbooks and edited volumes, as well as outstanding PhD theses. Its goal is to cover all the main branches of civil engineering, both theoretical and applied, including:

Indexed by Scopus

To submit a proposal or request further information, please contact:

Pierpaolo Riva at Pierpaolo.Riva@springer.com (Europe and Americas) Wayne Hu at wayne.hu@springer.com (China)

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15088

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

The fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, has transformed the construction industry by creating digital, smart and sustainable construction technologies. The innovative deployment of Industry 4.0 concepts and its application in the construction industry is called Construction 4.0. These new technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), Robotics, 3D printing and Drones give the professionals in the industry a different outlook about optimising their operations to boost the delivery of cost-effective, timely and quality projects. The application of these technologies comes with several benefits and some risks. More importantly, the adoption of these technologies demand new skills for its operation and effective performance.

In order to realise the benefits of these modern technologies, the construction industry needs to address the inevitable challenges, especially those pertaining to human resources. The availability of required skills will improve the implementation of Construction 4.0 technologies. Consequently, it becomes necessary to develop and build talents for the present and future needs of the industry. In line with this, the stakeholders in the industry have roles to play in building the necessary capabilities required to rapidly adapt to the new technologies. The industry is responsible for training the workers, creating a learning environment for practical application of the new technologies and working closely with educational institutions to equip personnel with the required knowledge and skills for Construction 4.0. Also, educational and training institutions with the collaboration of the industry are required to design courses and training programmes that can help nurture, develop and re-skill the human resources suited for a digitalised construction industry.

Furthermore, the governments have a responsibility in policy formulation to reinforce human capital development both at the educational institutions and the workplace. Hence, this research book will examine the key technologies of Construction 4.0, the benefits, risks and relevant skills required to implement the technologies. The book will also consider human resources reskilling needs and the roles of key stakeholders in developing the skills needed for Construction 4.0. This research views the lack of twenty-first century skills and the skills gap, especially in developing countries, as a limiting factor to implementing these technologies.