The role of communication networks in adoption of sustainable innovations: the case of BIM

This project aims to identify the role of networks and digital communication channels as keyways to overcome barriers to BIM adoption. BIM follows trends for digitalization and datafication in other fields, by enabling new ways of communication between the many stakeholders involved in a construction project, by effectively creating a digital model of the building and the construction project. We focus not only on BIM as an ICT, but also in the ways in which ICTs such as social media and may facilitate the diffusion of high-impact technological innovations such as BIM. We also hope that this project will constitute a case study for ways in which communication scholars can engage with other scientific and technical fields to study the diffusion of innovative technologies through digital channels. We have conducted a survey with European participants from the architecture, construction, and engineering (ACE) industry to assess BIM adoption and to what extent it is determined by communication channels and external drivers