A Digital Skills Gap Analysis of Building Inspectors: The Case of The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Authority
Date
2024-07
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
WABER SuDBE Conference 2024
WABER SuDBE Conference 2024
Abstract
The utility of digital technologies in improving building inspection functions has been elucidated by relevant literature. However, the ability of building inspectors to deploy these technologies remains contentious as a paucity of studies, highlighting the digital capabilities possessed by these cohort has been observed. To bridge this gap, this study conducts a digital skills gap analysis of building inspectors in Johannesburg, South Africa. The study adopts a case study research strategy with a selected building inspectorate unit in South Africa’s Gauteng province serving as the case study. Data was elicited within case surveys, 41 building inspectors responded out of 70 total population sampling sent out. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS. Results show substantial levels of digital illiteracy among building inspectors in the City of Johannesburg yet little drive-in adoption of the digital technologies in conducting building inspections. It is clear from this study that essential competencies required for the adoption of digital technologies are not at the acceptable level for practical application in the case of Johannesburg. Besides elucidating the growing importance of digital technologies in the execution of building inspection functions in developing countries, the study provides considerable insight into the existence of a skills gap which limits the ability of building inspectors to engage in the increased uptake of these technologies.
Description
This paper was presented at the Proceedings of the WABER SuDBE 2024 Conference 30th – 31st July 2024, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Keywords
Building inspectors, Digital skills, Digital technologies, Gap analysis
Citation
Gethe, et al. (2024). A digital skills gap analysis of building inspectors: the case of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Authority In: Laryea, S. et al. (Eds) Proceedings of the WABER SuDBE Conference, 30 to 31 July 2024, Johannesburg, South Africa 946-956.