Barriers and solutions to adopting digital twin in Sri Lankan construction

Abstract

In the Industry 4.0 era, Digital Twin (DT) technology has emerged as a key innovation, integrating physical assets with their digital counterparts to enhance coordination, safety, and cost management in construction. Despite its potential, DT adoption in construction remains limited, particularly in developing countries like Sri Lanka, due to high costs, technological barriers, and a lack of standardized integration methods. While DT has significantly improved efficiency in other sectors, the construction industry still lacks practical large-scale applications and a unified framework for implementation. This research aims to explore the applicability of DT in Sri Lankan construction projects. Moreover, semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with 7 experts to gather data. Accordingly, the literature review and insights gathered from interviews highlighted its current usage, benefits, and barriers, and proposed 8 practical solutions to facilitate broader adoption of DT in the Sri Lankan construction industry. The findings of this research are anticipated to contribute significantly to the effective integration of DT technology within the Sri Lankan construction sector. The results underscore the promising role that DT can fulfil in addressing a variety of barriers confronting the construction industry. This study not only emphasizes the critical importance of adopting Digital Twin technology but also seeks to raise awareness of its potential, thereby encouraging its utilization and ushering in a new era of innovation in the Sri Lankan construction industry.