Collaboration in Digital Construction: Integrating synchronous and asynchronous practices

Zanabria E.; Murguia D.; Demian P. · Revista Ingenieria de Construccion (2025) · DOI: 10.7764/ric.00167.21

Resumen

Digital transformation in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector is reshaping how stakeholders collaborate to create, exchange, deliver, and interrogate information. Two practices have become central to this shift: Integrated Concurrent Engineering (ICE), a synchronous in-person session for co-located real-time collaboration and decision-making, underpinned by the Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) methodology, and Common Data Environments (CDEs), asynchronous cloud-based systems for controlled information creation, sharing, approval, and publication under the ISO 19650. Despite the growing adoption of digital collaboration, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how these modes interact in distributed and interdependent project contexts. This research examines how synchronous (ICE) and asynchronous (CDE) practices shape design and construction collaboration. Forty semi-structured interviews with AEC professionals were analysed through a deductive-inductive approach, guided by six necessary dimensions for effective collaboration: trust, communication quality, change management, information quality, clear roles and processes, and management of interdependent processes. Findings show that ICE builds interpersonal trust, compresses decision latency, and resolves tightly coupled interfaces, especially near milestones, when sessions conclude with clearly defined responsibilities for follow-up tasks and due dates. In contrast, CDEs strengthen trust through version histories, approval trails, and information states, improving information quality and change control. Despite their complementarity, however, these collaboration modes exhibit two distinct institutional routines, namely “information exchange” in CDE and “knowledge exchange” in ICE. For enhanced outcomes, their integration is essential. Management implications underscore the need for dual frameworks that articulate the conditions and mechanisms for balancing immediacy with auditability in digitally enabled construction projects.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú