Yapım projeleri yöneticilerinin dijital yeterlikleri
Digital competence of construction project managers
Yazar: YELDA ÖZGE DOĞAN
Danışman: DOÇ. DR. EMRAH ACAR
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Proje ve Yapım Yönetimi Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2018
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture

Özet:
Dijital teknolojiler, insanların çalışma, öğrenme ve bilgi toplumuna katılma biçimlerini radikal bir şekilde etkilemektedir. Dijitalleşme, işgücü piyasasına etki ederek yeni işler ve çalışma koşulları yaratmakta ve rutin bilişsel ve manuel görevleri içeren işlerden, kurallara dayalı çözümlerin olmadığı rutin olmayan görevlere doğru bir kaymaya sebep olmaktadır. Bu değişim istihdamda beceri gereksinimlerinde kaymaya yol açmakta ve genel olarak 21.yüzyıl becerileri olarak tanımlanan uzman düşünme, karmaşık iletişim ve işbirliği, problem çözme ve dil becerileri gibi daha çok üst düzey bilişsel beceriler içeren yeterliklere duyulan gereksinimi arttırmaktadır. Bu becerilerin kesişiminde yer alan dijital yeterlik (DY), Avrupa Birliği tarafından yaşamboyu öğrenmenin temel yeterliklerinden biri olarak kabul edilmekte ve  'bilgi toplumu teknolojisinin iş, boş zaman veya öğrenim bağlamında sorumluluk, özerklik ve diğer uygun tutumlarla kullanma yeteneğini' ifade etmektedir. DY, bilgi ve iletişim teknolojilerinin kullanımının operasyonel yönlerinin ötesine geçerek, dijital teknolojilerin her meslek için değişen genel ve göreve özgü yeterlikler içeren bilgi toplumunda eleştirel, etkin ve yetkin uygulamasına odaklanmaktadır.

Yapım sektöründeki dijital yeterlikle ilişkilendirilebilecek araştırmalar incelendiğinde, genel olarak Bilgi ve İletişim Teknolojilerinin (BİT) teknik kullanım bilgisine odaklanan çalışmalar dikkat çekmektedir. Ancak dijital yeterlik bilgi, beceri ve tutumun bütünleşmesiyle, bilişsel süreçler, etik farkındalık, duygusal ve sosyal beceriler gibi çok geniş bir açıklıkta yeterlik içeren, yani araç ve yazılım bilgisi gibi teknik işlemsel becerilerin ötesinde çok boyutlu bir kavramdır. Uygulama odaklı çerçevelerin dar bir bakış açısı olduğu ve dijital yeterliğin geliştirilmesi için yüksek mertebe düşünme becerilerine dikkat çekildiği göz önünde bulundurulduğunda, konuya daha geniş bir perspektiften bakılması gerektiği, ancak yapım sektöründe bu bağlamda incelenen herhangi bir çalışma bulunmadığı görülmektedir. 

Avrupa Birliği'nin Dijital Yeterlikler Çerçevesi'ni (DigComp) kullanan bu çalışma, yapım projeleri yöneticilerinin DY seviyesini değerlendirmeyi, her dijital yeterlik alanı için gelişimlerini etkileyen faktörleri belirlemeyi ve sektördeki dijital yeterlik gelişimini izlemek amacıyla yapılacak kapsamlı çalışmalara öncü olmayı amaçlayan bir saha araştırmasının sonuçlarını sunmaktadır. 27 profesyonelden elde edilen verilerin niceliksel ve niteliksel analizleri, yapım projeleri yöneticilerinin rutin olmayan problemleri tek başlarına çözebilecek yeterliğe yakın olduğunu, ancak karmaşık durumlarda başkalarına rehberlik edebilecek ya da işle ilgili yeni fikirler ve süreçler önerebilecek düzeyde olmadıklarını göstermektedir. 

Çerçeveyi oluşturan beş yeterlik alanı kapsamında incelendiğinde ise, yapım yöneticilerinin sadece en yüksek yeterlik seviyesinde olduğu "enformasyon ve veri okuryazarlığı" alanında karmaşık durumlarda başkalarına rehberlik edebilecek düzeye yaklaşmakta olduğu görülmektedir. Bu alanı, ortalama seviyeye yakın olan "iletişim ve işbirliği" ve "problem çözme" alanları takip etmektedir. "Güvenlik" ve "dijital içerik oluşturma" alanlarında ise, genel ortalamanın altında bir seviyede oldukları ve ancak iyi tanımlanmış, rutin görevleri yapabilme ve açıkça anlaşılır problemleri çözebilme düzeyinde oldukları görülmektedir. Ayrıca çerçeveyi oluşturan 21 yeterliğin 9'unda proje yöneticilerinin ortalamanın altında kaldığı görülmektedir.

DigComp, yapım sektöründe birey ve kurumların birey düzeyinde dijital yeterlik değerlendirmelerinde, gelişimlerinin izlenmesinde, beceri tabanındaki boşlukları belirlemede ve kariyer planlamasında mesleki gelişim fırsatlarını aramada yardımcı olabilir.

Abstract:
Digital technologies are radically affecting the ways people work, learn and participate in the information society. Digitalization permeates the world economy in every field of life, changes the job and employment structures ever intensive than before, and makes digital skills key to everyone. Digitalization has multiple effects on the labor markets, including the creation and loss of jobs in different sectors; changing employment relationships and forms; current and future skills requirements. A shift is observed in the labour markets from routine cognitive and manual jobs towards non-routine jobs, which require analytical problem solving, self-management, communication of complex information, and linguistic skills. While there are different perspectives on the definition of such new skills, many scholars agree that "digital competence"(DC), involving the confident and critical use of digital technologies for work, leisure and communication, is an integral part of them. Recognized by the European Parliament and the Council as one of the key competencies for lifelong learning, DC is a debated field due to various definitions, related concepts, and differentiation in the context of evaluation.

Difficulties for defining and measuring DC arise from a couple of factors: it is a multi-dimensional construct requiring the integration of cognitive, relational, and social abilities and skills; it is complex since it cannot be measured by single tests; it is connected to other competencies such as problem solving, numeracy, reading and inferential skills; and its meaning evolves over time due to changes in socio-cultural context and the development of new technologies. Despite the dynamic nature of the DC concept, some common ground exists to define it at a general level, based on a hierarchical organization of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Another commonality is that all approaches defining and measuring DC places emphasis on critical thinking ability, rather than the operational aspects of digital technologies.

DC at individual level is an "umbrealla term" covering both the general digital competencies, which are necessary for every occupation, and the specific competences which are likely to change according to specific roles and tasks. Put differently, DC definitions should be a composition of both higher-level competence elements that apply to different settings, and practical elements that apply to the changing requirement of different occupations. While the former elements such as ethics, attitudes and expertise remain relatively constant even when the practicalities change, the latter, including competencies relating to practical tasks and knowledge, require regular revisions, when the digital tools change due to technological developments

Although various conceptualizations for DC exists, very limited number of studies apply these theoretical frameworks to specific contexts such as the workforce in different industries or occupations. Construction industry is not an exception, since the available literature in the field predominantly focuses on the operational aspects of digital technologies, despite the calls for a wider perspective regarding the effects of current trends on the employment, working and communication patterns. The predominant part of the construction literature on digital media focuses on the operational aspects of digital tools and skills regarding the use of software systems or Internet resources. Adoption and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by individuals or organizations; resistance to or fear of change; individual perceptions or beliefs; impacts of ICTs on project performance are amongst the common themes of this main research stream.

A field study was conducted to evaluate the DC level of construction project managers, identify the factors that affect their development for each digital competence area, and to be a pioneer in comprehensive future studies to track the digital competence development in the sector.  This study presents the findings of an exploratory attempt to apply 'The European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens,' also known as DigComp by its acronym, to the specific context of the construction project managers. Developed first by the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission in 2013, DigComp aimed to "be a tool to improve citizens' digital competence, to help policy-makers to formulate policies that support digital competence building, and to plan education and training initiatives to improve digital competence of specific target groups". Since 2013, DigComp has been used for different purposes in different contexts such as education and training, lifelong learning and employment. Adapting DigComp to the construction project management context promises potentialities in different (e.g., human resources management) and at different levels (e.g., individual career planning), apart from its policy-level consequences.

DigComp, is the output of an intensive collaboration amongst various stakeholders across Europe. Following an extensive process, DigComp has been developed in 5 dimensions: "competence areas identified to be part of digital competence; competence descriptors and titles that are pertinent to each area; proficiency levels for each competence; knowledge, skills and attitudes applicable to each competence; examples of use, on the applicability of the competence to different purpose". 5 competence areas and 21 competence descriptors and titles were used in the questionnaire 
in the same way. On the other hand, examples of use including knowledge, skills and attitudes were adapted to the construction project managers. In addition, to be more clear and manageable for the participants, 8 proficiency levels were gathered at five levels, in terms of the cognitive challenge, autonomy, and the complexity of the tasks and managers were asked to indicate their own proficiency levels for each competence. Finally, the factors that affect their own development for each competence area were asked as an open-ended question.

Data from 27 professionals shows that level of general mean competence of construction managers is 2.87 out of 5.00, which means they are close to the level at which they can solve non-routine problems on their own.  However, it has been seen that they cannot guide others in complex situations and cannot propose new ideas and processes related to their work. When examined in terms of the five competence areas, it is seen that "information and data literacy" has the highest score. Only in this area construction managers are close enough to guide others in complex situations. This area is followed by "communication and collaboration" and "problem solving" areas which are close to average level. In the areas of "security" and "digital content creation", they are at a level below the general average. They are only able to perform well-defined, routine tasks and solve straightforward problems. In addition, the results show that the construction managers are below the average in 9 competences. In particular, all competences under "security" area seem to be below average. The programming competence was significantly lower than other competences.

There is no significant correlation between the  level of construction managers in the competence areas and the demographic and organizational variables determined as age, occupation duration, current firm experience, firm size, gender and marital status. However, considering that the sample size is small and has similar characteristics, it is useful to examine the  results of the analysis. When it is examined whether there is a relation between the levels of digital competence and education, it is seen that as the level of education increases, only the level of "communication and collaboration" area increases.  When the level of 21 digital competences and the same variables were examined, there is an inverse correlation between "digital content creation" and age and occupation duration.

With the continuous development of digital technologies, it is believed that education and employment policies will continue to evolve, and therefore it is important and necessary to regularly monitor the development of digital competence of the workforce. By examining the formation stages of DigComp, it is possible to draw a roadmap for the construction sector, to make sector specific adaptations and it is thought that measures can be developed in different contexts such as learning and work. In the construction industry, it can help individuals and organizations in the AEC industry to assess digital competencies, identify gaps in skills base, and search professional development opportunities in career planning.