An Integrated Approach to Assessing Digitalization of Integrated Digital Delivery Projects

As digital technologies transform the built environment industry, the integrated digital delivery (IDD) initiative has emerged as a key approach to enhance project coordination, productivity, and sustainability. Despite the growing adoption of digital solutions, construction organizations lack effective tools to evaluate the digitalization level of IDD projects. While various frameworks exist for assessing organizational and industry-level digital maturity, there remains a significant gap in project-level assessment approaches, hindering organizations’ ability to measure implementation progress and make informed technology decisions. This study aims to develop an IDD–digitalization assessment system (IDD-DAS) to measure the extent of digital implementation in IDD projects. A total of 31 digital activities, serving as key assessment indicators, were identified across four IDD project phases through literature review and expert validation. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) method was employed to develop the IDD-DAS. The system was validated through three case studies across residential, commercial, and infrastructure projects, demonstrating its effectiveness and practical applicability. The findings revealed that the four project phases are equally important in determining the overall digital maturity, emphasizing the necessity for a holistic and integrated approach to digital innovation in the built environment industry. The identification of key digital activities within the four digital phases underscores the critical role of digital data management and collaboration platforms in IDD projects. This study advances the body of knowledge by developing a comprehensive project-level digitalization assessment system with systematically validated indicators that capture digital implementation across IDD project phases. The findings advance digital transformation practices in the global built environment industry, supporting organizations toward enhanced efficiency and innovation.