Utilization of Geographic Information System Technology on Implementation of Kenya Rural Roads Authority’s Road Construction Projects in Kenya

Abstract

The success of any road construction project relies heavily on effective and efficient planning, implementation and monitoring of the construction progress. Studies have indicated the integration of GIS technology with the traditional management tools as a promising approach to overcome the limitations of the traditional tools in road project management especially implementation. Though adopted by various sectors including the roads authorities all over the world, GIS technologies have not been utilized to its full potential more so in Kenya and other low and middle-income economies. This research, titled "Utilization of Geographic Information System Technology on Implementation of Kenya Rural Roads Authority's Road Construction Projects in Kenya," set out to determine the causes of the relatively low uptake of GIS technology by KeRRA during the construction of roads, despite the authority's recognition of the technology's potential for mitigating problems with conventional methods of road management. As a theoretical framework, this research relied on the Technology Acceptance Model, the Technology Organization Environment Framework, and the Unified Theory Acceptance and Use of Technology theorems. After conducting a stratified random sample of the workers at the KeRRA Directorates, Departments, and Projects according to their job cadres, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect answers from at least 142 respondents. The replies were then ranked on a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 indicating strongly disagreeing and 5 indicating strongly agreeing, based on the questionnaire's framework. The collected data was analyzed descriptively at univariate, bivariate levels using SPSS Version 29.0 to compute the measures of central tendencies and dispersion to aid the accurate description of the responses. Cronbach's alpha analysis, used to measure reliability, provided a value of 0.877, and open-ended interviews with senior KeRRA management were used to determine content validity. Based on an examination of parameters including access to GIS technology, availability of GIS data, GIS staff capacity, and GIS startup cost, the research found that the use of GIS technology significantly affects the realization of KeRRA road construction projects with a linear prediction model of Y = 0.368X1 + 0.092X2 + 0.174X3 + 0.642X4 - 0.317 whereby Y represents implementation of the projects while X1 to X4 represents the parameters respectively. Therefore, the research suggests that efforts be made to boost GIS technology utilization in the execution of road construction projects by allocating more financial and human resources and establishing an enabling application environment. This will go a long way in improving road construction management process not only at the national government level but also at the county government level.