Dr. Naa Adjeley Ashiboe-Mensah Doamekpor holds a PhD in Building Technology, with research focused on innovation adoption and the uptake of building-integrated photovoltaic technologies in Ghana’s building industry. She is a quantity surveyor with over a decade of experience in quantity surveying, project management, and contract management, and is a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors, a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and a certified member of the Project Management Institute. She has served on the Governing Council and other committees of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors and works as a trainer and examiner for professional quantity surveyors
When I started my PhD, Ghana was in the throes of another energy crisis. I wondered why we were grappling with energy challenges in a country with abundant sunlight and heat. Given that buildings account for a significant share of energy use, the question that plagued me was how to integrate solar technologies, such as photovoltaics (solar PV), into buildings. I found that the uptake of new technologies is rarely about the technology alone. I discovered that even when solar PV was technically feasible and economically viable for building projects, adoption often stalled. This phenomenon, I found, was shaped by a wide range of interrelated factors that created a complex dynamic of influence.
Innovation is a multifaceted concept defined in various ways, but it does not necessarily require the invention of something entirely new. It can involve applying an existing idea in a novel way or within a new context. In his research on how new ideas spread through societies, Everett Rogers stated that changes in thought, behavior, or processes that create new societal value can be considered innovation. Innovation management involves generating ideas or developing new products and processes. It also includes the adoption and diffusion of these ideas, products, and processes. Innovations can only create value if people use them, which makes adoption and diffusion a critical part of innovation management.
In trying to understand innovation management, I often looked to foreign theories and overlooked the insights embedded in our own traditional practices. In this op-ed, I highlight an innovative project and show how the Akan principle of “nnoboa” offers a useful lens for explaining the success of the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre.
Innovation in the Construction Industry
Beyond the traditional concerns of time, cost, and quality, innovation in construction has become a fourth competitive dimension. The construction sector is plagued by productivity, efficiency, and safety challenges that can be addressed through innovative approaches. For instance, modular integrated construction enables entire buildings to be manufactured off-site and assembled on-site. This innovation allows for faster on-site assembly, reducing construction time while improving quality control and minimizing waste.
Another example is 3D printing, a construction method in which specialized printers use concrete or mortar as a printing material, depositing it layer by layer to create three-dimensional structures. This innovation offers significant labor savings and faster build rates, while also allowing for greater flexibility in design. NASA and the Texas-based construction technology company ICON are experimenting with 3D printing systems for use beyond Earth, such as on the Moon or Mars. Other innovations in the construction industry include drones, construction robotics and automation, digital twins, and related technologies. However, such innovations can only achieve meaningful impact if the industry is prepared to adopt them.
In the construction sector, innovation and adoption are slow and uneven. The sector is complex and conservative, and it faces high implementation risks associated with new technologies and processes. It also has a fragmented structure and disjointed project processes. Adversarial relationships further undermine collaborative efforts. In addition, clients’ excessive emphasis on cost and time has stunted innovation in the industry. The construction sector in Ghana is no different. Innovation is stifled. It is therefore instructive to explore how and why the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre (GIDC) project delivered innovative outcomes in such an environment, contrary to expectations.
