Factors influencing IoT adoption for sustainable facilities management in Saudi Arabia: a stakeholder assessment

Purpose – This paper evaluates the factors influencing the utilization of the Internet of Things (IoT) for sustainable facilities management (SFM) practices in Saudi Arabia. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed approach, combining a literature review, pilot-testing and questionnaire survey, was adopted to evaluate the factors. Twenty-seven factors were identified and grouped into four groups: technical, business and organizational, operational and security and privacy. The questionnaire was distributed to 30 facilities managers and 30 IoT specialists, totaling 60 practitioners, to determine the effect index of each factor. The practitioners' consensus on the ranking of the factors was then determined. Findings – The study identifies the top-ranking factors as: “Difficulty in ensuring data security and protection, ” “Difficulty in ensuring data privacy and confidentiality” and “Limited awareness and understanding of IoT benefits and capabilities.” These factors highlight the challenges to successful IoT implementation in the FM sector. The FM sector could benefit from utilizing IoT while maintaining the security, privacy and effectiveness of building operations by successfully addressing these concerns. A high level of consensus on the ranking of the factors was observed between facilities managers and IoT specialists. This was substantiated by a Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient of 0.79. Originality/value – This study enriches the literature by combining practical insights from facilities managers with technical expertise from IoT specialists on the factors impacting IoT implementation in the Saudi Arabian FM sector. Beyond academic contributions, it provides practical insights for industry professionals, fostering a culture of knowledge-sharing and guiding future research in this field.