EFFECT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY ABUJA – NIGERIA
Authors:
AHMED Aliyu Tanko & ABDULKARIM Riskatu Isyaku
Abstract:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) had to change the way everything is done in the world today and necessitate the adoption of technology. The estate surveyors and valuers are expected to perform their duties diligently to meet the challenges posed by COVID-19 but this is often not achieved due to their attitudes towards the use of information and communications technology (ICT). The objective of the study is to investigate the effect of ICT on the performance of estate surveyors and valuers during COVID-19 pandemic in FCT, Abuja. Data for the work were gathered through a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square was used to test the formulated hypotheses. A population of 1300 respondents and a sample of 306 was drawn using Yamane’s (1967) simplified formulae. The findings showed that access to ICT services negatively affects the performance while reliability and attitude positively affect the performance with statistical significance. The study concluded that if properly managed, ICT has the potential to improve estate surveyors and valuers performance during COVID-19 pandemic in FCT Abuja. In light of these, the study recommended that surveyors and valuers should be trained and furnish on the benefits of ICT to develop a holistic digital framework and migrate their activities to online platforms. Governments should provide an enabling environment for optimum usage of ICT and improve on the awareness campaign to educate the public on Covid-19 pandemic.