The usefulness of information technology in design in developing countries: the case of computer aided design (CAD) in Tanzania

This study aimed at assessing how perceived useful is the use of Information Technology (IT) in developing countries could be the reason for influencing the job performance in the context of design focusing only on architectural and engineering firms. The study investigated the level of acceptance, factors affecting adoption and the impact of CEO or managers in relation to the usefulness of IT. Since the design process involves a series of steps such as analysis of loads and determination of member sizes which requires other computer programs, this research is majoring only on Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs. A total of 80 questionnaires were distributed to various architectural and engineering firms with only 70 of them filled and returned back. The analysis was done using SPSS whereby correlation coefficient was adopted for the analysis. The result of study revealed that the above mentioned factors plays major role in determining the usefulness of IT in design. It is the expectations of this research work that, the policy makers, academicians and practitioners will sensitized on the necessity of using IT in design in the work place and accelerating the introduction of CADs to the curriculum of universities and technical schools. Therefore, it is recommended to the government to find a means of subsidizing the cost of investment in IT and the associated infrastructure to realize its benefits to many users.