Asset management competency requirements in Australian local government: a systematic literature review

Abstract

The objective of this systematic literature review was to investigate the current understanding of the competencies needed by Engineering Asset Management personnel in local authorities within Australia. During the development of the search string for the literature review, it was found that there were no available peer-reviewed articles on Engineering Asset Management competencies through an Australian local authority lens between January 2010 and December 2019 within the searched databases. Based on this, the search string criteria was re-focused onto Engineer Asset Management competencies within Australia (in general), as the new frame. Using this updated string search, the authors searched several databases (EBSCOHost, Informit, Scopus Informit and Web of Science) for research published in English between January 2010 and December 2019 that detailed the competencies deemed necessary for personnel undertaking Engineering Asset Management activities within the Australian context. Additional records were searched for in relation to the topic, from a range of Engineering and Engineering Management Conferences held between 2010 and 2019. Two hundred and thirty publications were identified through database searches, while eight conference proceedings were identified from the additional conference search. These were initially checked for duplicates, and then subjected to the refinement stage against a detailed review criteria, as per the PRISMA framework checklist process. Four articles progressed through the full PRISMA framework process. Further in-depth reviews of the remaining four papers found that one article was principally focused on the Australian Quality Framework (AQF) certification training processes, while the remaining three papers contained data of competency requirements (and example subjects) for Engineering Asset Management personnel within Australia. This data was collated, and through a deductive qualitative content analysis, was coded into three common themes: (1) Technical skills, (2) Professional skills – internally focused and (3) Professional skills – externally focused. The review process undertaken within this research initially showed that there were no papers within the original search frame of Australian local authorities, while the updated search detailed limited available literature within the general Australian context. This highlights an apparent gap within the available literature for the research topic scope during the period within January 2010 and December 2019.