M. Wetherill

Computer integrated construction: A review and proposals for future direction

We present a review of the computer integrated construction (CIC) research space spanning approximately 20 years. This review reveals a strong focus on data and application integration for most of that time. We argue that whilst valuable in its own right, such research and the software solutions it yields fall short of the potential for CIC, giving our rationale for these beliefs. Thus we propose a re-focussing of CIC research on the relatively under-represented area of semantically described and coordinated process oriented systems to better support the kind of short term virtual organisation that typifies the working environment in the construction sector. Finally we present an outline vision for such a system, supported by a generic system architecture and a simple business model for its deployment, noting opportunities for future work in its realisation.

Past, present and future of information and knowledge sharing in the construction industry: Towards semantic service-based e-construction?

The paper reviews product data technology initiatives in the construction sector and provides a synthesis of related ICT industry needs. A comparison between (a) the data centric characteristics of Product Data Technology (PDT) and (b) ontology with a focus on semantics, is given, highlighting the pros and cons of each approach. The paper advocates the migration from data-centric application integration to ontology-based business process support, and proposes inter-enterprise collaboration architectures and frameworks based on semantic services, underpinned by ontology-based knowledge structures. The paper discusses the main reasons behind the low industry take up of product data technology, and proposes a preliminary roadmap for the wide industry diffusion of the proposed approach. In this respect, the paper stresses the value of adopting alliance-based modes of operation.

Activity awareness as an enabler for communication and network building in construction design teams

The paper reports on ongoing research into the facilitation of communication in distributed design teams of the type typically encountered in the construction sector. Ideas around social aspects in such design teams are discussed followed by our previous research efforts as an evolutionary process that has led us to develop in this direction. It is argued that facilitating timely and contextually grounded communication in a distributed environment can help to build the social networks and associated social capital common in collocated design teams but often absent in distributed ones. We describe our framework for providing such facilitation through monitoring and awareness of the information “space” of a construction project. We believe that by leveraging the relationships in the information space, we can go some way to identifying those individuals who would benefit from developing interpersonal relations in their work and further by exploiting those relationships in real time we can accelerate the formation of personal social networks and social capital between those individuals.