Academe—Industry Collaboration through the Experience of a Construction IT Membership-Based Network

Abstract

Traditionally, the construction industry has been renowned for its deep fragmentation, with various stakeholders and disciplines brought together as virtual teams, in many instances for one-off projects. In addition, the industry is extremely information-intensive and document-driven. Such traits have been major contributors to the poor performance and inefficiency of the construction industry. For the last 30 years researchers have focused attention on the field of construction-related information technology with a view to improving industrial performance through the innovative application of information and communications technologies (ICT). In addition, in the mid-1990s member-based network organizations emerged, which aimed to bring together the various industry stakeholders in a neutral environment so that they could identify common problems and propose pragmatic ways of addressing them. Construct IT For Business (CIT) is an international industry-led collaborative network of leading-edge construction organizations. In the UK, CIT has a membership of over 50 organizations, including major construction companies, client organizations, suppliers and IT and communications companies, as well as professional institutes and R&D and academic institutions. This paper addresses the impact of CIT and the key challenges it has encountered in pursuing its objectives, derived from its mission ‘to be an effective enabling and coordinating force in the application of IT within the construction process as a contribution to innovation and development of best practice’. It is concluded that the needs of the industry are diverse and can be served in various ways but that there is a strong desire to network, fuelled by firms' needs to be aware of IT developments and specifically of the likely future applications of IT in construction.