Digital library of construction informatics and information technology in civil engineering and construction
Digital library
Paper: w78-2001-26
| Paper title: | Social architecture for sustainable IT implementation in AEC |
| Authors: | Songer A D, Young R, Davis K |
| Summary: | As the impact of emerging technologies such as 3D visualization, animation, virtual reality, e-commerce, and project specific web sites are revolutionizing global markets into an era of the new economy, the engineering and construction industry must re-invent itself to meet the increasing owner demands of high performance. Owner organizations are requiring the engineering/construction industry to perform at extraordinary levels of project delivery (Songer et. al. 2000). Advances in project delivery systems and information technologies provide tremendous potential for enhancing the engineering and construction industry's overall performance. However, the majority of industry participants have been slow to embrace the use of new technologies to enhance project performance to desired levels. Appropriate implementation of information technologies is a key focus area that must be addressed by the AEC industry. One reason for the difficulty of implementing IT is the misalignment of current organizational structures and cultures with IT models for integrated, collaborative work environments. The AEC industry is largely decentralized, composed of separate organizations, which must participate together on a project by project basis. The multi-participant, multi-organizational framework is a significant barrier to implementing IT in the industry. Nevertheless, the collaborative paradigm essential for IT implementation remains largely unexplored. In particular, the social architecture of organizations relative to implementing advanced technologies into a collaborative, IT driven paradigm must be more fully understood prior to sustainable change occurring in the AEC industry. This paper provides results of a case study which investigates existing social architectures of AEC organizations in the new economy, identifies barriers for IT implementation across organizational boundaries, and suggests new models of organization which encourage integration and collaboration. |
| Type: | |
| Year of publication: | 2001 |
| Series: | w78:2001 |
| ISSN: | 2706-6568 |
| Download paper: | /pdfs/w78-2001-26.content.pdf |
| Citation: | Songer A D, Young R, Davis K (2001). Social architecture for sustainable IT implementation in AEC. Coetzee G, Boshoff F (ed.); IT in construction in Africa 2001; Mpumalunga, 30 May - 1 June, South Africa; ISBN 0-7988-5531-2 (ISSN: 2706-6568), http://itc.scix.net/paper/w78-2001-26 |
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