WHAT IS CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

WHAT IS CONSTRUCTION INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ABSTRACT

Information technology is a rather new field of science with somehow unclear scope, area and re-search framework. Often, developments in the industry, particularly in the Internet economy are faster than the scientific research. Construction IT is influenced by the push of computer science and technology pull of core civil engineering disciplines and therefore lacking a clear identity of its own. At least three groups of researchers in the world are tightly associated with it - the CIB’s W78, IABSE WC6 and the ASCE commission on IT. The author is tightly involved with the first two. In the paper, he presents a conceptual framework that can be used to define this discipline, its research issues, and can assist in structuring topics of the curricula. He claims that in order to un-derstand the scope of information technology in construction, human activities must be well un-derstood first. The presented framework is based on a combination of speech-act and process ori-ented view on engineering. A refocusing of research issues is suggested, based on 20th century phi-losophy, theory of science and education.