Since the late 1990s, web-based collaboration technologies (´project extranets´) have become increasingly widely used within the UK construction industry and are now routinely deployed on the design and construction of thousands of projects. However, as Sir Michael Latham writes in the book’s foreword:
“… this market is still maturing and has not yet reached the stage when most professionals will have sufficient knowledge to make informed decisions. Anyone working on, or aspiring to work on, major projects will increasingly need to be familiar with these systems and the pros and cons of their use. …
“This is a timely and stimulating book, aimed at industry participants wanting to know more about the construction collaboration technology market in the UK. Industry customers, their advisors, professionals from technician level practitioners at the project work-face up to board-level decision-makers, and students looking to enter the industry, will all find this book enormously informative and interesting. It answers many of the questions commonly asked about the technologies.”
“Having dealt with thousands of queries over the past five years, I was well-placed to provide practical written guidance on the key issues,” says Wilkinson. “I have tried to cut through the hype and jargon, and offer neutral advice on many prospective users’ key concerns. For example, the book looks at how to choose a software provider, key software features, hosting, legal issues, connectivity, achieving user buy-in, and assessing the benefits of the technologies.”
As the UK market leader, BIW has played a key role in raising awareness of the technologies and encouraging their adoption. In December 2003, it was one of the founder members of the Network of Construction Collaboration Technology Providers (NCCTP). Several NCCTP members have contributed screen-shots and other information to the book, and the NCCTP is endorsing the book.
In addition to his work for BIW and the NCCTP, Wilkinson has been writing about construction IT since the late 1990s. He produced numerous case studies for the Construction Best Practice Programme and a guide on website development for Construct IT. He has also contributed technology chapters to books on construction business development and on partnering and collaborative working. Wilkinson has also spoken to many current and future industry professionals at seminars and conferences run by, among others, the Institution of Civil Engineers, CIPFA, the Building Centre Trust, the University of Greenwich, UMIST, the Society of Construction Law, and Ireland’s Construction IT Alliance.
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Notes to editors:
- "Construction Collaboration Technologies: The Extranet Evolution” by Paul Wilkinson is published by Taylor & Francis. Price £65 hardback (ISBN: 0-415-35858-2) or £29.99 paperback (ISBN: 0-415-35859-0). For further details please contact Lucy Steepe at Taylor & Francis by telephone on 020 7017 6143 or by email at lucymarie.steepe@tandf.co.uk.
- Paul Wilkinson is head of corporate communications at BIW Technologies (BIW). He has extensive experience of the professional services sector of the UK construction industry, having joined the marketing department of consulting engineer Halcrow in 1987, while completing a PhD at the London School of Economics (1991). After seven years at Halcrow, Paul spent four years at Tarmac Professional Services (now part of Carillion) before establishing an independent consultancy. His clients included HBG Construction, the Construction Best Practice and IT Construction Best Practice Programmes, the Building Centre Trust and BIW - who he joined in 2000. He has written and spoken extensively on collaboration technologies and related e-business issues.
- Expanding on his book, Paul Wilkinson writes about web-based construction collaboration technologies in his online weblog Extranet Evolution.
- Project collaboration services from BIW Technologies (www.biwtech.com) were first employed in 1999 on UK construction projects for Sainsbury’s. BIW believes it is the European leader in web-based collaboration systems for the construction and property industry, measured by numbers of users, usage and volume of data.
