Dot.com doubts and confusion about the best ways to exchange information electronically have hampered the adoption of web-based collaboration platforms. A new information exchange protocol, and signs that the technology providers are tackling compatibility issues, should encourage take-up. Over the past five years or so, internet-based construction collaboration technologies, or project extranets, have revolutionised the way in which many architectural practices have communicated with their clients and other project team members. At one time, firms typically printed, copied and then distributing design drawings by post or courier. The advent of email, of course, offered an electronic alternative to the proliferation of paper – drawings could now be disseminated as attachments - but email was not always ideal. Its use could quickly turn into abuse as participants were indiscriminately added to distribution lists, overloading inboxes, requiring disproportionate management, and providing no easy way to store, retrieve, manage or track the interactions between project team members. Particularly for larger projects, web-based collaboration systems, which essentially create a centralised repository for all project information (from drawings and sketches, through photographs, schedules, specifications and minutes of meetings, to transmittals, change orders, requests for information and other process documents), offered a practical alternative, and since 2000, their use has mushroomed. Tens of thousands of industry professionals are now routinely using such systems, but many more have yet to take the plunge. This reluctance could be attributed, among other things, to the absence of clear industry guidance on establishing protocols for data exchange. Also, in a technology sector dominated by so-called dot.com start-ups, there were concerns that users might not be able to switch to an alternative provider if one went bust; architects and other consultants were also concerned that, if working for multiple clients, they might have to use several different systems within their practices. Despite high levels of IT capability across project teams, paper still makes up a large proportion of project communications. Three years ago, the Building Centre Trust identified that effective electronic project information exchange required team members to tackle as early as possible critical issues such as design management rules, CAD standards and common project software platforms. Backed the DTI’s Partners in Innovation scheme, it set about devising guidance to help the client and key members of the project team to make better and more timely decisions on structuring their project information systems so that data could be shared more efficiently. The outcome, a Project Information Exchange (PIX) Protocol guide and toolkit, was launched at the Building Centre in London in March, and its role in boosting team integration was discussed at a workshop the following month. Some architects in the audience at the latter event were pleasantly surprised to learn that, in addition to contributing to the Trust’s new protocol, the technology providers were also developing standards. Addressing industry concerns that data might need to be transferred between systems, the Network of Construction Collaboration Technology Providers is developing data exchange standards to allow, first, bulk transfer and, in due course, routine exchange of information between its member systems. The NCCTP was founded in 2003 by 4Projects, BIW Technologies, BuildOnline, Cadweb, Causeway Technologies and Sarcophagus - with Business Collaborator joining recently – and is managed by CIRIA, the Construction Industry Research and Information Association. It aims to promote the benefits and use of collaboration software in the construction and related industries. “The UK construction industry needs a standard way of working to enable best practice and drive more waste out of the construction process,” said Graham Howarth of Sarcophagus, the network’s first chairman, when it was launched. “The NCCTP will be the driving force to achieve this aim while representing the interests of both users and providers of construction collaboration software.” Rather than raising issues piecemeal with individual technology providers, architects and other professionals (plus the RIBA and other institutions) can now communicate their issues about online collaboration direct to a representative organisation. Through its involvement with the PIX Protocol and its own standards development activities, the NCCTP has already demonstrated that it is listening to some of the concerns raised by many existing and potential users of the systems. It is a welcome sign that the technology and its providers are maturing. Useful links: |
