Construction informatics in Turkey: strategic role of ICT and future research directions

Construction Informatics deals with subjects ranging from strategic management of ICTs to interoperability and information integration in the construction industry. Studies on defining research directions for Construction Informatics have a history over 20 years. The recent studies in the area highlight the priority themes for Construction Informatics research as interoperability, collaboration support, intelligent sites and knowledge sharing. In parallel, today it is widely accepted in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry that ICT is becoming a strategic asset for any organisation to deliver business improvement and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, traditionally the AEC industry has approached investing in ICT with a lack of strategic focus and low level of priority to the business. This paper presents a recent study from Turkey that is focused on two themes. The first theme investigates the strategic role of ICT implementations from an industrial perspective, and explores if organisations within the AEC industry view ICT as a strategic resource for their business practice. The second theme investigates the ‘perspective of academia’ in terms of future research directions of Construction Informatics. The results of the industrial study indicates that ICT is seen as a value-adding resource, but a shift towards the recognition of the importance of ICT in terms of value adding in winning work and achieving strategic competitive advantage is observed. On the other hand, ICT Training is found to be the theme of highest priority from the academia point of view

Construction informatics in Turkey: strategic role of ICT and future research directions

Construction Informatics deals with subjects ranging from strategic management of ICTs to interoperability and information integration in the construction industry. Studies on defining research directions for Construction Informatics have a history over 20 years. The recent studies in the area highlight the priority themes for Construction Informatics research as interoperability, collaboration support, intelligent sites and knowledge sharing. In parallel, today it is widely accepted in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry that ICT is becoming a strategic asset for any organisation to deliver business improvement and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, traditionally the AEC industry has approached investing in ICT with a lack of strategic focus and low level of priority to the business. This paper presents a recent study from Turkey that is focused on two themes. The first theme investigates the strategic role of ICT implementations from an industrial perspective, and explores if organisations within the AEC industry view ICT as a strategic resource for their business practice. The second theme investigates the ‘perspective of academia’ in terms of future research directions of Construction Informatics. The results of the industrial study indicates that ICT is seen as a value-adding resource, but a shift towards the recognition of the importance of ICT in terms of value adding in winning work and achieving strategic competitive advantage is observed. On the other hand, ICT Training is found to be the theme of highest priority from the academia point of view

Digital Preservation Services : State of the Art Analysis

Research report funded by the DC-NET project.An overview of the state of the art in service provision for digital preservation and curation. Its focus is on the areas where bridging the gaps is needed between e-Infrastructures and efficient and forward-looking digital preservation services. Based on a desktop study and a rapid analysis of some 190 currently available tools and services for digital preservation, the deliverable provides a high-level view on the range of instruments currently on offer to support various functions within a preservation system.European Commission, FP7peer-reviewe

Toward Understanding Enterprise Architecture Management’s Role in Strategic Change: Antecedents, Processes, Outcomes

As organizations face accelerated economic dynamics, it isincreasingly important to improve the capability of reacting agileto changes in the marketplace. This requires implementing andadapting internal structures in a timely manner and ensuringbusiness-IT coordination throughout the process. Enterprisearchitecture management (EAM) is frequently proposed as a meanto arrive at organizational forms that allow for timelyreconfiguration and to guide strategy-aligned change. Thisexplorative study seeks to contribute to an overall understandingof EAM’s application in strategic change processes. It is based onan in-depth content analysis of existing research in the field.Specifically, it identifies common EAM practices that have beensuggested for application throughout the planning andimplementation of strategic change. Furthermore, it revealsantecedents and outcomes of this application. The articlediscusses these findings in detail and summarizes the results in apreliminary process model of applying EAM for agile strategicchange

Adaptive Enterprises: Interweaving People Process and Technology

Today’s world is a complex interconnected environment where interconnected enterprises participate in global business. The global business world is characterised by rapid and unpredictable change that results in enterprises being challenged at all levels. Customers, employees, partners, investors and society are all sources of uncertainty. Traditional deliberate strategies based on cycles of stability and predictability are no longer relevant for today\u27s business environments. Emergent strategies have been advocated by many as the solution. However the thesis of this research is that enterprises need to interweave the deliberate with the emergent. A review of current research and industry literature suggests large gaps exist in terms of strategies, processes, structures, and information systems that intrinsically, fundamentally, and seamlessly interweave the deliberate and emergent aspects to support adaptive enterprises. In this thesis we investigate and propose how this interweaving of the deliberate with the emergent could be conceived and realised in terms of strategy, business processes, organisational structures, and information systems. The research is interdisciplinary in nature and spans management, operations, and information systems

Collaborative environment to support a professional community

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e de ComputadoresRecent manufacturing roadmaps stress current production systems limitations, emphasizing social, economic and ecologic consequences for Europe of a non-evolution to sustainable Production Systems. Hence, both academic institutions and enterprises are committed to develop solutions that would endow enterprises to survive in nowadays’ extremely competitive business environment. A research effort is being carried on by the Evolvable Production Systems consortium towards attaining Production Systems that can cope with current technological, economical, ecological and social demands fulfilling recent roadmaps. Nevertheless research success depends on attaining consensus in the scientific community and therefore an accurate critical mass support is required in the whole process. The main goal of this thesis is the development of a Collaborative Environment Tool to assist Evolvable Production Systems consortium in such research efforts and to enhance Evolvable Assembly Systems paradigm dissemination. This work resulted in EASET (Evolvable Assembly Systems Environment Tool), a collaborative environment tool which promotes EAS dissemination and brings forth improvements through the raise of critical mass and collaboration between entities