The investigators develop the technological backbone to facilitate the creation of a virtual community of construction scholars. The virtual community concept allows construction scholars to share their expertise with other academics and to create a greater synergy to advance construction research and education. This web-centric virtual community includes a robust source of information pertaining to each construction scholar (e.g., contact information, researcher background, interests, funding agencies with titles and project summaries, and links to sample publications). In a virtual community such as this, it is easier for researchers to identify others that share similar interests and promote collaborative research opportunities such as publishing papers and working on proposals together. The technological architecture includes open source applications such as mySQL, PHP, and phpBB. In summary, the main objectives of this project are to: 1) create a dynamic web site to support collaborative activities among members of the Construction Research Council, 2) promote the formation of virtual teams among researchers with similar interests, 3) promote the exchange of ideas among construction scholars, 4) showcase the work of Ph.D. candidates who are interested in joining the construction academic community, 5) provide an avenue for the construction industry to learn about academic research and its practical applications, 6) provide an avenue for funding agencies to identify experts in different areas who may serve those agencies in a variety of capacities including national committees and peer review activities, and 7) serve as a pilot implementation that could be extended in the future to include other ASCE Institutes such as the Structural Engineering Institute and the Geo-Institute.
The construction industry, by its nature, is fragmented due to the large numbers of subcontractors, material suppliers, insurance agents, design firms, lending institutions, owner organizations, and construction researchers. Any effort to provide greater synergy between and among these groups has a significant impact on advancing knowledge and promoting best practices to the construction industry. Construction researchers have produced a significant body of knowledge in areas such as information technology, construction materials, civil infrastructure, and environmental issues among others. This knowledge needs to be shared with others in the industry. This project is a first of its kind in terms of the scope and level of collaboration with industry and government to create such an information source for the construction industry. To ensure its success, the research team works in collaboration with the Construction Institute (CI) to provide the most useful product for the industry. The CI is interested in helping industry practitioners solve problems using the expertise of construction researchers. For example, if a construction firm is experiencing jobsite safety concerns, this web-community will help the company identify experienced researchers in the area of construction safety who can share valuable insights related to mitigating these problems. The synergy provided by this virtual community of scholars helps in advancing the discovery and understanding of construction research and promoting teaching, training, and learning. It can also provide greater synergy between researchers who are considered underrepresented and ones who are not by virtue of knowing who is interested in doing what research.
