European research for smart organisations – a winning formula?

The problems associated with the European construction industry, fragmentation, poor processes, etc, have been well documented, particularly in the UK through Egan. ( Egan 1998 ) The sheer size of the industry, over 8% of GDP in Europe alone, combined with the fact that many of the organisations working within the sector are SME’s means that these problems are often difficult to overcome. A possible solution would mean a change to the methods of work, through the more prominent use of virtual organizations, where the methods used have been evolving for decades. The migration from partnering to virtual/smart organisations has been, and still is, the challenge for European academia & research organisations. The use of information & communication technologies will increasingly play a part in the adaptation of construction organisations abilities to participate within smart organisations. The effect that European research has on this participation is the focus of the paper.