An Architecture for Knowledge Management in the AEC Industry

摘要

The ability to capture important information and transform it into useful knowledge is critical tothe successful operation of organizations within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction(AEC) Industry. Recent developments in information technology allow organizations to capture,store, analyze and retrieve information in ways that were not possible five or ten years ago.Examples of these technologies include data mining, advanced decision support tools, intranets,and decision indexing. To gain full benefit from these advanced information technologies,standardized methods need to be developed to capture, store and manage knowledge within theindustry.This paper presents the progress toward the development of a detailed information architecturefor structuring the knowledge and information that organizations within the AEC industry cancapture, analyze, and retrieve. This information architecture includes a breakdown of knowledgerelated to projects (physical facility, processes and environment), other organizations, contracts,and the organization’s environment.The goal of this research effort is to develop a standard format for organizational knowledgewithin the AEC industry. This will allow companies to create standardized applications to shareknowledge within an organization and between organizations. Many challenges exist in thedevelopment and implementation of a standard information model to meet this goal. The paperwill present the initial progress toward the model development and future research plans. Adiscussion of the challenges related to the model development and implementation are alsoaddressed.