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Effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is necessary for delivering efficiency and improved project delivery in the construction industry. Convincing clients or contracting organisations to embrace ICT is a difficult task, there are few templates of an ICT business model for the industry to use. ICT application in the construction industry is relatively low compared to automotive and aerospace industries. The National Museum of Australia project provides a unique opportunity for investigating and reporting on this deficiency in publicly available knowledge. Concentrates on the business model content and objectives, briefly indicates the evaluation framework that was used to evaluate ICT effectiveness.

The government plays a critical role in driving building information modeling (BIM) implementation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the government efforts for driving BIM implementation in three benchmark countries, namely, Singapore, the UK and the US, so as to develop appropriate roadmaps for increasing BIM implementations in other countries.

This study performs a review on the government efforts and roles in BIM implementation in three benchmark countries, namely, Singapore, the UK and the US.

Through cross comparison with existing literature, it is found that Singapore and the UK adopt a government-driven approach and a phase-by-phase development pattern is observed. The first phase focuses on the building sector to rapidly increase the use of BIM and the government generally plays the role of an initiator. In the second phase, BIM is expanded to other implementation areas, e.g. smart city. The importance of the initiator role decreases and more attention is paid to supporting roles such as researcher, educator and regulator. In contrast, an industry-driven approach is adopted in the US. The main role of the government is that of a regulator, with research institutions actively supporting the BIM implementation.

General roadmaps of the two mandating approaches are presented. The results can provide a useful reference for countries and regions that intend to develop roadmaps to increase their BIM maturity level and enhance readiness to accept and implement BIM.

This study is one of the first studies that investigate the step-by-step roadmaps for implementing BIM from the perspective of changing government roles.

Significant differences between project partnering and project alliancing occur in the selection process, management structure of the organisations undertaking the project and nature of risk and reward incentives. This paper helps clarify the nature of project alliancing and how alliance member organisations were selected for this case study. A core issue that differentiates between the two approaches is that in partnering, partners may reap rewards at the expense of other partners. In alliancing each alliance member places their profit margin and reward structure “at risk”. Thus in alliancing, the entire alliance entity either benefits together or not all. This fundamentally changes the motivation and dynamics of the relationship between alliance members.

When I contemplate the development of policy for post‐secondary education, I am reminded of one of the least pleasant popular songs of the past two decades: the one which asked plaintively “What's it all about, Alfie?”, and was sung by a lady who sounded to me as if she were being slowly strangled while suffering from severe constipation. I am beginning to manifest the same symptoms myself — although it is my thought processes rather than my voice which they affect. For our problems seem never to come any nearer resolution. Perhaps indeed they cannot, until we have had a General Election. But if that goes wrong (from my point of view), I doubt if we shall be any further forward. One has only to contemplate the statements of Mark Carlisle, the Tory education spokesman, to justify those doubts: they are urbane and soothing, but unhappily vacuous. His back‐up man Dr. Keith Hampson is far from mentally constipated; he seems quite unable to control a constant flow of half‐digested views and nostrums about higher education, while neglecting totally the 16–19 year olds.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss potential applications of emerging Building Information Model (BIM) and related technologies as applied to healthcare facilities. The paper presents example of applications of digital tools enabled by BIM that support more integrated outcomes for complex healthcare projects.

Paper formulation by a transdisciplinary author group with ideas and approaches developed through discussions and writing to explore future research directions. Initial ideas are supplemented by a literature review with examples introduced where relevant.

BIM as a front-end construction engineering tool is quite mature. Application of BIM and related tools to support complex healthcare at the precinct scale, for facilities management (FM), including improved user experience (UX) has been limited but shows great promise to support complex healthcare projects.

The research presented is limited and exploratory as it represents the first step by this group to investigate an integrated approach to digital healthcare design and FM.

The paper introduces the considerable benefits of BIM models, and related tools for FM and/or UX (both staff and patients) to save time, money and improves efficiency and accuracy in healthcare facilities.

The transdisciplinary author group brought broad perspectives to the potential benefits of combining accurate data-rich legacy building models with other digital tools for increased integration and co-ordination at all life stages of a healthcare precinct.

Most barriers and enablers of sustainable projects are related to procurement. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for evaluating green procurement practices throughout the lifecycle of road construction projects and demonstrates its application through an Australian case study.

The study is based on linking the phases of road construction with incentive mechanisms for proactively motivating behavioural change. A holistic view on utilised and potential incentives is attempted with a literature review and a state-of-practice review. The latter is based on interviews and 90 policy and procurement documents across five Australian states.

An evaluation framework with seven procurement stages is suggested to describe current state green procurement incentives throughout the delivery lifecycle of road construction projects. The Australian case study was found to provide useful data to identify gaps and strong points of the different states regarding their level of integration of sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction elements in their procurement practices. This understanding was used to draw recommendations on future advancement of green procurement.

Government entities across the globe can impact considerably the achievement of sustainability and GHG targets, by using their procurement practices and requirements to create incentives for contractors and suppliers to engage in more GHG conscious practices. The present study provides a systematic account of how green procurement practices can be underpinned using the Australian road construction industry as a case study, and distinguish between strong and weak links in the green procurement chain to draw recommendations for future initiatives.

Do you think anyone still remembers the so‐called Ruskin speech? We are a bit more conscious of the need to improve maths teaching, but what has happened to that new dawn in which the schools lead Britain's industrial regeneration?

Welcome though it is to have an attempt at fitting together the various bits of the educational jigsaw, with a try at least to establishing a coherent philosophy, the Green Paper has to be roundly criticised for stopping short at precisely the wrong point. By focusing on the schools, it is in fact positively harmful. It distracts attention from where it should be focused most: namely the antithesis between education and training, which has for so long bedevilled the educational structure of this country; the existence of which has, moreover, led successive Ministers and their officials to accord low standing and little thought to further education.

I would not want to argue that there should be any attempt to match the content of education precisely to manpower needs; it cannot be done. But breaking down the isolation of education for the world outside would be worthwhile, and the relationship of further and higher education with industry should be closer that it is at present. It is not that difficult for a businessman to identify an appropriate department in a university, or to find out who in particular might be able to help with a problem. But the reverse process is infinitely more complicated and difficult. Many lecturers in FHE have established good if somewhat limited contacts, but one simply cannot expect them all to have the time or inclination. So why not see whether it is practicable to establish a contact point?