TECHNICAL PAPERS
Sep 3, 2009

Dynamic Knowledge-Based Process Integration Portal for Collaborative Construction

Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 136, Issue 3

Abstract

There is a need to support collaborative coordinated construction through the integration of work processes across various stakeholders, disciplines, and projects. Due to the fast-growing complexities of domain-wide coordination and collaboration, coupled with the emerging opportunities of knowledge sharing, a knowledge-based approach is believed to be the way to go. Knowledge-based process integration takes into account explicit and formal semantics (meaning) of processes. It aims at supporting seamless integration of knowledge-carrying processes. This paper presents a prototype collaborative portal for domain-wide process integration. The portal is ontology-based: semantic process representation is enabled through ontologies, and knowledge-based process integration is facilitated through an ontology merger. The portal aims at offering an efficient value-adding collaboration platform through multidimensional process integration for producing a common workflow that goes beyond listing of processes to a knowledge-enabled view. The prototype was evaluated through a focus group.

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Go to Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 136Issue 3March 2010
Pages: 316 - 328

History

Received: Oct 24, 2008
Accepted: Sep 2, 2009
Published online: Sep 3, 2009
Published in print: Mar 2010

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Authors

Affiliations

Nora M. El-Gohary, A.M.ASCE [email protected]
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory, 205 N. Matthews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801 (corresponding author). E-mail: [email protected]
Tamer E. El-Diraby [email protected]
Associate Professor and Director, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Center for Information Systems in Infrastructure and Construction, Univ. of Toronto, 35 St. George St., Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1A4. E-mail: [email protected]

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