[2] The phrase was taken on in the UK as it was preferred to the then commonly used term 'project extranet' which was felt might exclude use of the platforms for multi-project programmes of work, or for post-construction collaboration - e.g.: for facilities management.
[3] It also supported progressive moves within the UK construction industry to promote more collaborative or integrated approaches following the 1994 Latham and 1998 Egan Reports.
This is typically drawn from multiple companies, all based in different locations with their own IT systems, and is brought together – usually temporarily – to plan, design, construct and, in some cases, to operate and maintain the resulting built asset.
Construction collaboration technologies replace localised sets of data held by individual team members or companies.
A centralised repository or data store is created that can be accessed by all authorised team members, usually using a lowest common denominator technology: a computer equipped with a web browser and a telecommunications link to the internet.