The development of Web-enabled Knowledge­ based (WBK) systems for the South African construction industry

Abstract

It is increasingly obvious that a significant proportion of international Architectural Engineering and Construction (AEC) industries are adopting Web-enabled Knowledge-based (WKB) Product Life Cycle Development (LCD) approaches to meet the needs of the global information economy. The WKB approach is fast becoming the new paradigm for designing client-orientated product development systems. This article examines the status quo of the Life Cycle Development (LCD) process in the construction industry, as well as new approaches, showing its principles, goals and benefits. It also introduces ORBIT, a WKB system, which provides a platform for the implementation of the new approaches and concludes with a presentation of a conceptual model of the system.