Davidson, C H (2001) Technology watch in the construction sector: Why and how? Building Research & Information, 29(3), pp. 233-241. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
'Technology watch', like 'innovation', is a process term. Large corporations in high-tech industries use technology watch regularly to facilitate the adoption of innovations, where it is associated with parallel 'watch' activities in social, legal and environmental areas. The information (yielded by technology watch) is either unrefined to give it added value for decision making. The technology watch process involves steps of collection, analysis and dissemination, implicating a watch team and domain experts. In small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly in the construction sector, special problems arise because of the lack of interest in innovation and because of the shortage of resources, suggesting the creation of 'relay stations' in the technology watch process. Current changes in the organization of the construction process, however, are changing the industry's structure, suggesting that there may be a new need for the kinds of information that technology watch can provide.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | innovation; public policy; r & d; smes; technology transfer; technology watch |
| Index terms: | added value, technology transfer, construction sector, public policy, dissemination, construction process, decision-making |
| Subjects: | knowledge translation, building construction, decision analysis, industry analysis, public policy, economic analysis, knowledge management |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Governance, Risk Management, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here