Welcome to the 39th CIB_W078 International Conference of Information Technology for Construction which this year runs within the CIB World Building Congress 2022 at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. W078 is one of the largest and most active working commissions of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building (CIB). We are confident that you will find this a worthwhile event, not only as a source of acquiring cutting-edge knowledge on topics such as Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twins or Augmented Reality but also as an opportunity to exchange knowledge and establish future collaborations.
We, at RMIT’s School of Property, Construction and Project
Management, are excited to host such significant event. We are experiencing
challenging times in academia, and events such as this one remind us of our
purpose within the institution and in society at large. While universities are
often seen as somewhat closed communities of practice, in-person social academic
conferences such as W078 return us to our purposes for knowledge exchange,
dissemination and engagement with industry and the wider community. A forum for
discussion and debate is fundamental to progress our knowledge, just as the Greeks
did two thousand years ago.
We also like to remind ourselves that in-person conferences
are effective in providing PhD students with access to experts and the opportunity
to test and progress their own ideas. While they may attract criticism, often
that criticism forms the basis for further thought and deeper understanding. We
have made every effort to provide extensive feedback during the double-blind review
process for papers but encourage every presenter to seek more comments during or
after the conference. PhD prizes such as the Professor Charles Eastman Award are
not only there to recognise outstanding individual achievements but are also a
reminder of what PhD students bring to events like this.
Our W078 conference themes for 2022 are no surprise,
Artificial Intelligence, BIM/Digital Twins, Virtual/Augmented Reality and
Blended Learning. All en-vogue themes, and each conference session will
present and discuss them. This accords with our aim that delegates should experience
the full breath of themes, even if attending a single session. Presentations
have also been combined between academics and PhD research students, and
feedback will be encouraged.
Our four-day W078 event will run in one conference room with
no parallel sessions, and this will allow each delegate to fully participate, synchronously.
All W078 presentations have been scheduled for the afternoons allowing delegates
to attend all Congress Plenary sessions and allow a better time-zone alignment for
those attending online. If you are attending either in-person or online, take
advantage of our full Congress program and bookmark all sessions of interest to
you.
I particularly would like to thank our eminent speakers, Dr. Alain Zarli, Dr. Nora El-Gohary, Dr. Paolo Tombesi and Dr. Andrew Maher for their in-kind contribution and in-person attendance to our W078 conference event. I also, would like to thank the CIB_W078 Scientific Committee 2022 and fellow academics for their participation in the double-blind reviewing process. A personal thank you to the CIB_W078 Directive for nominating me as Chair for 2022, and to the CIB_WBC2022 for allowing us to join the Congress. It has been an honour and a pleasure preparing for this event.
Comments
Post a Comment