I’m really excited about the possibility of going to be2camp in London in October. It’s only an idea at this stage, but I would love to see it happen and it would be even better if it can happen whilst I’m in London as I would love to be involved and even speak at this event.
Be2camp is about Web 2.0 in the Built Environment, that is using the latest internet tools and technologies for the construction (and related) industries. I have posted here previously about Enterprise 2.0 (using Web 2.0 technologies behind the corporate firewall) and how it’s about the people not the technology, and I’ve also posted here previously about ProjectCentre, the internet based construction collaboration software that I work on. I believe all construction collaboration tools are by their very nature, web 2.0 tools.
Unconferences such as this are great and are about getting the community involved and talking (and a lot of drinking too) and sharing ideas. The construction industry needs to start getting an handle on this Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 stuff and as my background is in both Construction and IT and I’m passionate about all things Web 2.0 this is a fantastic melding of everything I do.
Educating the construction industry about the new ways of working on the internet (or even just using computers) is a big task but we have to do it otherwise the industry will be left behind. The days of a fax machine and a mobile phone being the main technology in the site office are long gone. However, in Australia we are still just struggling with the basics of getting a decent broadband connection on site, especially in regional areas. Then there is educating people that when you are uploading or downloading 100’s of drawing’s it’s not cool to also be listening to streaming radio or watching YouTube on a max 512k down / 128k up connection, whilst 6 other people in the site office are trying to work too. (Sorry, I could go on about this stuff for a while).
So it’s going to be an interesting ride ahead, and it’s something that I am very passionate about and I’m going to start hassling a few of my excellent geek friends over the coming weeks to get some great stuff together for a presentation at be2camp. And I hope I will blog about it a bit more over the coming weeks too.
Hi Jodie (and Pam!) – thanks for blogging and commenting on this event and spreading the word.
This could grow to something big, or hopefully be the start of something big that starts to shape the future for web2 in the built environment.
Reliability and speeds of broadband remain a problem here too. Which is why twitter is so good – working as it does on a number of platforms (pc, mobile txt)
Really looking forward to your contributions to this. I plan a library of papers, articles, case studies to go up on the wiki very soon. Jodie – using your experience of barcamps etc, is this wiki the best tool, or what would you advise?
Rgds
Thanks for that Pam, it’s good to know that Australia is not the only place that is left behind in the roll out of good quality reasonably priced broadband to the whole population.
I hope you will be able to make it to London for the be2camp too.
Jodie,
I am really excited too about the be2camp. I see so many ways in which Web 2.0 can enhance the construction industry, but I also realize as you say that we have so many obstacles to overcome on the way. We are only 100 miles from Chicago, and although we had excellent broadband service over the last few years, Comcast recently took over and now our service is completely unreliable. Securing a fast and reliable internet service is really the foundation needed to move us forward.
And you are right about educating the industry in the use of this technology. Now that I have seen a glimpse of the future, I continue to see new ways in which these developments can be used to enhance the delivery of construction services. The barcamp is a great way to at least get people talking about it.