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Innovation perspectives in construction

Perhaps it is a consequence of the decline in manufacturing as a component of the economy in many countries, but there seems to be a shift in writing about the subject of innovation that increasingly recognizes that there is innovative life outside the factory gates. Increasingly we are seeing – and benefiting from – analyses of the similarities and differences in the way the innovation process operates and the roles played by different actors and networks within innovation system in fields as diverse as banking and healthcare, across public and private domains, and even in the voluntary sector. One growth area has been the field of construction – for a long time considered a Cinderella industry by many and perceived as fragmented, low in skills, poorly coordinated with little learning from or between projects. Clearly this picture no longer applies (if indeed it ever really did) – the sector today has huge economic significance and is a major focus for innovation – especially at the frontiers represented by mega-projects such as or the forthcoming Olympic Games complex in London. And innovation is happening across a broad front – from the deployment of key technologies in simulation, fabrication, assembly and finishing, through the use of an increasingly smart range of materials, to innovative organizational and managerial arrangements around financing, contract management, risk sharing and systems integration. Arguably the industry now contains elements of emerging good practice in innovation management – in areas such as project-to-project learning and development of integrated service offerings – which are influencing the approaches and behaviour of more traditional mainstream players in manufacturing and services.