ITcon Vol. 11, pg. 669-671, http://www.itcon.org/2006/46

Special issue on information technology in Facilities Management - editorial

submitted:September 2006
published:September 2006
editor(s):Atkin B and Leiringer R
authors:Brian Atkin, Senior Visiting Fellow
Division of Information Systems Science, Department of Management and Organisation
Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsinki, Finland
email: brian@atkin.info

Roine Leiringer, Research Fellow
Innovative Construction Research Centre
School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, Reading, UK
email: r.leiringer@reading.ac.uk
summary:Facilities management (FM) has become a focus of attention for academics and practitioners. The former view it as a rapidly developing field that offers, amongst other things, rich sources of data that can be used to explain or develop new theories about how we manage buildings and other constructed facilities. The latter regard it as an opportunity for business or a means for controlling operational costs, depending on whether there is a primary interest in providing FM services or in procuring them. Common to both is the application of information technology (IT) as a means for obtaining, managing and exploiting data. Since FM is concerned with long term operations, as opposed to the medium term activities associated with the design and construction of the asset, there is both scope and motivation for improvement. Indeed, the concept of continual improvement can be more easily applied to long term, continuous processes than projects.This special issue looks closely at four inter-related aspects of FM: how organisations are being innovative in their practice of FM and the role of IT with that; how they have been able to rationalise operations using the support and efficiencies that IT offers; how new forms of IT are being promoted by housing developers and accepted by occupants; and how one particular technology (RFID) is influencing the way in which we manage data throughout the lifecycle. These four aspects are mirrored in the papers published here.The first of them discusses approaches to innovations in FM and how they differ between in-house and external providers. The second takes a hands-on approach and, from a practitioner perspective, discusses how IT has been used to improve performance in two different settings. The third looks at people’s disposition towards new technologies (exemplified by digital home services). The method by which they are assessed could be adapted for uses in the FM sector. The last is largely a theory-driven paper which discusses implementations of technology that is likely to change significantly how facilities are designed, constructed and managed in the future.
full text: (PDF file, 0.024 MB)
citation:Atkin B and Leiringer R (2006). Special issue on information technology in Facilities Management - editorial, ITcon Vol. 11, Special issue IT in Facility Management, pg. 669-671, https://www.itcon.org/2006/46