Technology foresight—what does it mean for structures and buildings research?

摘要

Attempts to identify or prioritize areas of research which would benefit the construction industry in the future have been made by the Institution of Civil Engineers for a number of years. However, with the ever-increasing pace of change, these priority lists have to be updated continually. In this Paper, the different procedures utilized since the inception of the Research and Development Panel are reviewed in the context of structural materials. These are compared and contrasted with those developed using the innovative but systematic approach which is being promoted by the Government. Overall it is felt that, taken as a whole, this new approach has much to commend it, as it is ideally suited to input from all sectors and levels of the profession. The overall objective is to encourage all members of the profession to participate and to contribute their vision/foresight to the development of our national strategy by sending their contributions to the Research and Development Panel.