A conceptual model of cloud-based virtual community for BIM innovation and promotion

BIM is a relatively new idea in construction and it requires multi-disciplinary collaboration. In a typical BIM project, project participants from different disciplines need to work together under a collaboration platform for BIM data exchange, communication and cooperation. However, the traditional project-based collaboration platform causes difficulties in diffusion of BIM knowledge and experience for consecutive new projects. This becomes one of the constraints for fast-moving BIM development, particularly in the countries where professional interactions are few and BIM talents are scarce in the market. Social networks have become increasingly attractive in the past decade and they enable people to build and sustain relationships for certain purposes. Thus, effective networking is ideal for involving BIM talents together and it is an entirely new perspective in BIM development and promotion by establishing a virtual community. A conceptual model was developed in this study and it demonstrates an innovative solution that integrates professional networks with traditional BIM collaboration platforms. BIM talents who engage in the proposed virtual community are encouraged for sharing knowledge between network members. The results show that the virtual community can foster construction innovation and generate new idea that can enhance the performance of BIM implementation and achieve knowledge diffusion to other BIM projects. Moreover, the virtual community assembles construction professionals from worldwide and develops a talent pool that facilitates recruitment of BIM talents. Additionally, the cloud-based platform of the virtual community develops an integrative hub that can store, share and manage all BIM issues in an easy and efficient way. The key objective of this study is to investigate alternative solutions to achieve BIM innovation and wider BIM adoption in the construction industry.