H-KNOW · Advanced Infrastructure for Knowledge Based Services for Buildings Restoring

Increasing number of complex works in buildings restoration/maintenance urgently requests an advanced and systematic access to the relevant knowledge. A highly promising approach to enable such an access and to foster advancing of construction industry SMEs toward the knowledge organisations are innovative forms of collaborative knowledge&business networks of SMEs and RTD partners. The innovative solutions for (a) collaborative SME-RTD communities for knowledge creation/reusing along the common work, to assure also a bidirectional learning (SMEs from knowledge funds and RTDs, and RTDs from collaborative work and ""tacit-inherited"" SME knowledge), and (b) closer business collaboration among SMEs and RTDs, are needed to assure higher efficiency of the knowledge-based approach spreading, resulting in creation of new full services with a high added value for clients. The project plans to develop ICT solution, suitable for SMEs to include (1) innovative, competitive knowledge and training providing services, and (2) support for realisation of new forms of SME-RTD networking through a specific knowledge integration. SOA-based platform will be developed in which KM services for collection, structuring and reuse of relevant content will be complemented by services for Management of Social Interactions (MSI) for realisation of virtual collaborative networks, and Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). Main innovation is provision for the first time of a holistic, highly harmonised solution to achieve a strategic breakthrough in SME-RTD collaboration in a specific construction industry domain by (1) methodology addressing innovative SME-RTD network models, and methods/procedures for identification, collection and structuring of the specific knowledge for buildings restoration/maintenance, taking care of ecological and energy saving aspects, and (2) SOA platform combining MSI, KM and TEL services. The system will be tested on knowledge collection/reuse in 4 BCs.""