Development of information communication technologies in construction project management: The relationship between theory and technology and its application to the construction industry, including a retrospective on the development of technology that demonstrates how theory was altered and how practice was influenced

Theory in IT is generally constrained by technology. Thus, if the theory is not applicable through the state of technology, the theory consequentially adapts or initiates new theories. The objective of this report is to analyse the relation bet ween theory and technology, how the ideas in information communication technology (ICT) and their implementation in construction have evolved. The methodology reviews preceding theory of ICT in construction, compares it to the corresponding technological development and analyses eventual discrepancies between the theory and the practice, in order to identify the limits of progression of innovation and to assess the context of current research development. It is assumed that the theory of ICT has been around since the very beginning of electronic information processing and has not been dramatically influenced by the state of technology. The very few developments that have proven to be dead ends were assimilated or integrated within the general development of technology. Especially in construction, computing has yet changed life in so far, that it has replaced manual tasks. So on the one hand, the construction Industry relies on traditional, antiquated procedures, yet on the other hand with the increasing dependency on the flow of information, the radical spread and speed of telecom munication, the development of multimedia and interactive communication and integrative solutions, ICT has revolutionized communication and the way we live. The impact of the internet, connectivity and mobile technologies are considered, how together with innovative applications, the information flow in construction can be improved for a more reliable decision making process. Now that Internet and mobility is widely established in society and in the conscience of the users, construction is increasingly incorporating ICT. Issues such as information overflow, ownership, compatibility and technical integration remain to be resolved however, the construction industry and its productivity will inevitably benefit from the combined and integrative capabilities of ICT. So once hardware is in place and processing speed sufficient, the software available and interoperable, communication channels sophisticated and the data organized, what comes next Key words: Information Communication Technology (ICT), Theory, History, Construction Project Management, Collaboration Technology