Advances and challenges in computing in civil and building engineering

This paper provides an overview of the advances presented in the manuscripts included in this issue. The authors of these manuscripts were asked to propose future directions and challenges in their respective research areas. This paper summarises these proposals and concludes with general directions and challenges related to computing in civil and building engineering. The suggested directions include enhancing digital information modelling and extending the standardised product and process modelling technologies; improving decision-support capabilities and decision-implication analysis through integrating wider-aspects of the problem space; embedding optimisation techniques more holistically; and integrating all of these by making more use of virtualisation in an attempt to simplify the use of the output technologies. The challenges that will arise as a consequence will inevitably include reducing the inherent complexity in such a manner that the resulting models are both realistic and useable by all of the disciplines involved. Another main challenge is the inclusion of concepts that are significant but less readily formalised than traditional engineering ones. It could be argued that the high-level directions and challenges mentioned above are not very different from those that could have been predicted a considerable number of years ago. However, it is worth stressing that, with increased capabilities and reach of information technologies and greater expectations of decision makers, the current ambitions are an order of magnitude greater. The proposed directions and the resulting challenges are now much greater in both scale and breadth. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.