Future of the NCCTP - update
Representatives of 4Projects, Aconex, BIW (me!), Business Collaborator, Causeway and Sarcophagus met today in the upstairs room of a pub (fittingly, perhaps, The Phoenix) in London's Victoria to discuss the future of the NCCTP, the UK construction collaboration technology providers association. It was a lively session, due in no small part to the talents of facilitator Canute Simpson, from Constructing Excellence, and covered a lot of ground in four hours (Asite sent apologies and CE's Karl Williams contributed on its behalf; Cadweb, once again, failed to respond in any way).
Initial opinions about the role and activities of the NCCTP varied from a somewhat extreme "website presence only" perspective right through to reinvigoration of the NCCTP technical standard and more proactive input from Constructing Excellence. So it was no surprise, perhaps, that the action plan fell somewhere in the middle.
While some members were dismissive of the value of the NCCTP's (still somewhat rudimentary) data exchange standard, others argued vigorously that such system interoperability was the core deliverable most desired by vendors' customers. As a result, renewed effort is to be applied to get all members' core applications to comply with the latest version of the import/export standard. A drive to market the NCCTP more internationally was agreed, along with some more specific marketing campaigns and a parallel campaign to capitalise upon the NCCTP's position within Constructing Excellence - after all, the UK AEC industry's main membership organisation concerned with promoting collaborative working.
The technical standard group is due to meet in the next month or so, with the main steering group scheduled to meet again in early July.
