I have just skimmed through a supplement to this week’s UK trade magazine Contract Journal covering its annual awards event. Working in IT, I turned first to the IT Award page. This year’s winner was the BAA T5 project at London Heathrow Airport, rewarded for its 3D single model environment. Shortlisted in the same category were contractor Taylor Woodrow, for its decision to trial the Avanti approach to collaborative working, and Dean & Dyball Construction, for building a low-budget document-sharing facility using Microsoft SharePoint.
I also noticed that Sir Robert McAlpine got shortlisted in the Major Contractor category, partly for improving communication through "the use of web-based project extranets to improve collaboration between geographically dispersed design-team members".
The recent NCCTP research found that many industry organisations are increasingly adopting collaboration technologies as normal business practice. These examples suggest that extranets not only help businesses win work, they can also help them win competitions and awards.
