BACKGROUND AND SCOPE

The construction activity is continuously facing new demands and pressures. The impact of globalization, the advance of technology and the cultural changes are just a few of the issues that are affecting the industry. Hence, the construction industry around the world, both in developed and developing countries are facing the challenges created by these issues. The identification of the issues more critical for developing countries would help to make the research efforts to address them more effective.
This forum will bring people from these two groups of countries to discuss these issues and propose ways to address them. We also see this meeting as an opportunity to exchange experiences, knowledge and ideas in front of these issues and, hopefully, to create research initiatives that would join researchers from both, developed and developing countries, to address needs that would benefit from the contribution of both perspectives.

DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE CHILE, EDIFICIO SAN AGUSTIN, 3er. PISO, VICUÑA MACKENNA 4860, SANTIAGO, CHILE. Alfredo Serpell (aserpell@ing.puc.cl) or Karin Plass (kplass@dictuc.cl )

The objectives of the CIB W107 2006 symposium are as follows:
- To explore and discuss about new issues and priorities that concern the construction industry in developing countries.
- To explore and discuss how developing countries should address these challenges, what can they learn from developed countries and how to get their cooperation to carry out joint efforts.
- To present and demonstrate how research and innovation can be used to help companies and countries to address current and future demands.