An architect saw a groupware demo for the first time at the Aspen Design Conference in June 1995 and had a vision about how such a tool could be used to wire the AEC industry. Turmoil in the industry over project delivery could be mitigated by an electronic tool which would create a common fabric under project delivery. In order for the solution to be accepted and widely adopted the new tool would have to respect all business-to-business issues, which would effectively take the groupware paradigm to the next level: inter-enterprise.

Seeking to stimulate a standards activity that would foster development of the new electronic paradigm, the ideas were written up in October 1995 in a paper entitled Construction Team On-line, Work Flow Automation for the Construction Industry, Development of a Standardized Desktop Interface for the Virtual Workplace. Considering a commercial venture potentially more effective than a standards activity, Novi Mundi Corporation was formed in January 1996.

The Novi Mundi working prototype of the virtual workplace was introduced at the AEC Systems show in June 1996. The prototype contained an integrated shared document repository with viewers and file transfer protocol, search engine, groupware and e-mail. It was implemented with Internet technology, Netscape Secure Commerce Server, Perl scripts and Java applets. A lot of interest was evident from architects, engineers and contractors. Many of the ideas in these prototypes have since appeared in various project web site businesses.

After June 1996, Novi Mundi went on supporting limited trials. However, as a part time activity of the founders, Novi Mundi has not attracted the necessary entrepreneurial team spanning two very different cultures, high tech and AEC (a fragmented industry to begin with). Interest has continued, nurtured by the response to Novi Mundi ideas presented in a number of speaking engagements and panel discussions. Novi Mundi has become a chimera in the industry. People would like to believe that someday the "real" Novi Mundi product will become available.

This summer Novi Mundi Corporation put together a product brief for the "real" Novi Mundi product. Architects, engineers and contractors are encouraged to have a look at the product brief so that as a community we can influence the marketplace in the direction of meeting the needs of our industry.

Everything that we have ever talked about is wrapped into the design of the Novi Mundi graphical user interface design and performance specification. What Photoshop is to manipulating numerous images simultaneously Novi Mundi Chain of Contract is to manipulating large document flows and issues. The most exciting part about putting together the product brief was the surprise of a completely new idea about how to do workflow for knowledge workers. The idea appeared while we were struggling with the design of "set-up". If properly implemented the idea could become an Internet standard for Business-to-Business Workflow/E-Commerce.

Everyone involved with Novi Mundi has a day job in design and/or construction. We have confidence in Novi Mundi ideas, but not in our capacity to get a robust high-tech venture off the ground. A product based on the Novi Mundi product brief would be the ideal electronic platform for project delivery and would have major benefits for the AEC industry. However, its implementation is likely to involve a high tech development team, a software products business, a service business and an AEC distribution channel. Having a performance specification for the solution can take us places. We invite MIS directors, Internet start-ups and software developers to use the ideas in the product brief to build robust solutions.

BACKGROUND ON THE AEC INDUSTRY

AEC (Architecture Engineering and Construction) is a large vertical market comprised of many small companies that come together as distributed teams assembled on a project by project basis. Construction in the United States alone is a $500 billion industry.

Development and adoption of computer tools for AEC has seemed slow. Only within the last five to ten years has CAD made deep inroads into AEC. This was possible because consumer priced computers finally had the necessary computing power and because large format inkjet plotters became available for under $5,000. Win 95 straight-out-of-the-box networking has made LANs affordable for the small 5 to 10 person firm. Large design firms, 60 to 150 people have had LANs for a decade but are still running Windows 3.1 which does not support robust multi-tasking. Most companies have or are getting in-house e-mail. Companies are sending drawings as e-mail attachments and are using BBS and the web for file transfer. Most firms have yet to consider the quality of the office Internet connection.

Extensive use of new electronic communication tools has not become universal because these tools do not take into account inter-enterprise issues in an adversarial and litigious environment with thin profit margins. The industry however is ready for change. This most recent recession was in fact a depression in the construction industry. Many businesses closed their doors. The industry is seeing compaction and consolidation and has recognized the need to use whatever new information technology tools that are available to be competitive. The industry is also going global. Another trend has been the change in the structure of construction companies. Construction firms used to maintain a large staff of skilled craftsmen in a number of trades, primarily carpenters and laborers. These days construction firms are primarily brokers with all work being performed by subcontractors. At a typical project site the only individuals employed by the construction company are the superintendent, the project manager,perhaps a helper or two.

Chain of Contract is a communications and information management tool for the AEC Industry. It is a product for distributed teams that will make efficient use of new communications and information management technologies possible in the inter-enterprise project team setting. Novi Mundi Corporation was formed in 1996 as a vehicle for creating the new ubiquitous electronic process engine for distributed project teams with a vision for bringing unity to a fragmented industry. Novi Mundi is an opportunity for the right person(s) because it is the right solution to a problem that is just beginning to be seen as an emerging market for an industry ripe for change.