Internet Research Register editorial

Citation

Brown, S. (2000), "Internet Research Register editorial", Facilities, Vol. 18 No. 1/2. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2000.06918aag.002

Internet Research Register editorial

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has set itself the task of playing as positive and constructive a role as possible in the development and promotion of the discipline of real estate research and facilities management. Through the papers that we see presented in this journal, we can see all too clearly that the processes and techniques that need to be applied in this discipline are developing at a rate that we have not seen to date. As well as having to respond to the legitimate and real demands of business and society for the equitable, sustainable and effective use of our land and property resources, we can also see that these resources are also being subjected to greater competition and scrutiny. We need to merely look at the bewildering rate of development of e-commerce over the last few years to be aware of the fact that major and fundamental changes are taking place. The astonishing growth and development that have taken place in the financial markets over the last decade or so, with the introduction and maturing of a wide range of new financial instruments and techniques, have again put increasing pressure on the real estate and facilities management profession to respond.

The rate and nature of change go beyond this, and we need also to look at the ways in which society is changing and the way in which resources impact on that. We now seem to be entering an age where access to information is emerging to be the key determinant between individuals, organisations and societies. Does real estate have a role in shaping this future, or is it merely an outcome of these processes?

The RICS sees research as being one crucial way in which the profession can respond to these challenges. Access to the latest research, knowledge about ideas that are being developed and pursued, the ability to apply the latest research and to discuss the ideas with the researchers are the key approaches that the RICS is seeking to encourage. If we get the processes and structures right, then everyone can benefit from the interchange of ideas and approaches. Of course, we need to be sensitive to confidentiality, to ensure that researchers are able to gain the respect and recognition that they deserve for the ideas that they have developed. But we also need to try to help with the means by which their ideas can get the wider recognition and application that are also their due.

The RICS Research Foundation is delighted to be working with MCB University Press on the development of the research register for the real estate and facilities management profession. We feel that this is a real step forward and, as it develops, will be seen to represent one of the most potent and valuable resources that is available to the profession and research community. I would encourage you both to consult the register and to submit your own research to the register. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain from this.

Subscribers can access the research register by clicking on the research register logo on the online journal contents page. RICS members may also access the register directly from the RICS Web site research page at: http://www.rics.org Alternatively, enter details of your research at: http://www.mcb.co.uk/literati/research_register

Stephen BrownHead of Research Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors