| Since China’s reform and opening up,the construction industry has made remarkable strides,positioning itself as a key player in the country’s development.According to the 20 th Party Congress report,innovation is a vital factor in advancing China’s path to modernization.As the primary driving force behind the development of a robust socialist country,the construction industry’s high-quality growth must be synchronized with industrialization,intellectualization,and urbanization.This path represents the construction industry’s trajectory toward achieving China’s modernization goals.To achieve this,understanding the technological innovation characteristics of the construction industry is critical,both theoretically and practically.It can accelerate the innovation and transformation of China’s construction industry,enabling it to construct a new development paradigm aligned with the new development concept.This paper examines 163 national science and technology progress awards in the construction industry from 2000 to 2020.Firstly,it presents a statistical description of the basic characteristics of these awards over the past two decades to provide the necessary background for the subsequent analysis.Secondly,the paper constructs an analytical framework using Technology System Theory and Triple Helix Theory to explore the "four systems,two mechanisms and one nature" of technological innovation in the construction industry.This analysis looks at the selection,adaptation,and integration mechanisms of social factors(economic,institutional,and industrial)on technology and identifies the key features of technological innovation in the construction industry.Thirdly,the paper delves into the characteristics of the construction industry technological innovation network.It takes into account the complexity and spatial multi-scale nature of major construction projects,and analyzes the social action of construction industry technological innovation in the context of the social system network.This analysis combines the stakeholders of technological innovation at the micro level,the attributes and behaviors of organizations at the meso level,and the network structure at the macro level to analyze the path of the formation of the construction industry technological innovation network and the characteristics of technological innovation subject partner selection.Finally,the paper studies the engineering structure innovation team of Tsinghua University and analyzes the organizational change and technological innovation evolution characteristics of the team from five perspectives: the membership composition of the research team,the cooperation network of the team,the team mentorship,and the team’s technical achievements.This further justifies the construction industry technological innovation analysis framework proposed above.The findings of this study reveal several key insights.Firstly,the number of National Science and Technology Progress Awards in the construction industry has increased steadily over time,with a noticeable "Matthew effect" observed in the main body of the awards.Additionally,the results suggest that completion of these awards is heavily skewed towards individuals with high levels of education and degrees.In terms of award themes,"large-span and high-rise buildings" and "bridge engineering" accounted for a significant proportion of the awards,while "green construction and environmental protection" emerged as a new trend.Secondly,policy and economy are the primary driving forces behind technology transfer in the construction industry.The complexity of engineering and the existence of multiple networks provide opportunities for "self-creation" of construction technology.Furthermore,the crossover and integration of various professions and technical fields can stimulate innovative thinking and solutions,thereby expanding the technology innovation space.Thirdly,universities are crucial hubs for scientific and technological innovation,and they play a leading role in the construction industry.The innovation community within the construction industry is characterized by organizational inertia and path dependence,and is formed by teacher-education relationships and academic relationships.Innovators’ cooperation networks are embedded in the technological innovation network and gradually moving towards cross-discipline and cross-field fusion development.Lastly,the cooperation network of the engineering structure innovation team at Tsinghua University shows a "faction-alliance" structural characteristic.The team primarily consists of mentor-student relationships,and cooperation is based on technology accumulation and knowledge transmission.It is also worth noting that scientific and technological innovation in the construction industry is not only a cognitive activity and scientific research but is also heavily influenced by supra-scientific fields,including socio-economic development,new technology research methods,and values such as national security,local interests,economic development,wealth growth,and the need to address pressing issues. |
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