DevNous: An LLM-based multi-agent system for grounding IT project management in unstructured conversation

The theory and practice of computing the bus factor

Advancing Digital Transformation through Virtual Project Management: An Evidence-Based Implementation Framework in the Built Environment Industry

The state of the road infrastructure in Iraq has severely declined due to the long-term conflict, the instability of the institutions, and the lack of investments, thus interrupting the logistical processes and the development of the country. This study examines the main barriers to the rebuilding of the road system in Iraq and proposes a coherent framework that would combine project-management and logistical paradigms in order to reduce these obstacles. Using a comparative approach to determine international best practices in road-infrastructure delivery, the paper evaluates the appropriateness of the PMBOK, PRINCE2, and Agile approaches in the post-conflict context in Iraq. Such frameworks are assessed together with the enabling technologies, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and participatory models of stakeholder-engagement. The research suggests a hybrid model of logistics aligned strategy to fill the identified gaps, in which localisation of PMBOK, PRINCE2, and Agile solutions is the key, with material, information, financial, and human flows optimisation provided by GIS/AI decision support. The approach enhances more transparency, efficiency, and sustainability in the governance of infrastructure. The value of the research is twofold: (i) the combining of project-management stage-gates with the transport-logistics flow control in a post-conflict setting, (ii) the flow based blueprint of delivering, and maintaining the Iraqi road assets.

This study examines the implementation of engineering professionalism in construction management on the Revitalization Project of SMKN 1 Jabon using the POAC approach. Data were collected from 36 project stakeholders and analyzed based on time, cost, and quality indicators. The findings indicate that professionalism and effective construction management significantly enhance project performance through proper planning, coordination, implementation, and supervision. The study concludes that engineering professionalism plays a vital role in improving project efficiency, effectiveness, and overall success, while providing practical guidance for construction practitioners and contributing to knowledge on construction management in educational infrastructure projects.

The growing scale, complexity, and interdependency of modern civil engineering megaprojects have significantly increased the importance of uncertainty management throughout project delivery. Conventional risk management approaches often rely on static documentation practices that separate risk analysis from operational decision-making processes. While such methods provide formal risk visibility, they frequently fail to influence real-time engineering, planning, and execution decisions under dynamic project conditions. As a result, megaprojects continue to experience delays, cost overruns, coordination failures, and operational disruptions despite extensive risk management procedures. This paper examines risk-informed project delivery as an integrated decision-oriented framework in which uncertainty actively shapes engineering and management processes across the full project lifecycle. The study argues that successful megaproject delivery depends not only on identifying risks, but also on embedding risk considerations directly into planning, design, sequencing, coordination, and execution decisions. Particular attention is given to adaptive decision-making, prioritization of critical uncertainties, operational trade-off analysis, and cross-disciplinary communication within large-scale infrastructure environments. Drawing from practical engineering perspectives and systems-level project management principles, the paper explores how structured decision frameworks improve project reliability by linking risk evaluation with actionable operational choices. The study further investigates the role of continuous feedback mechanisms, adaptability, and stakeholder alignment in reducing uncertainty across complex project environments involving multiple technical, logistical, and institutional dependencies. The paper ultimately proposes that risk-informed delivery represents a broader transformation in megaproject management, shifting risk from a passive reporting function toward an active operational driver guiding decision-making under uncertainty.

Project management has primarily developed within high-income countries. However, over the last 15 years, capital-intensive projects have been shifting toward developing nations where conventional frameworks often underperform. Despite this, research on the critical success factors (CSFs) and risks influencing project outcomes in developing countries remains fragmented. This paper conducts a systematic literature review of 41 peer-reviewed articles published in the Scopus database in the last decade, covering 20 developing countries and 8 cross-country studies. Following the PRISMA protocol, this study identifies CSFs and risks in project management (PM) in developing countries through inductive review and deductive coding based on two theoretical lenses, namely, institutional and contingency theory. Furthermore, this paper analyzes the mechanisms and contextual dependency of these factors. The inductive findings identify 22 CSFs and 21 risk factors. In order to report the most critical ones, 8 CSFs and 8 risks are retained based on their frequency of occurrence. The results reveal that they form systematic corresponding pairs, with six of the eight CSFs directly mapping onto six risks. Moreover, institutional theory (IT) explains the dominance of external influences through coercive, normative, and mimetic mechanisms, as well as institutional voids, while the contingency theory (CT) shows variable outcomes across different project characteristics. Overall, the findings provide practical implications for project managers, policy makers and business organizations on managing projects in emerging countries. It is noted that project strategies should be adapted to project scale, with stakeholder-focused approaches in small projects, institutional building in medium projects, and macroeconomic and political risk management in large projects.

This study aims to analyze the strategies and constraints faced by Biology teachers who are alumni of the Leading Teacher Education Program in implementing Project-Based Learning (PjBL) in Biology learning at Senior High Schools in Jambi City. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach with a case study design. The main informants consisted of two Biology teachers who are alumni of the Leading Teacher Education Program at Senior High Schools 7 and 8 in Jambi City. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, learning observations, and documentation studies, then analyzed thematically using NVivo 12 Pro. The results showed that the PjBL implementation strategy includes project planning, project management and implementation, learning evaluation and reporting, and experience-based strategies of the Leading Teacher Education Program. The constraints found include student characteristics, school infrastructure and regulations, preparation time, implementation time, conceptual understanding, material suitability and changes in learning patterns, and learning evaluation. The implementation of PjBL is carried out in a planned, adaptive, and student-centered manner, but still requires support for student readiness, facilities, time, material selection, and more systematic evaluation. Future studies are recommended to examine the effectiveness of Project-Based Learning in improving students' learning outcomes, critical thinking skills, and STEM competencies in Biology learning.

Purpose This study investigates whether vocational training programs in Australia's built environment sector can reduce recidivism among justice-involved youth whilst simultaneously addressing construction skills shortages. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Criminological and interdisciplinary databases were searched for studies published between 2008 and 2023. Thirty-four studies on vocational programs for justice-involved youth were included and synthesised narratively across intervention types and built environment sectors, with structured narrative appraisal applied to assess methodological quality. Findings Programs aligned with labour market demand, liveable wages and culturally responsive wraparound support achieved the strongest outcomes. Construction-focused interventions dominated the evidence base (n = 9), whilst pathways in property, urban planning and project management remained underrepresented. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth comprise 63% of those detained but represented only 24% of program participants, revealing a significant equity gap in vocational program access. Research limitations/implications Most included studies involved small samples and short follow-up, limiting causal claims. Future research should prioritise longitudinal, comparative designs across the built environment sector, with equity-informed analysis across gender, geography and jurisdiction. Practical implications Policy frameworks should integrate correctional education with workforce development at national, state and industry levels, with youth justice professionals, vocational education and training providers and construction industry partners each sustaining distinct roles in aligning training with real employment opportunities and throughcare support. Findings carry transferable implications for comparable jurisdictions addressing the intersection of youth justice and labour market integration. Originality/value This is the first known systematic review examining both recidivism reduction and workforce benefits from built environment vocational programs for justice-involved youth in Australia.

Design-driven entrepreneurship, where design serves as the core logic of the entrepreneurial process, offers a promising avenue for value creation and innovation. However, a clearer understanding of the specific design capabilities involved and how to effectively manage them is still needed. Addressing this gap, this research explores a framework that identifies five core design capabilities perceived as essential for design-driven entrepreneurship. Through a self-reported survey of Hong Kong Design Centre start-ups, this study examines their perceived association with entrepreneurial success. The findings suggest that Operational Design Capabilities, Project Management Skills, and Internal Design Coordination are particularly important for achieving short-term success, while External Design Coordination and Strategic Design Capabilities are more strongly associated with long-term success. These insights advance the theoretical discourse on design-driven entrepreneurship and offer practical guidance for start-ups to better leverage design.

The Information Technology (IT) field is growing in the direction of the need to not only possess good technical skills but also good interpersonal skills to be able to cooperate and achieve success in a project. Emotional intelligence (EI) is a concept that has been identified as significant to the effectiveness of communications among IT professionals. This is a quantitative research on how EI and communication skills (CS), and other related psychological variables, including self-efficacy (SE), communication apprehension (CA), empathy, and social influence (SI), relate to each other. The participants were 535 IT professionals, comprising software developers, system analysts, project managers, and IT consultants. The study employed a purposive sampling method to administer the structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for preliminary analyses and SmartPLS 4 for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicate that EI, SE, and empathy are positively associated with CS, CA shows a negative association, whereas SI is a significant predictor of CS in a group setting (all paths p < 0.05). The novelty of this study is its combined analysis of the EI and various communication and related psychological constructs in the specific context of IT professionals, which has not been studied extensively in the literature. The results also present practical recommendations for the IT organizations since they highlight the necessity of developing emotional competencies that can improve communication and teamwork, and consequently, improve individual and organizational performance.

Purpose Value-based health care proposes that hospitals implement condition-based units (CBUs) to enhance patient value and foster collaboration among professionals. Although CBUs are proposed as an alternative to traditional functional hospital structures, many hospitals insert them within their existing functional structures. Using structural design theory as a framework, this study aims to examine the structure-related opportunities and challenges associated with CBUs integrated within functional hospital structures in order to understand how this integration affects their ability to improve patient value and collaboration. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative multiple case study was conducted with members of 6 CBUs across 2 Dutch hospitals, involving 26 interviews analyzed thematically. Findings Our findings show that the functional structure provides CBUs with resources and specialized expertise, including support on project management and data analysis. However, integrating CBUs within the functional structure can lead to ambiguity in decision-making authority within CBU processes, involve multiple stakeholders in CBU-related decisions and generate tensions between departmental and CBU goals. Practical implications We recommend that hospital managers adopt a learning-oriented, experimental approach to gradually integrate care delivery and decision-making within CBUs, while positioning the functional structure as a supportive infrastructure. Originality/value By identifying structure-related opportunities and challenges, this study addresses the lack of understanding regarding the consequences of implementing CBUs within functional hospital structures and indicates the need for hospitals to take additional measures to leverage opportunities and address associated challenges to maximize the potential of CBUs.

The effectiveness of project management is largely determined by the quality of human capital and the set of competencies that ensure successful implementation of project tasks. This study aims to analytically identify and structure key characteristics of human resources in order to define priorities for forming project teams and distributing functional workload within project offices Traditional statistical models typically consider competencies in isolation, which limits their applicability in multidimensional and interconnected managerial processes. The methodological basis of the study includes content analysis of labor market requirements presented in job vacancies on the hh.kz platform and a comparative analysis of employers’ practice-oriented expectations and the normative competency model IPMA ICB v4. To analytically interpret the interconnections between the identified competencies, the DEMATEL method is used as a conceptual framework that allows competencies to be viewed as elements of a single system. The study results show that the labor market emphasizes such characteristics as motivation, adaptability, innovative thinking, professional training, and the ability to maintain work–life balance, which form the foundation for effective functioning of project teams. At the same time, competencies related to interaction management, conflict resolution, and stakeholder communication appear mainly as a response to organizational and contextual conditions. The findings highlight the need to apply systemic approaches to competency assessment and development in a project environment. Integrating structured analytical tools into project offic management practice increases the soundness of managerial decisions and the effectiveness of forming project teams.

Persistent payment delays in the construction industry disproportionately affect subcontractors and threaten project sustainability. Project Trust Accounts (PTAs), mandated under Queensland’s Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017, are a key statutory mechanism to improve payment security. PTAs aim to protect downstream payments by ring-fencing project funds; however, their implementation has raised concerns around administrative burden, cost inefficiencies, and limited alignment with industry practices. Despite increasing attention on subcontractor protection, little empirical research has examined PTAs from the perspective of main contractors responsible for administering them. This study addresses this gap by investigating PTA sustainability from the viewpoint of Queensland main contractors. Using a homogeneous purposive sampling approach, responsive narrative interviews were conducted with participants experienced in PTA implementation. The sample included representatives from a construction industry association and a subcontractor firm with main contractor PTA experience. Thematic analysis, guided by stakeholder and equity theories and evaluated using Green Project Management (GPM) criteria—effectiveness, fairness, and efficiency—reveals key operational, financial, and relational challenges. Findings highlight the need for more balanced policy design and stronger stakeholder engagement to enhance trust, reduce friction, and improve practical viability, contributing to more sustainable payment systems.

What is new? There is a growing recognition of the need to strengthen research management capacity in West African institutions, yet limited structured training programs exist to address capacity gaps in this field. This study presents original findings from a multi-country initiative aimed at filling that gap. What was the approach? The study employed a pre–post evaluation design using structured surveys administered to participants of three five-day intensive workshops held in Nigeria and Senegal between September and December 2024. The training focused on research support, research strategy, grant writing, budgeting, research communications, integrity, project management, contracts, intellectual property, and gender issues. What is the academic impact? The results revealed significant improvements in participants' self-reported knowledge and competencies across all training areas. The study contributes empirical evidence to the field of Research Management and Administration (RMA), demonstrating the effectiveness of targeted capacity-building interventions in enhancing research support functions in low-resource settings. What is the wider impact? The positive outcomes highlight the potential of structured, context-specific training to build a more competent research management workforce, thereby supporting stronger institutional research environments across West Africa.

ABSTRACT Recent advancements in digital tools have facilitated the capture of precise data for traditional building restoration (TBR), while Building Information Modeling (BIM) offers structured information management and flexible 3D modeling for heritage preservation. However, Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) still faces challenges in complex documentation and interdisciplinary collaboration, with semantic integration being less developed than geometric modeling. The present study proposes a BIM-based engineering database framework that has been tailored to TBR. HBIM requirements are identified from restoration practice, and project tasks are systematically linked to required information through phased data extraction and workflow analysis. The application of competency evaluation, Unified Modeling Language and Entity – Relationship modeling serves to formalize the HBIM database structure, which incorporates five primary and seven secondary categories of core information. The framework integrates geometric, semantic, and procedural data, aligning with Taiwan’s regulatory workflows while reflecting European practice and UNESCO perspectives. It has been demonstrated that the HBIM database functions as a knowledge engine, thereby strengthening project management, safeguarding data integrity, and enhancing coordination. This framework is conducive to the sustainable conservation of heritage, by virtue of the systematic digitization and preservation of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage that is embedded in traditional building practices.

This work analyzes 2019 hourly data from the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) energy generators to forecast pollutant emissions for 2030. Leveraging methods and insights from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Performance-based Energy Resource Feedback, Optimization, and Risk Management (PERFORM) project's optimization tools and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) historical data, we produce a method to determine future emissions scenarios within the NYISO region to be used as part of operational studies. Integrating historical data with forecasting software, this study evaluates the impact of renewable energy variability on pollutant emissions, informing policy decisions for a sustainable energy future.

Over the past decade the industry has developed technical, contractual and managerial tools for road construction without recognizing their capacity as solutions to land access restrictions. This systematic review analyzes the strategies for executing road projects under such restrictions. Following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, 51 indexed articles (2015–2026) retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science were examined and classified into land access restrictions, execution strategies (four families: technical–constructive, project management, social–institutional and contractual–legal) and impact on performance. Strategies are documented in 64.7% of the studies, but only 25.5% analyze them as an object, which explains why they have not been recognized as available solutions. The four families are not alternatives: they operate at different moments of the cycle, and their effectiveness depends on the type of restriction, the moment of activation and the institutional capacity, a determining variable that the corpus does not measure. Treating the restriction as a planning variable, rather than a contingency, distinguishes the projects with positive impact.

Commercial complex development is featured by large scale, complex operational procedures, and prominent challenges in cost management. This study proposes a data-driven intelligent approach for optimizing cost management of commercial complex projects. First,it emphasizes the necessity of applying value engineering (VE) principles—specifically integrating the Function Analysis System Technique (FAST)—in cost control. Subsequently,a model framework is constructed and workflow procedures for construction cost management are formulated,with the core methodology being the integration of VE with a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) model. The pre-analysis phase involves defining VE study objectives via FAST,using FAHP to determine functional coefficients,and leveraging systematic cost analysis tools.By calculating cost and value coefficients, the model realizes real-time monitoring, thus avoiding irrational construction behaviors and supporting post-implementation reviews for continuous optimization. To validate the model’s effectiveness,an existing commercial complex project was selected for optimization. Comparative analysis shows that traditional methods resulted in a total cost of 74,886,333.3 yuan across civil engineering,building construction,HVAC,and electrical engineering,while the optimized approach reduced costs to 72,740,121.5 yuan,achieving a 2.87% cost reduction.

To identify real-world physical activity patterns in older adults using objective measurements from wearable devices, and to analyze the associations between these patterns and gut microbiota composition. Based on data collected from a real-world health management project, a total of 743 participants from Eastern, Central, and Northern China were enrolled between January 2018 and June 2025. A 180-day objective physical activity dataset prior to fecal sampling was collected via smart wearable devices to extract features including mean daily steps, coefficient of variation of steps, and the proportion of active days. Fecal samples underwent 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene (V3-V4 region) amplicon sequencing to obtain genus-level relative abundance matrices. Covariates, including demographics, lifestyle, and chronic disease history, were collected via questionnaires and physical examinations. The discriminative dimensionality reduction via learning a tree (DDRTree) algorithm combined with K-means clustering was applied to identify physical activity phenotypes. Alpha diversity was evaluated using the Shannon index (Kruskal-Wallis test), and beta diversity was assessed using covariate-adjusted permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) based on Bray-Curtis distance. Multivariable linear regression with false discovery rate (FDR) correction was used to screen differential taxa. A microbial risk score (MRS) was constructed based on taxa with a raw P < 0.05, defined as the difference between the standardized abundance of beneficial and harmful taxa. Co-occurrence networks were constructed to evaluate micro-ecological topological structures. The cohort comprised 381 (51.3%) individuals aged 60-74 years and 362 (48. 7%) aged ≥75 years. Compared with the 60-74 group, the ≥75 group had higher prevalences of hypertension (45.9% vs. 36.7%, P=0.045) and heart disease (34.0% vs. 25.2%, P=0.032), higher systolic blood pressure (median 130 mmHg vs. 120 mmHg, P < 0.001), and fewer mean daily steps (median 6 200 steps vs. 7 000 steps, P < 0.001). Clustering identified three activity patterns: active group (n=143, 19.2%; high steps, low variation, high adherence), moderate group (n=429, 57.7%), and irregular group (n=171, 23.0%; low steps, high variation, low adherence). The active group exhibited the lowest prevalences of hypertension (35.0%) and heart disease (21.7%), and the lowest systolic blood pressure (mean 124.4 mmHg), whereas the irregular group showed the highest values (51.5%, 40.4%, and 127.6 mmHg, respectively). Alpha diversity showed no significant differences among the groups. After adjusting for covariates, physical activity patterns showed no statistically significant effect on beta diversity (R2=0.003 7, P=0.115). Compared with the irregular group, two genera in the active group showed significant differences (P < 0.05). Specifically, the relative abundance of Roseburia in the active group was significantly lower than that in the irregular group (P < 0.05), and the relative abundance of Butyricimonas was also significantly lower than that in the moderate group (P < 0.01). However, these differences did not remain statistically significant after FDR correction. The MRS exhibited a significant gradient distribution across the groups, with the active group scoring the highest (P < 0.001). Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that the active group had the highest network density and proportion of positive correlations (84.5%), whereas the irregular group had the lowest (60.3%). Physical activity patterns identified from wearable device data are associated with gut microbiota composition and ecological network characteristics in older adults. Active and regular physical activity patterns indicate a higher MRS and more stable microbial co-occurrence networks, suggesting potential associations between activity regularity and gut microbial ecology, though causal inference requires longitudinal confirmation.