Keywords: information system, project management, risk management, public projects, database, communication.

The life-cycle of public projects includes several stages (design, tendering, construction, operation and maintenance) in which a variety of decisions are made, functions are performed, resources are used, information is generated and communicated amongst participants. Public projects are of the most demanding ones in project and risk management efforts due to their size, complexity, life-cycle duration, uniqueness, manpower involved. A main source of management difficulty is associated with inefficient information management and communication.

During recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for improving the efficiency of the construction process. Web-based project management system (WPMS) applications, in particular, combine databases with web technologies for remote information management and sharing. Existing research on web-based information systems has focused on the project construction process. In the case of public projects, however, information management should extend to other important and information-intensive phases of their life-cycle, such as the bidding and contractor selection phase and the operation and maintenance one.

An information system is presented which attempts to accommodate the information retrieval and communication needs of public projects aiming at a more effective project and risk management during their life-cycle. The system consists of a repository database which may be accessed through the internet. The database design was based on user and information analyses as well as on project and risk analyses. Considering that the inclusion of detailed project information would lead to an enormous in size, complexity, inflexibility and implementation design effort, analyses were performed regarding to the important management decisions, the (main) pieces of information that can efficiently support such decisions, the participants and the ways that they utilize the information.

Three stages of the public project life-cycle are considered; (a) project tendering and contractor selection, (b) project construction, (c) project operation and maintenance. Within the first stage, typical information about the project bidding documents, the awarding agency, and the actual bid evaluation and contractor selection process is stored in the database. During the construction phase, based on periodic monitoring of the actual progress, the earned value project management method is employed and project performance indices are established, forecasts are made for the project cost and schedule at completion, possible needs for corrective actions are highlighted, and risk management decisions are made. During the operation and maintenance phase, the database information includes project technical, operational and safety characteristics, maintenance records, environmental and social impact indicators.

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