Help needed :Information on collaboration technologies for structural engineers

[Anonymous]

I am a student in a Construction Management and Engineering course I have been given a project as described below please could any structural engineers share any information that they think could be useful.
I am required to consider the Structural Engineer, with specific reference to their role in the construction process; information required and generated by them (including type and format); their communication with other parties to the construction process; current use of Information collaboration Technology (ICT); and recommendations for the use of new and/or emerging ICT.

[KSI_Thor]

There is one thing you need to know about ICT from the engineers point of view. Contractors are requesting much more information from engineers up front on a project that, in my opinion, is getting into means and methods. Contractors are now given more information for material take-offs, scheduling and constructability which enables them to be more efficient. All of this can be attributed to a single deliverable model. We, the architects and engineers, have basically simulated the construction of the project electronically. All this information helps to drive down the construction time and reduces RFI's.
Here is the catch. It is taking more time up front for the designers and engineers to provide this information thru BIM. The end result is that it is more profitable for the contractors and less profitable for the engineers. I've been in this industry for 27 years and we have gone from working for the owner to being a sub for the contractor. No one sees the added value of all the additional work required on our part because no one is willing to pay for it. It has started to become the "standard" of our industry.