Comment
Managing project Information The use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has improved information sharing on constuction projects, but, as Newforma’s Tim Bates argues, there are still many areas where information fails to flow at all, let alone seamlessly.
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s technology advances it has become evident that our ability to generate more and more electronic data increases at a staggering rate year on year. ‘Big data’ has become a common phrase in our modern vocabulary. The Wikipedia definition of big data is “an all-encompassing term for any collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using traditional data processing applications”. The challenges of dealing with an excessive amount of data are very apparent in modern construction projects. What started with the ability to generate large numbers of drawings easily using 2D CAD systems has now accelerated with the introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM). This, together with the internet, cloud-based technologies, email and the proliferation of smart mobile devices has only served to add to these challenges. There is a real danger around treating all data as valuable and therefore, by inference, the expectation that the more data we can generate the better. However, note that data is not necessarily the same as information. One of the early advocates of the adoption of BIM, Jim Bedrick AIA, director of systems integration at Webcor Builders, wrote in 2004 that “the advance from CAD to BIM is the jump from data to information. Information occurs when data is given relevance and meaning”. Information has taken on a new relevance as this technology becomes the norm in our industry. Mr Bedrick went further and talked 38
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About the author Tim Bates, Newforma’s operations director for EMEA, has responsibility for all sales and service-related activities, including reseller partnership with Océ (UK).
about knowledge as “information coupled with experience and know-how” — for example when information is in the hands of an experienced engineer. The ability for professionals to have access to relevant and appropriate information in a timely manner, and to be able to act on it based on their experience, is key to successful project delivery.
Common data environment BS1192:2007 is a British standard that has provided the foundation for establishing “the methodology for managing the production, distribution and quality of construction information”. Based on the real life experiences of collaborative projects such as BAA Heathrow Terminal 5, the authors detail how a Common Data Environment (CDE) approach can be adopted to allow information to be shared between all members of a project team. It is interesting to note that the Terminal 5 project started out with the concept of a Single Model Environment (SME), but this
description was relinquished in favour of the Common Data Environment tag since it more appropriately described the dispersed and federated nature of the information being managed. Just as there has been a danger that efficient marketing by vendors has led to a belief in some quarters that purchasing a software product will provide your organisation with the ability to ‘do BIM’, I have been concerned at some recent comments that imply that a Common Data Environment can similarly be purchased as an ‘out of the box’ solution. The Common Data Environment of BS1192 is unlikely to be achieved by a single software solution; it is a collaborative approach and covers four main areas from work in progress (WIP), through Shared and Published to Archive. It aims to define processes by which information should flow, accuracy and relevance should be checked, and ownership and responsibility should be attributed. Although the software component is an important part of delivering this strategy, it will only be successful if all stakeholders agree on a common way of working and sharing information and knowledge.
Information silos Unfortunately it seems to be an inevitable result of the way that design and construction projects happen that we end up with disconnected silos of information that increase the risk of errors and omissions in the final project delivery. www.AECmag.com
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