BIM & DIGITAL
constructionmanagermagazine.com
BIM & Digital
NINE THINGS WE LEARNED AT DCS 2020 THIS YEAR’S DIGITAL CONSTRUCTION SUMMIT TOOK PLACE VIRTUALLY LAST MONTH. AS THE PRESENTERS AND PANELLISTS DEMONSTRATED, THE INDUSTRY’S DIGITAL ADOPTION IS ONLY ACCELERATING AS A RESULT OF THE PANDEMIC. BY NEIL GERRARD
1. Covid ‘aftershocks’ will drive digital construction adoption The ‘aftershocks’ of Covid-19 will be with construction for years to come, making digitally enabled ways of working the norm. That was Construction Innovation Hub impact director David Philp’s prediction while speaking in the Buildots-sponsored webinar that opened the Digital Construction Summit 2020. Philp stressed: “We’ve seen a seismic shift towards digital, how we collaborate, share information and use this thing called the common data environment. If these are fully embraced, it is going to help us be more sustainable, more productive and more effective across the whole [building] life cycle.”
“We need to address some of the real-world issues around interoperability” Fiona Moore, CDBB
2. Progress is accelerating towards interoperability Fiona Moore, information management consultant at the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), explained the vital work being done on interoperability, to enable the easy exchange of data between proprietary technologies – essential for BIM to thrive and to deliver benefits. “There are lots of clever proprietary solutions out there that help supply chains to collaborate and exchange information and all of those are valid, but quite often this falls over when information is passed across the contract line and the procurer has no way of housing that information and making proper use of it,” she explained. Moore said the BIM Interoperability Expert Group has identified a series
of workstreams to enable BIM interoperability. The four primary workstreams are: classification, COBie and industry foundation class (IFC), education and skills, and standards. 3. BIM is an essential foundation for the National Digital Twin CDBB digital director Mark Enzer provided an update on the National Digital Twin Programme and highlighted the important role that BIM has played in establishing it. “The foundation that has been laid in the work that we have already done in BIM is an essential foundation for the National Digital Twin. We couldn’t even imagine it without that foundation being laid. It shows us just how important information is and how
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