Data driven BIM is here!

Last week I attended Chalmers “Total BIM” (https://cmbchalmers.confetti.events/total-bim-dagen/) seminar in Gothenburg. A great place to meet BIM minded experts from Sweden (lot of familiar faces) and to get inspired by top of the edge projects, backed by some real scientific studies.

Some key takeaways here:

1.????? Live BIM data driven projects are here!

What started with the TNO open BIM server and continued with tools like BIM.works from BIM.base. Now solutions like StreamBIM.com start to play a real, out of the box, life data driven solution.?

What makes an BIM server solution different than working with a Document management system??

From Common Document environment to Common Data environment, it looks like a small step, but it is a big difference. Where a Document system keeps all data in de strored documents and models, is all Data life accessible in a Data/ BIM server solution.

Yes, you might need both, a place to manage documents, and a place to store Data models.

Life model data access create possibilities for real re-use of data. Dashboards, analysis, data management. This really is a step up in the BIM maturity index. From file model based collaboration to network based integration.

The Sweco https://www.sweco.se/vart-erbjudande/digitala-losningar/informationshantering/bim/ project of KAJ16 demonstrates how you feed data in life dashboards to monitor model and data quality. This helps teams to use the data without a BIM Manager in between. Creating a bigger accessibility of data, higher data quality and better re-use of data.

?2.????? There is still no definition for BIM

Still, after more than 15 years of being mature in the industry, BIM has still no strict definition, and still research is out to try to fit BIM in a box.

But as the definition of BIM might be different per role, per phase, project, organization, and digital maturity of people and teams.

Is it important to have a clear definition? Maybe. But it might be good to scale BIM down to a “boxable” scope, and introduce VDC (Virtual Design and Construct) to describe the broader scope and methods.

Lets try to not include all related topics, but connect to different areas.

Maybe the issue is that by starting with BIM, this is also the starting point of the new digital journey within an organization. Document management, information security, supply chain management, change management, design automation, data driven organisations, etc, etc, All might start by introducing BIM; but might not be BIM.

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3.????? People, people, people!

Here in Sweden, traveling 500 km for a seminar is way more common than back in the Netherlands. So even here are a lot of familiar faces, and some locals.

All the technology is available. The biggest challenge is on-boarding your colleagues, teams and organizations.

By having the availability of more data driven tools, it is possible to make bigger steps at once. By starting now, you can directly step into network based integrations, and really boost your projects and organization!