One of the largest barriers and issues toward BIM adoption in the construction industry is a lack of consistent terms and definitions. This article will discuss and allow you to think what this may look like in the future and if we will really need to worry about it? One of the largest barriers and issues toward BIM adoption in the construction industry is a lack of consistent terms and definitions. This article will discuss and allow you to think what this may look like in the future and if we will really need to worry about it?
You said what? Working across different regions of the world is one of the biggest challenges I face regarding the way I communicate, train and educate in the BIM and Digital construction space. Every individual or organisation working in construction seems to have a different way of understanding even the most basic concepts. This is where terminology regarding the UK BIM Policy and developing standards has caused some issues and ultimately some negative press. Even when I speak to my Google assistant in the privacy of my own home, she still does not understanding what I am asking her for … .yes I said what time is it?! But where am I?
Terms and Language will be less important in 2050. We will not need to worry about translation because we’ll have systems that will translate data and information for us. This will therefore free up our time as construction professionals to do our jobs better rather than arguing about the definition of an acronym. Today we need to focus on using our standards more efficiently rather than debating if they work or not. We are seeing the use of PAS 1192-2 globally and this is seen to be a huge and amazing development for the UK Government as we are able to export our skills and drive consistency within the use of our famous BIM maturity.
There are some issues today which are causing problems for us as an industry, and with the development of the international standard ISO 19650 this may help us marginally yet will not enable us to overcome some of the cultural and regional barriers that may occur. There is much work to be done and we will see that those organisations or governments adopting a consistent framework such as ISO 19650 will become more efficient and in turn deliver greater value as there will be less to talk about and more to get on with in an efficient way.
The development of ISO 19650 will not solve all our issues with language and terminology. There will still be a variety of challenges. We will see the term BIM and Digital Engineering used less and less and replaced with Digital Information Management (for Buildings or Infrastructure) being used more commonly. We must focus on the definition of these terms in order to effectively manage the changes. As an industry we must understand that managing data – delivering data – and using data to ultimately understand / manage and maintain our built environment should be our main focus for a productive and efficient construction workforce.
About the author: An enthusiast for Digital Construction Methods and technology I love the way in which we are evolving as an industry. My key ambition is to enable Digital Node into a global business with office locations all over the world.
Follow Rebecca on Twitter (@becdecicco)