There is much discussion around all things BIM (Building Information Modelling) in part motivated by Qld government initiatives such as “Digital Enablement for Qld Infrastructure – Principles for BIM Implementation, Nov 2018”.
We encourage our clients and the broader industry to engage with this policy. In short the policy considers projects with an estimated cost of $50m or more should be BIM’d where the detailed business case commences from 1 July 2019 and beyond 2023 the application of these principles will be progressively expanded to all built assets. This is not some futuristic concept. This is here and now!
Without exaggeration this is a challenge of immense proportions. When you consider the necessary investment in people, skills, IT, work practices, industry standards, data ownership and cyber security to create a resource base within Australia capable of meeting the demand for services even by 2023 – it is simply mind boggling. But surprising for some we do not see this as a technology challenge as much as a leadership challenge. The raw technology exists today but without the necessary leadership we are going nowhere fast. Perhaps what we should be asking is “How far behind best practice are we prepared to accept”.
If you are venturing into the world of BIM then you are probably struggling with how far do we commit. How much change can we manage. A simple internet search will bring you to the “D’s”. The perplexing question is how many “D’s” do we need. 7D generally refers to modelling the following parameters: X, Y, Z, time, cost, sustainability, facilities management.
Despite the challenge of implementing 7D BIM it really is short sighted. It misses the most valuable and powerful dimension which at JBgeoimage we refer to as the infinite data dimension or ∞D. A BIM7D approach seems to be primarily focused on the physical asset as the end game.
If you think of it in accounting terms physical assets depreciate but conversely data appreciates – the more you collect, analyse and interpret to create actionable insights, the greater its value over time.
The power of these actionable insights are then turbo-charged with the addition of artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) and neural networks (NN). With this added capability we can interrogate data around known parameters but importantly we can seek out and define unknown parameters taking us from a state of “not knowing what we don’t know” to “knowing what we don’t know”. This is all powerful. Whoever masters this will be in control. Think Alphabet, Google and Facebook.
So if you are contemplating whether your organisation should be involved in BIM and how many “D’s” you can digest, think beyond, because spatial leaders are contemplating the power of data driving their business into the future. This is our future reality. A reality much closer than many imagine and those ill equipped to adapt to the new data narrative will struggle for relevance.
So where are you on the BIM continuum?
Are you focussed on the D’s or the end game ∞D?
At JBgeoimage : ∞D (InfinitD) = 7D (X, Y, Z, Cost, Time, Sustainability, FM) + AI