Some see
standards as hindrances to development; others think the opposite is true. A
Finnish strategy project argues that complying with international digital standards
would both improve productivity and open up new business opportunities for
built environment stakeholders.
In early
2018, the Finnish Ministry of the Environment launched a project to devise a
national strategy for comprehensive implementation of international standards
in built environment information management. It was part of the government’s
KIRA-digi digitalization project.
The
so-called RASTI project was set out to create a vision for 2030 and a road map
on how to reach it. The ministry chose a team of industry experts to carry out
the project. The project is now completed, and its report is available in
Finnish at rastiprojekti.com.
The Challenge
Real estate
and construction industries would benefit from an uninterrupted flow of
information between organizations and across life cycle processes. The
friction-free flow would boost productivity, improve process and service
quality, and empower users of the built environment.
Interoperability
requires agreements between the sender and receiver of data. That’s where
standards come into play. Without common standards, it’s difficult or
impossible to automate processes. When data is not machine-readable by default,
humans must interpret, edit, and augment it manually to make it useful.
There’s no
shortage of information management standards. In fact, there are around 150 in
use already in the real estate and construction industries. Some of them overlap
and some of them are local.
Real estate
technologies are inherently global. Building owners and investor expect to use
the same digital tools and data formats wherever the asset is. Likewise,
digital construction solutions are not bound to a certain market, even if the
information follows local practices and regulations.
“If the
situation is not fully clear, the organizations may create solutions of their
own. Having many different sets of standards makes it more difficult for the
organizations to work together, which is then reflected as weaker productivity.
Following international standards would also improve the opportunities of
Finnish companies on the international markets,” said Teemu Lehtinen,
chief digital officer of the KIRA-digi project.
The Potential
In their 2018 report on construction, World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting state: “Within
a decade, full-scale digitization could help the industry escape its
decades-long stagnation and generate an estimated 12-20% in annual cost
savings, equal to between $1 trillion and $1.7 trillion, according to our
estimates.”
It is
debatable how much the potential of digitalization depends on successful use of
standards. The RASTI project estimated that direct savings from better flow of
information in 2030 would total around EUR 300 million in Finland alone. The
total effect of digitalization would be billions of euros.
The
benefits derive from four main sources:
- Construction productivity picks up
and the quality of operations improves when the right information is at the
right time at the right place and is machine-readable - The use of resources becomes more
efficient as redundant information management tasks can be eliminated and
logistics optimized - The level of services rises when all
the necessary information is at the participants’ disposal - Citizen and user involvement become
easier with open data and interoperable services
What are the Standards
RASTI Talks About?
RASTI
focused on information standards for buildings, infrastructure, and
geolocations. There are open and closed standards, “official” and industry
standards, and global and local ones.
The
development of data-related standards can be divided into three categories:
1) Structures and methods: Open BIM data exchange standards, e.g., building IFC, geospatial data GML, CityGML, InfraGML, and InfraModel.
2) Classifications and operational environments: Dictionaries for various fields in the built environment—building, infrastructure, operations and maintenance, etc.
3) Instances or activities: Individual properties of a data component. The format, presentation requirements, and the way data is stored must be normalized so that information can be used for automated data exchange.
The Vision and the Road
Map
The RASTI
team developed a vision of a future where data sharing in the built environment
is based on international open standards. According to the vision, in 2030, well-defined
and regulated data flows comprehensively across the life cycle of the built
environment. Information services and systems are interoperable and support
industry’s operations comprehensively.
The RASTI
road map outlines the steps that will take Finland to the vision by 2030. The
road map is very ambitious but attainable, provided there’s industry-wide
commitment. The availability of open data from the government and cities in
standardized formats is an essential prerequisite for success.
Several
Finnish organizations take part in international standardization efforts undertaken
by ISO the global level and CEN at the European level. As one of the first
steps, RASTI proposes the establishment of a national body to coordinate
information management standardization in the industry.
The results
of RASTI serve the overall harmonization efforts to digitalize the Finnish
built environment. Similar programs are taking place in Sweden, UK, and
Germany, to name a few.
Mobility
and other urban data will converge with data of the built environment. Therefore,
in the near future, we’re going to need horizontal and cross-industry
standards. RASTI will, hopefully, be the flywheel that keeps the industry
rolling toward an openly interoperable future.
Visit rastiprojekti.com for more information.
Responses