Cloud-based Building Information Modelling (CBIM)

• Project duration: March 2020 - June 2024
• Funder: H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN)
• Project members: Technion Israel Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, University College Dublin, Technische Universiteit Berlin, Trimble, Cartif and LocLab and UCL (Dr Dimitrios Rovas and Dr Eleni Papadonikolaki)
• More details: https://cbim2020.net.technion.ac.il

Project description:

The “Cloud BIM” (CBIM) training network aims to set the foundations for generating and exploiting digital twins of existing assets. It will make a step change in addressing the practical barriers to the concept and train capable Early Stage Researchers (ESRs). Effective training of future experts in this interdisciplinary field is expected to alleviate technology transfer delays from academia to industry. The CBIM network will address these challenges by bringing together European partners with complementary world-leading expertise to form a long-term ‘best (of academia) with best (of industry)’ partnership, with three common objectives:

(1) To develop a joint research programme towards delivering the vision of the ‘Digital Twin’ for representing buildings and infrastructure. The significant research advances planned will overcome current knowledge and innovation gaps in the areas of generating, enriching, and updating Digital Twins of existing assets. The project will also set basic precedences of how to best exploit BIM-based digital twins for process modelling and simulation through concepts and showcase applications that highlight opportunities for widespread use in managing the existing infrastructure and building stock.

(2) To offer original and advanced training to a group of Early Stage Researchers in all the multi-disciplinary aspects of CBIM such that, by the end of their training, these fellows can be directly embedded in the European AEC/FM sector and make immediate contributions. At the end of their training, they will have all necessary skills for capturing, enriching, and using digital twins to identify new application areas of CBIM and propose new CBIM products and processes to target those areas. A substantial part of the training programme will be dedicated to ESRs gaining experience in the non-academic sector, as well as to transferable skills training in developing business concepts and entrepreneurship, with the aim to encourage technology transfer and boost BIM deployment in the European construction sector.

(3) To demonstrate the societal benefits, and to bring industrial and societal acceptance of the capabilities of CBIM in infrastructure to optimise asset performance, to provide for the efficient use of resources, and to advance our understanding of complex problems in many engineering disciplines. In addition to the development and implementation of new CBIM generation, enrichment and application tools, this also requires dissemination to specialists and outreach to the wider public.

The specific workpackage involved in this project, aims to establish the business process fundamentals for seamless information management of digital twins. This work package will provide templates and process patterns to support data capturing, enrichment, and exchange throughout the life-cycle of a project in support of best-practice CBIM business processes. More and more BIM models are becoming readily available to support design, construction, and maintenance tasks. This availability will lead to significant changes in business processes. To make use of the models, managers and engineers will work within distributed data environments and service-oriented architectures that are combined in digital twin-based applications. Practice will move from multi-purpose desktop applications to web-enabled micro-service architectures. This work package will anticipate these dynamics by developing applicable frameworks, process guidelines, and solutions that public and private organisations can readily apply to move their business process and ICT strategies to enable CBIM practice. This work package will look into the following three major challenges in this context:

• Establishing the most important CBIM business process patterns that are recurring on projects
• Providing CBIM data life-cycle management solutions while considering through-life asset management requirements
• Blockchain-enabled CBIM for life-cycle data provenance and operational effectiveness