BI systems (Business Intelligence) are designed to turn raw data into interactive dashboards, insightful reports and actionable results.
Both environments serve discrete purposes, however, one area of interesting overlap may arise at their meeting point.
What if one could build a software adapter to directly bridge the gap between the data in your BIM information models and your Business Intelligence solutions?
The Interoperability Problem
Within the context of digital construction workflow, pieces of vital information can end up segregated across various platforms. Here's one such fragmented data stream:
BIM Software
Project Data
Business Systems
BI Platform
Dashboards & Analysis
The main challenge lies in extracting usable data from one source and delivering it to another without labor-intensive manual intervention. A BIM to BI adapter can potentially act as this layer of interoperability.
What Would This Adapter Actually Do?
A valuable adapter is more than just a file-export tool. It could likely achieve this:
Extract specific information from BIM models.
Restructure that data into a form BI systems can read easily.
Map both the individual BIM objects and their individual properties to your datasets.
Hand over the refined, organized data to a Business Intelligence platform.
Respond to notifications triggered by changes to the original building model data.
Make the compiled dataset available for your various BI dashboards and analytical tasks.
In theory, this would work like:
`text
BIM Model
Data Adapter
Extraction
Transformation
Data Mapping
Validation
BI Data Model
Dashboards / Reports
While the specifics of implementation will vary greatly depending on which BI platform and BIM software are being utilized, the underlying concept of establishing a robust link between disparate systems remain the same: building an effective conduit for your data.
Why Data Mapping Is Important
Raw BIM data cannot and should not automatically be used as input for business analytics. A BIM model is composed of various components, properties, links, categorisations and other forms of data that require a substantial level of transformation before they become useful within an analysis setting. A BI system is best utilized when a constant, systematic structure of information is available as input for the generation of analysis and dashboards. Therefore, data mapping plays a crucial part in the functionality of an adapter.
`text
BIM Object
Category
Type
Location
Properties
Quantity
Analytical Dataset
BI Dashboard
Essentially, a BIM to BI adapter handles the challenge of communication and translation between the different structures of these two software systems.
Potential Applications
Once BIM data becomes easily accessible by BI systems, developers are able to leverage this newfound connectivity in order to build or advance technologies such as:
Interactive project dashboards
Advanced data visualization techniques
*Cross project reporting capabilities
*Resource monitoring
*Cost analysis functions
*Component based reporting
*Operational reports
*Automated report generation
*And more...
It is crucial to understand that the data adapter does not substitute for existing BIM or BI solutions but rather enhance and centralize their respective functionalities.
What About AI and IoT?
Adding more depth and capability can only increase the value proposition. In a connected building environment:
`text
IoT Sensors
Physical Environment
Operational Data
BIM AI
BI
Decision Support
IoT is essential for data derived from the physical world, BIM contributes the detailed structural outline, while AI helps in the analysis and extraction of the data. Together with BI providing analysis in terms of a visualization, these are capable of delivering actionable results, supporting integrated workflows.
The Difficulty for Developers
Moving data from one place to another is one side of the coin, however, the difficult part is ensuring data accuracy, avoiding schema issues, executing required data transformation, clearly defining objects, anticipating system upgrades, maintaining synchronisation between models and supporting the API that will provide data access, along with extensive data validation. Essentially, interoperability is just as much an issue of data engineering as it is of software programming.
Moving Past File Export
While using files can offer benefits to an extent, there are potentially additional steps to handle. Creating a direct link to API access, using clear data models and defining thorough transformation pipelines will not only result in faster results but also in better and smarter use of data from BIM information.
The current paradigm of:
BIM Export Spreadsheet Analysis
should ideally transition to:
BIM Data Layer BI / AI / Business Systems
where they collaborate easily.
Why it's Important
The true potential of BIM should not end with the model creation phase alone. Data within the BIM model needs to transition into usable and analyzable information throughout the entire life cycle of a building. BIM to BI data linking capabilities could transform data from niche model-centric users to any interested parties who need to access and analyze it; those who are not experienced in working within a BIM model.
With the ever-growing convergences between IoT, AI and digital architecture, interoperability will inevitably become a critical aspect of future technology creation.
Aperture Venture Studio investigates and champions technology at the critical junctures of AI, IoT, and real-world infrastructure. More information available at https://apertureventurestudio.com/.
Final Take
A dedicated adapter for BIM and BI may seem to be an obvious, even simple concept, however, the long-term and broad implications are considerable. How do we enable information generated in specialist applications and environments to become truly applicable across all digital systems? As our buildings, infrastructure and business operations become ever more interconnected, this question will increasingly gain prominence in the world of technology. In the future, building technology will evolve far beyond solely the creation of advanced models; it will be defined by the ability to forge connections between BIM data and the vast array of systems that consume it.
Top comments (0)