We can’t do our jobs without information and when information is difficult to find or incorrect, it wastes time and money and can even cause potential harm, argues RLB Digital Head of Information Management, Emma Hooper in the first one of a series of guest articles for BIMPlus.
What is information management?
Information management seeks to address these issues by applying information theory and concepts to real-world scenarios and real people across the entire lifecycle of a physical asset. It does this by treating information as an asset in its own right, on par with the physical asset. Like any asset, information needs to be specified, procured, delivered, governed and used.
Information management starts with those asking for information to identify purposes and defining what information is needed to fulfil those purposes. Those producing information must be aware that once passed on, information needs to be useful and meet the requirements.
In the UK especially, we’ve moved to using the term ‘information management’ instead of ‘BIM’ because the latter often makes people think solely of 3D models. What we really need is to manage all information – whether unstructured (for example, in drawings or reports) or structured (in databases or structured spreadsheets).
Across an asset’s life, there is both a management (process) layer that contains appointment-based activities for projects/events: this is what people interact with. Underpinning this is an information (or data) layer that contains the rules for how information is ordered, its semantics and how it’s connected. This is the layer that technology interacts with.
The layers of information management
It’s really important that both layers are considered together for effective information management. Together, they form a consistent and common framework that both people and technology can connect to.
This information framework operates across three viewpoints: industry, organisation and project/event.
Industry
When it comes to information, I always think of the industry as a single organisation, because information needs to flow across every part of it. To enable this, we need an industrywide, consistent approach to information management that connects the semantics, terminology, relationships and grouping of information across the industry. This is where institutions, specialist domains and special interest groups contribute their specific content.
Organisations
The industry foundations form a basis for organisations to build from and create their own information frameworks tailored to their business needs. A key aspect of information management is that it starts with business needs. Organisations must prepare for it before any projects take place. Information management requires dedicated resources that span departments, integrating capital and operational expenditures to create a consistent information language across the organisation.
Projects
A project (or an event) encompasses more than just capital projects: it includes any activity that requires an information exchange, such as new construction, refurbishments, maintenance, inspections or replacements. The information follows a similar journey regardless of event type.
A common information framework
This upwards cascade of a common information framework that spans industry, organisations and projects not only lays the foundations to enable information to be shared, connected and understood, it also allows people to move across different projects, organisations and domains without needing to learn new information languages, structures and workflows.
True collaboration needed
There is a need for a common and consistent approach to information management across the industry. It requires committed buy-in and true collaboration from all parts of the industry. We have many of the puzzle pieces, but we need a clearer, bigger picture to work towards, to start connecting what we have. For too long, this has been largely overlooked by the wider industry.
With recent developments, we’re now at a time when this can no longer be ignored. Digital product passports, the golden thread, approval gateways, decarbonisation and AI are all factors with potentially serious implications if we get them wrong.
These initiatives will only succeed if we dig deep and establish a solid foundation. Of all the industries, surely, we know better than anyone how crucial strong foundations are in building something fit for purpose.
To read the blog in full, please download the PDF format here. This is an abridged version of an article that first appeared in BIMPlus.
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