Submitted by Angela Walters on Tue, 28/05/2019 - 11:00
Alexandra Bolton welcomes the response to the publication of the Digital Framework Task Group (DFTG) Roadmap and looks forward to further industry engagement at the launch of the Data and Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI).
The launch event for the Data and Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI) at the Royal Society London takes place next month and marks a significant landmark in the digitalisation of our national infrastructure. DAFNI is funded by EPSRC as part of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities.
Two years of intense software development has resulted in the next generation platform for infrastructure planning and research. The DAFNI Conference 2019 (10 and 11 June) will feature the unveiling of DAFNI 1.0 by Samuel Chorlton, DAFNI project lead and Chair of CDBB’s DFTG DT Hub Steering Group that will establish the national Digital Twin Hub. A number of panel sessions will highlight the DAFNI programme and pilot projects with contributions from leading experts from the development team; speakers include Prof Jim Hall, University of Oxford and Chair of DAFNI Governance Board, Mark Enzer, Chair of CDBB’s Digital Framework Task Group and Sir John Armitt, Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, among notable others. Day two features the DAFNI Visualisation Hackathon which will explore visualisation methods to enhance communication of national infrastructure models, research and data.
CDBB was pleased to sponsor of the recent Infrahack event in London this month (May), bringing together leading technology and infrastructure experts to build new solutions to address the challenges of creating sustainable infrastructure for future generations.
Later next month the Construction Innovation Hub will attend the Knowledge Transfer Network Transforming Construction Year One Review Workshop (18 June), held in Birmingham. This will be an opportunity to meet with many industry professionals and representatives from the wider Transforming Construction ‘family’ and hear about future plans and opportunities from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programme.
Last month, along with my CDBB colleagues, I took part in the 'Construction Innovation Hub (CIH) Roadshow', which comprised visits, presentations and discussions with staff across all three CIH organisations – CDBB, BRE and MTC. It was great to see so much work already underway within the programme and there was opportunity for all three organisations to demonstrate their specialist roles. We are fortunate to collaborate with such dedicated and highly skilled people in different organisations to achieve the shared goal of transforming our future infrastructure. I look forward to continuing this collaboration and seeing its outputs in due course.
Back at CDBB’s Cambridge HQ, we are delighted with the response to the recently-published DFTG Roadmap; it’s encouraging to have such a high level of engagement at this stage. There is no doubt that determining the route that an information management framework for the built environment should take is challenging and I welcome feedback to help us progress this important task.
Please do consider CDBB’s most recent call for proposals to evaluate existing tools to assess BIM maturity and benefits. This collaborative call, with UK BIM Alliance, will result in a timely and significant piece of work that will help organisations maximise opportunities to improve use of digital information management and the benefits this process brings.