What is the Information Management Framework (IMF)?
“A built environment information management landscape and data environment which will adequately define parties, processes, information, technology to support the National Digital Twin.” - DT Hub Glossary
An IMF aims to establish the building blocks that are necessary to enable effective information management across the built environment throughout its lifecycle. It enables secure, resilient interoperability of data, which is at the heart of the National Digital Twin (NDT). It is a reference point to facilitate data use in line with security, legal, commercial, privacy and other relevant concerns.
Why does CDBB support the development of the IMF?
Infrastructure plays a fundamental role in the social, economic and environmental outcomes that determine the quality of people’s lives. As set out by the National Infrastructure Commission’s Data for the Public Good report (2017), a National Digital Twin could provide insights that increase infrastructure resilience, reduce disruption and delays, optimise our use of resources and boost quality of life for citizens.
An NDT requires information and data to be compatible across the built and natural environment, presented in consistent formats to allow for sharing and integration between different digital twins. It requires curation and mapping of existing and future models and data. An IMF will set out the technical standards, processes and interoperability frameworks needed to create a citizen-centric NDT to manage the built environment of the future.
For more information, read the Pathway to an IMF released in 2020.