Welcome to the buildingSMART International Newsletter for March 2020. This edition covers important news regarding the International Standards Summit in Oslo (Lillestrøm), Norway. There are also some important changes to the International Council and Chapter Conference will now be part of the same week as the Summit. There is an update from the InfraRoom with some virtual meetings taking place. There is a guest blog from Capgemini and an exciting announcement from the CDE API working group.

The buildingSMART International Standards Summit is Postponed Until 8-11, June 2020

Due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), buildingSMART International (bSI) and buildingSMART Norway (bSN) have postponed the International Standards Summit that was due to take place between 23-26 March 2020 in Lillestrøm, Norway. The event has been rescheduled at the same location for the week 8-11 June 2020.

buildingSMART International is extremely sorry for the change and would like to thank our community for their understanding and appreciates its support in getting through this difficult situation.

The International Council and Chapter Conference which was due to take place in Rome, Italy, has been combined with the new dates.

There will be further information available soon.

You can read the full press release below which includes FAQs.

The International Council and Chapter Conference

The International Council, Board, Strategic Advisory Council and Chapter Conference that was scheduled for Rome, Italy in June has been moved to Lillestrøm, Norway. This will now take part during the full week of the International Standards Summit.

The new dates for this will take place June 11-12, 2020.

CDE API Project Update

The CDE API project team is pleased to share progress from the project. Work on this started in 2019 after the Summit in Dusseldorf and has developed into a working demo. With many vendors involved, it is proving to be a successful project that is going through the bSI Process. 

bSI invites members and the community to be involved with access to the meetings posted on the bSI Events Calendar.

CDE API

Watch the Demo

InfraRoom Updates for March 2020

The InfraRoom has a variety of updates for March 2020. You can read below for more information.

IFC Tunnel (Phase 1) Expert Panel - Webinar

Draft Requirements Analysis

Register for the webinar and get updates on the following:

• Project Scope
• Use Case Descriptions
• What’s next for IFC Tunnel

IFC Road Expert Panel: Project Conclusion - Webinar

Register for the webinar and get updates on the following: 

• Recap of the IFC Road Project development
• Harmonised Conceptual Model
• International Properties
• Prototypical Implementation
• What’s next for the IFC Road Project. (Deployment and Validation of the schema)Add text to your email.

Virtual Workshops

Join the InfraRoom & RailRoom for a series of Virtual Workshops and Expert Panels for the continued Development of IFC for Infrastructure. 

The Infrastructure Room will be hosting a series of Virtual Workshops and Expert Panels commencing March 23.

Workshop 1
Infrastructure Extensions Deployment: Project Update and Context
Date: 23.3.2020
Time: 08:00 - 10:00 (CET)

Workshop 2
Infrastructure Extensions Deployment: Project Planning
Date: 23.3.2020
Time: 11:00 - 13:00 (CET)

The Infra Room hosted an Expert Panel in December 2019. This was the 7th Expert Panel held by the the IfcRoad project and focused on reviewing the progress of the prototypical implementation of the IfcRoad schema. There was also updates on the conceptual model, schema development and property sets.

Geo-referencing User Guides Available

The User Guide for Geo-referencing in IFC is aimed at all building and infrastructure built asset modellers to robustly establish the guiding model set-out parameters and  map location and site configuration for their respective asset (BIM or Digital Engineering) models. The User Guide therefore defines a standardised way for setting up a multi-disciplinary geo-referenced project model using the IFC open standard format data.

Read the reports below.

• Geo-referencing in IFC - Executive Summary
• Geo-referencing in IFC - A: Demonstration Scenario for Model Setup IDM v2.0
• Geo-referencing in IFC - B: Geo-referencing BIM
• Geo-referencing in IFC - C: Process Model
• Geo-referencing in IFC - D: MSI Exchange Requirements

Digital Twins 

"Digital Twins" is fast becoming an important term that is impacted the built asset industry. With different characteristics and meanings, buildingSMART International is taking a leading role in defining what this means for the industry. A group of contributors from across the industry met to focus on;

• A clear definition of digital twins for buildingSMART
• Why it matters
• What role standards will play in the growing use of digital twins

This meeting which was held in Munich, Germany, brought together leadership from buildingSMART International, leading academia and prominent members from the community to work on these focus areas.

There will be deliverables and updates coming in due course such as a short white paper outlining the approach and definitions for buildingSMART and milestones for future meetings.

(from left to right - Mark Enzer, André Borrmann, Juergen Gerecke, Wolfgang Hass, Léon van Berlo, Natalie Weiss, Christian Frey, Ulrich Hartmann, Jakob Beetz, Frank Weiss, Aidan Mercer)

Featured Blog

The importance of Industry Foundation Classes in

Building Information Modelling

Learn from Oliver Wheeler-Nurdin, Energy, Utilities & Chemicals atCapgemini how adopting the IFC standard and Building Information Modelling (BIM) will produce significant time and cost saving benefits. This blog looks at what IFC is in relation to BIM and how how the schema can be applied as the industry continues to find ways to be more efficient and effective.

New Books Available

buildingSMART has two books available authored by buildingSMART leaders. Patrick MacLeamy has written "Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm: The People, Stories and Strategies Behind HOK" and Mark Baldwin authored "The BIM-Manager: A Practical Guide for BIM Project Management". You can find out more below.

Call for Funding:

The IFC Road is entering a crucial next phase and is in need of final funding.  The conceptual model has been developed with the emphasis now on implementation and testing. Register your interest here.

Chapter Notification:

John Mitchell’s, the Chair of buildingSMART Australasia stepped down from the Board of buildingSMART Australasia after 22 years at the 2019 AGM in December. We wish him well and thank him for his many contributions. Read more.

Event:

buildingSMART Germany is holding their 18th annual user day which includes working groups and dinner party.

You can find out more information here. 

Event:

The CDE API working group meets every second Monday. Here you will find team members working on developing the API standard as part of the bSI Process. Here is a link to the working group. 

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