Funded by the Connect and Construct General secretaries meeting of the of the AIE and GCI- UICP associations 6 May 2014.

Funded by the

Connect and Construct

General secretaries meeting of the of the AIE and GCI-UICP associations

6 May 2014

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Funded by theKGZ-IC

AUEB-RC/TRANSLOG

Agenda

– Introduction to Connect & Construct– Market Analysis results– C&C framework– Way forward

UEAPME construction forum, 25 October 2013

Introduction to Connect & Construct

Objectives, goals and governance

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ICT as driver for economic growth

Digital AgendaInnovation UnionAn integrated Industrial Policy for

the globalisation Era

Getting most out of SMEs

Seamless eBusiness environmentBoosting Innovation

Small Business Act for Europe

Connect & Construct’s final aim is to make the construction sector more efficient and to boost competitiveness

Policy Background:

A better use of ICT can help to improve construction business processes

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Project overview

Client: European Commission, Directorate General Enterprise and Industry

Underlying policy implementation programme: European e-Business Support Network for SMEs (eBSN)

Previous demonstration actions:

– Fashion

– Automotive

– Transport

– Food

Project consortium: Capgemini, Arcadis, Prof. Konstantinos Zografos, AUEB-RC Translog, STU-K, Bycon and Public Cinema

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Connect & Construct focuses on improving digital information exchange between companies

Answers to the daily needs of industry players; Enables digital information exchange between companies, regardless of the

ICT systems used; Defines principles and rules for information exchange based on open

standards; Is accessible to both large and small companies, without having to make

substantial investments; Makes cooperation between companies easier.

Connect & Construct developed a framework that:

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Connect & Construct has not developed a new solution, but an open source

connection between existing solutions

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Project status

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Final event for

presenting framework

1. Analysing the Construction industry

• ICT usage•Standards•Challenges•Business scenarios

• ICT impacts

2. Developing the Framework

•Solution for seamless electronic data exchange

•Principles and rules for compliance

3. Piloting the Framework

• Phase 1 pilots construction companies

• Phase 2 pilots construction companies

• Evaluation

4. Developing the Governance Model

• Governance scenarios

• Policy recommendations

Jan. 2013 Nov. 2014Jun. 2013 Sep. 2013 Jul. 2014

5. Communicating and disseminating the project results

- Pilot phase 2: improved framework

- Development governance model

Results Market analysis

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The construction industry is project-based, geographically diverse and highly fragmented

There is intensive exchange of data/information (multiple actors, multiple phases, frequency of exchange, “heavy” files) - information exchange needs will be intensified in the future

Current ICT uptake in the construction supply chain is low, but will increase substantially in the future;

ICT uptake by SMEs is substantially lower than that of large construction companies. The more sophisticated the solution is, the bigger this difference becomes;

SMEs perceive the benefits of ICT usage in terms of increase of market potential and innovation capacity to a greater extent than larger companies;

There is very low integration of existing ICT systems and there are many interoperability problems.

The Market Analysis shows that mainly SMEs struggle with ICT usage, but that they also perceive greater benefits

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The main barriers to digital information exchange are:

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Data format (the paper and PDF problem, different standards, file sizes, as-built info)

Semantic issues (drawing standards, object libraries, definition of terms)

Process (communication plan, version control, change management, tasks and responsibilities)

Cash flow, lack of protocols

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Limited financial affordability

Requiring in-house ICT expertise

Limited customization to the needs of SMEs

Limited interoperability with other systems

What about the existing ICT systems for the CI?

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Affordable Not requiring heavy knowledge of information management Not requiring heavy technological infrastructure Easy to use Safe to use Robust Sustainable (future-proof) Independent of current software used

Taking into account the characteristics of SMEs the framework should be:

The C&C framework

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The Connect & Construct (C&C) Consortium is currently developing an Interoperability Framework which:

• has the form of an open and flexible collaboration platform, enabling the communication between many heterogeneous systems of different business actors

• enables the digital exchange of various types of both technical (especially “heavy” drawing/design) and business/administrative data

• capitalizes on existing ICT solutions and mature (open) standards

• caters to the ICT needs and abilities of (particularly) SMEs through the deployment of free of charge and easy to use solutions

The C&C solution

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Basic C&C platform outline

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Model server Web user interface App servicesDMS

Version control

Multi-project

Unlimited file size

Support of file types

IFC support

Model exchange/merge

Task management

Communication plan

Multi-project

e-collaboration

Access rights / authorisations

Access rights / authorisations

Model server access

DMS repository access

C&C platform functionalities

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Client

Specialised consultants/

engineers

Architect/ engineer

Project manager

SuppliersLocal

architects/ engineers

V1.3

V1.3V1.3

V1.3V1.3

“too large”

File sharing service

V1.2

Notification

V1.2

“cannot view”

“cannot view”

V1.3.2

“Exchange of drawings and models” for the “preparation of detailed design” business process (sample case: distribution of updated design by architect to all actors involved)

Information Exchange – the old way (example)

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C&C Framework

ClientSpecialised

consultants/ engineers

Architect/ engineer

Project managerSuppliers

Local architects/ engineers

Notification

DMS IFC model server

Web interfaceServices

V1.3 NotificationNotificationNotificationNotification V1.3V1.3V1.3

V1.2V1.1V1.0

V1.3

“Exchange of drawings and models” for the “preparation of detailed design” business process (sample case: distribution of updated design by architect to all actors involved)

Information exchange – the framework way

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More than 75% of respondents had a strongly positive opinion about the overall assessment of the system

More than 85% of respondents was satisfied with the existing functionalities of the system

More than half of the respondents reported a reduction of more than 15% in the number of errors and in time needed to exchange information

It took less than 3 hours for the majority (60%) of respondents to become a novice user, in about one day they were an advance user

Benefits reported after 1st phase pilots...

..However, only 15% of companies thinks their business partners have

sufficient knowledge to manage digital information exchange effectively

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C&C introduces an information portal to help companies starting to exchange information digitally

Test your digital maturity according to four main elements:

– Organisational structure - Culture

– Technical enablers - Collaboration

Receive a personalised advise on how to increase your digital maturity and what information could help in doing so

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Self-assessment tool

www.connectandconstruct.eu

Structured overview of ICT tools and standards in Europe and their main characteristics

Lists of useful websites and articles

Explanation of why and when to use certain standards and protocols

Explanation of BIM and how to start working with BIM

Information portal

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Information portal and self-assessment tool

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Way forward

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1) Test the Framework with different construction supply chain actors around Europe on the basis of pre-defined business scenarios addressing various types of business transactions among multiple actors both within and between lifecycle phases

2) Assess and prove the benefits of the Framework under real-world conditions

3) Adjust the Framework to the practical needs and abilities of construction supply chain actors (with special emphasis on SMEs)

Step 1: Second phase pilots – April to September 2014

The pilots are held to:

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By joining the pilots, companies will benefit from:

The opportunity to shape the framework; Access to tools for electronic data exchange without the need for any

structural financial investments; Personal guidance on how to make rapid improvements in the way you

exchange business data with other companies, without having to make radical changes to your current ICT infrastructure;

Possibility to save time; A reduction of the number of corrections / failures; Working and delivering in a BIM and IFC compliant environment, which is

increasingly more often required by clients; Working in a shared online project environment with all DMS and technical

exchange functionalities.

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Interested?

Register on www.connectandconstruct.eu or ask for more information via [email protected]

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Step 2: Developing the Governance model

Selection of actors that can act as governance entities

Decription of required activities to move forward on BIM

Decription of required activities to raise awareness and increase market uptake

Decription of required activities to move forward standardisation?

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Step 3: Final conference – 20 November 2014

Future outlook on digital information exchange Networking with more than 150 participants from the

Construction Industry Presentation of good practices Views of policy officers Views of large clients

Join the conference and register on www.connectandconstruct.eu

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Website: www.connectandconstruct.eu E-mail: [email protected]

Linked-in Group: Connect&Construct

Twitter: @CnctandCnstrct

About Connect & Construct (C&C)

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Thank you for your attention!

Questions, Comments or Ideas?

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What could be the added value for electrical and mechanical contractors? What would you need in your own organisation to be able to exchange

information digitally? What would you need from other actors to be able to exchange information

digitally? What actors could help to sustain the framework after this project ends?

Questions