Improving interoperability of AEC collaborative software through the creation of data exchange standards

Today collaborative systems are increasingly being used to manage project information on large and medium sized construction projects. The speed of expansion in use of these systems combined with the lack of consolidation has led to a highly fragmented marketplace for collaborative products. Organisations participating in the construction lifecycle are currently free to select a collaborative system from any of the available providers, but once selected were unable to effectively change service provider until the conclusion of the project. This perceived lock-in along with concerns over the stability of some technology providers has created unease amongst the user community and is hindering the adoption of collaborative tools. Since 2003 the bulk of major UK construction project collaborative software providers have been working together to develop standards that will allow for project data to be transferred between vendor applications. Under the umbrella of the Network of Construction Collaboration Technology Providers (NCCTP), a number of solutions have been designed allowing for project data to be transferred between heterogeneous collaborative systems. Through extensive industry participation, this thesis shows how the theoretical work done in creating representations of collaborative systems can be applied to real world system to allow for data to be transfer in bulk, incrementally or in real time. The findings of work are presented in four peer reviewed papers, three technical reports and a number of supporting documents which comprise the developed data exchange standards. Work in this field is continuing to evolve with the suppliers of collaborative systems seeking to implement additional integration

The practicalities of transferring data between project collaboration systems used by the construction industry

As part of an industry-lead initiative, standards have been developed to enable bulk exchange of project data between project collaboration systems used by the construction industry. Through the work of developing exchange standards to the practical implementation of data transfer, this paper examines the issues that need to be addressed by both solution providers and their clients when considering moving a project’s data between two different instances of collaborative software. It highlights the practical difficulties of keeping the consistency of the data during the transfer process and gives solutions that can help to overcome these and other problems. The paper draws on experience gained through the development of vendor-neutral standards and real-life project migrations to put forward procedures which should be adopted by vendors, and gives insight into the underlying process for clients. The paper will form a vital framework for clients to determine if the benefits of moving projects between suppliers outweigh the difficulties associated with the move, and to help vendors put processes in place to best facilitate the transfer

An XML based standard to enable bulk project data transfer between heterogeneous systems

The objective of the work reported in this paper was the development of an XML based standard which would enable project data, such as contacts, drawings, documentation, instructions and emails, to be transferred between collaborative systems provided by different software vendors and used by construction organisations. The primary aim being to create a transfer mechanism which would allow project data transfer without modification of existing collaborative system deployed by vendors. This paper discusses the business and technological needs for such a transfer capability between collaborative systems, by examining the current use of these tools and related problems encountered by clients. It sets out the main components that underlie the majority of construction specific collaborative systems which forms the basis of the generic collaborative system model which has been developed, contrasting this with previous data exchange efforts. This paper shows how the XML Schema was developed and the procedures undertaken to ensure that it could be utilised by the maximum possible set of vendors. It sets out the best practice procedure for implementations by vendor organisations and the required testing to confirm a successful transfer. The paper also highlights some of the practical problems that were encountered when transferring projects between heterogeneous systems during the project and in subsequent deployments of the solution. Finally, the paper concludes with methods of taking the work forward as a foundation to allow for greater interoperability between systems in the future