Aug 14 2008

BIM for Building Engineers

The latest Cadalyst AEC Insight column, Modeling Technology for Building Engineers, by Jerry Laiserin talks about the particular challenges of coordinating designs produced by architects with the needs of engineers involved in designing mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) services. It reiterates a message conveyed several times over the past year or so: there are different flavours of building information modelling (BIM) for different professionals and they are not (yet) easily integrated (see my December 2007 post Collaboration: standards, viewing, plus industry education, for example).

Meanwhile (and still on BIM), AECbytes talks about interoperability and sustainable design, courtesy of a contribution by Australian architect Sid Thoo. In the light of the recent Bentley/Autodesk interoperability announcement, he looks at how interoperability and innovative communication and collaboration relates to green building design. Extending Jerry’s theme, Sid writes:

“What we really need is the ability to create a single building model that can be used not only for architectural and engineering workflows, but also for the purposes of building simulation and analysis.”

 

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/bim-for-building-engineers/

Aug 13 2008

Be2Camp

This page is devoted to Be2camp. Some users have found that their corporate firewalls do not allow access to the main Be2camp website (here), hosted by Ning, so this page provides an overview, plus links to relevant articles, and – most importantly – a link to the registration page.

What is Be2camp?

Be2camp is an event that will be run on unconference or BarCamp
principles, that will seek to relate Web 2.0 to
the built environment – and vice versa!

Web 2.0 means the use of web technologies and web design to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. Tools range from blogs, RSS feeds, iGoogle and mindmaps to extranets, wikis, building information modelling (BIM) and virtual worlds, to name but a few.

‘Built environment‘ people could be involved in planning and design, construction,
manufacture, operation and maintenance – basically, it includes everything that the human race has already constructed on our planet, plus everything that might be constructed in the future. Sustainability will, therefore, be a dominant theme for Be2camp.

Where and when?

Venue: the Building Centre, Store Street, London WC1.

Date: 10 October 2008 – a one-day event, maybe with evening social event

Agenda: As with other unconferences the agenda will be set by those wishing to attend, participate and talk. Already, the day is taking shape, with three strong themes:

  • Collaboration and lean construction – How can we use technology to collaborate better?
  • Communication and connection – Which Web 2.0 tools can we use?
  • Servers, software, SaaS and sustainability – What hardware and software developments might help us deliver a better built environment?

How can I register?

 

If you have difficulty accessing the main Be2camp website, click here to
launch the registration form in a new window.

What will it cost?

Currently, no fee has been agreed for the event, but we hope that those attending on the day will be prepared to donate a modest sum – at least around £25 – to cover expenses that are not already covered by sponsors. We believe this makes Be2camp a bargain compared to the £500+ currently being demanded for other Web 2.0 conferences.

Where can I learn more?

Unsure what an ‘unconference’ means? Have a look at these two articles (both written be people involved in Be2camp):

You can also email Paul Wilkinson with your questions, offers to speak, sponsorship ideas, etc, or leave a comment below.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/be/

Aug 13 2008

New lick of paint

It’s nearly three years since I started this blog, so a new design was long overdue. I’ve stuck to the same pallette of colours, but tried to make the design a bit cleaner and easier to read (two columns instead of three, and then fewer items in the side column). I’ve also tidied up some of the categories, added a photograph instead of the book cover, and made other changes to reflect that I no longer solely focus on what we used to call ‘extranets’.

Today, my focus is much broader. While I’m still interested in the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) sector, I’m also just as interested in collaborative working, in sustainability and Web 2.0  and other ICT tools.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/new-lick-of-paint/

Aug 12 2008

Next step: Collaborative procurement of collaboration?

Over on [my employer] BIW Technologies’ SaaStainability blog, we have been following UK government’s efforts to green its ICT operations. Following the publication of a new Office of Government Commerce delivery plan that talks about collaborative procurement of central goods and services, including ICT, we wonder if this latest sustainable procurement drive might extend to procurement of SaaS-based solutions to support collaborative working in the delivery and management of UKGov’s built assets.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/next-step-collaborative-procurement-of-collaboration/

Aug 11 2008

Dipity.com

My enthusiasm for Web 2.0 tools shows no signs of abating, and I have been experimenting with Dipity.com, a fantastic tool for producing timelines.

It can seamlessly incorporate various sources of information; you can upload your own images, link to website images and maps, and suggest sources such as RSS or Flickr feeds. And like many social networking tools, you can share your timelines with friends, allow other people to edit and rate them, and embed them into websites and blogs.

See the timeline for BIW Technologies [my employer] below, for example. There is also a Be2camp timeline – solely generated from RSS feeds (Twitter, Technorati search, Flickr, etc) – that I’ve created for the Be2camp homepage.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/dipitycom/

Aug 05 2008

CADaaS again

My discussions earlier this year about whether CAD solutions might be delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications (see CADaaS continued, for example), are being echoed by other bloggers. The latest to consider the Future of CAD and cloud computing is Lou Gallo on the Solidworks: Heard blog.

Update (12 August 2008): Even one of Autodesk’s resident bloggers has wondered Is there demand for SaaS in the world of CAD? – though Scott Sheppard’s answer doesn’t suggest that it’s likely anytime soon in an organisation already serving more than a million subscribers to conventionally hosted software. Still, Autodesk Labs are doing some interesting stuff with SaaS products including Project Freewheel, Project Draw (see post), Project Showroom and Autodesk Seek.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/cadaas-again/

Aug 04 2008

Think no more

Zerochampion blogger Phil Clark is today (Think RIP) coming to terms with publisher CMP’s decision to discontinue its sustainability conference/exhibition event, Think – the latest manifestation of which, Think 08, I attended earlier this year. As the event organiser, he lists various reasons behind the decision:

  • Crowded market/branding
  • Names – “we were too late to get some showbiz names for the event”
  • Preaching to the converted
  • The market – green initiatives were hit by the credit crunch.
  • Live/Online? – on this last point, Phil writes:

With the proliferation of events is there a risk of ennui setting in for face-to-face? Are we all now going to pile into online events from now on? People have offered similar predictions for radio and print but such an interpretation is way off the mark. Just look at how live events/festivals have now exploded when it comes to all things cultural to suggest that if you pitch it right crowds will come. The disappointment is that we were unable to crack it for Think.

As regular readers will now, I have been wondering about the wisdom of live events as marketing and communication tools in the AEC industry for some time, particularly when it comes to promoting ICT tools. But, as identified in relation to Sustainability Now (also organised by Phil – see my posts here and here, for instance), pure online events are not the perfect alternative either.

With Be2camp coming up in mid-October, I am hoping that Phil is correct when he says: “if you pitch it right crowds will come” (echoes of Field of Dreams?). The often-used Web 2.0 phrase “the wisdom of crowds” is particularly appropriate here, I think, too, as we are looking to Be2camp’s participants to set the agenda, to identify speakers, volunteer sponsors and to agree how the event should be structured. In this way, rather than the organisers dictating the course of the event, the destiny of the event will be in the hands of those wanting to get involved, whether they attend live or via online routes. Perhaps Phil might be tempted to join in himself?

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/think-no-more/

Aug 04 2008

BIW grows 24% in 2007

BIW Technologies [my employer] grew its turnover by 24 per cent in the year to 30 September 2007, achieving over £0.5m in profits in the process (see full news release here). The company’s turnover in 2007 grew to £5.76m, up from £4.66m the previous year. A modest 2006 loss of £171,000 was turned around in 2007: BIW generated a profit of £550,000 during the year, and now has an order book worth well over £12m.

This growth performance parallels that achieved by one of BIW’s main competitors in the UK market (see 4Projects turnover up a third – the graph shows how BIW has maintained its lead over 4Projects), makes BIW the first UK-based construction collaboration technology provider to take its annual turnover past the £5 million milestone, and comes amid continuing newspaper speculation that the business is planning a flotation to fund further expansion (see 14 July Daily Telegraph item and 2 August Times article, for example).

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/biw-grows-24-in-2007/

Aug 01 2008

BE2Camp, 10 October, London

Web 2.0 meets the UK construction industry at a novel new event, BE2camp, to be held on Friday 10 October at the Building Centre in London. I have been part of the (international) planning team behind this event, so I am delighted that we now have some details confirmed. If you fancy becoming part of the event, whether as a sponsor, a speaker or simply a participant (whether in person or virtually), please join in.

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/08/be2camp-10-october-london/

Jul 30 2008

Paper cuts

I spent a couple of hours this morning with a postgraduate student researching ‘project extranets’ as part of his dissertation. Among the topics we discussed was the extent to which construction collaboration technologies reduce the volume of paper used on a project.

Working for BIW, I have seen great variations in the use of paper at a project team or company level and among individuals. At one extreme, you get project teams which are almost solely ‘electronic’, happily using online mark-up and commenting tools, perhaps only printing out a drawing when they need something to show to site operatives. At the other extreme, you get companies who insist on having a hard copy of every project-related communication, and for whom electronic communication almost seems to be an irritation.

(Only last week I visited a project where the project manager criticised designers insistent on annotating drawings by hand, after which the drawing is laboriously scanned to create a PDF and uploaded back to the collaboration platform. Here, the image of the markings and comments must be associated with the initial issue of the drawing, and the proposed amendments cannot easily be extracted for production of subsequent versions of the drawing. Crazy.)

I was reminded of this issue when I read Phil Clark’s latest post, Paper cuts, on his Zerochampion blog. Apparently, he received an email with an attachment that was blocked from being printed out. Now, if that approach could be extended across design teams, it would certainly help ensure that everyone collaborated electronically, as well as reducing the amount of paper generated, distributed and stored by project team members.

Related posts:

Permanent link to this article: https://extranetevolution.com/2008/07/paper-cuts/

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