Better information management will help organisations deliver better whole-life outcomes while improving productivity, cutting costs and saving time, writes Paul Wilkinson, vice-chair of nima
It is over 15 years since the government set out its Building Information Modelling (BIM) vision, and nearly a decade since BIM adoption was mandated across construction projects procured by central government departments.
Since then, the Construction Playbook has endorsed the UK BIM Framework (a free resource created in 2019 and today maintained by nima and the British Standards Institute, BSI).
In 2022, a further mandate – the Information Management Mandate – was published in the Transforming Infrastructure Performance Roadmap to 2030.
Many organisations already recognise the environmental, social and business benefits and competitive advantages to be gained from adoption of information and data management best practices.
However, the potential of better information management (IM) to improve productivity, cut costs and save time is currently overlooked or dismissed by thousands of businesses across the built and managed environment.
Some executives may be excited about the potential of emerging digital capabilities such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT) and digital twins, but efficiently incorporating these innovations into planning, design, construction and long-term repair,
maintenance and operation of assets requires a fundamental transformation in the sector’s information management competence.
The Information Management Initiative
The Information Management Initiative (IMI) aims to transform information management practices across the built and natural environment sector. Led by the Construction Leadership Council and nima (formerly the UK BIM Alliance), the IMI is a sector-wide
change management programme. It:
- Sets out a sector-wide directive to industry, including some overarching principles and a route map through to 2030.
- Invites organisations to sign up to those principles.
- Encourages businesses to create their own organisation-specific mandates – setting information principles and rules to help them achieve desired outcomes.
- Will provide a framework and resources to support businesses’ employees in applying role-specific rules, standards and guidance.
A year in development and launched in November 2024, the IMI aims to build on the UK’s world-leading experience in making BIM business as usual across large swathes of
the sector.
It seeks to capitalise upon the shifts in digital capability witnessed during the Covid-19 pandemic, the ongoing interest in creating and maintaining safety-critical building information (the “golden thread”), and the imperative to deliver more carbon-efficient buildings and infrastructure.
Asset owner-operators, their financial partners and insurers are becoming increasingly conscious that trusted, quality information about built assets adds significant value to those assets. As a result, they, and industry regulators, are increasingly placing stringent information requirements upon supply chain organisations – contractors, consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, technology providers, facility managers, etc – collaborating to design, deliver, operate and maintain assets.
IMI benefits
The IMI will deliver major benefits. It aims to achieve “significant improvements in cost, value, health and safety, sustainability and performance” and help deliver a built
environment where people, businesses and civil society can thrive.
The CLC has also identified a potential £45bn saving through improving productivity. And, at the organisation level, it quotes analysis from KPMG/Atkins suggesting that businesses can achieve between £6.90 and £7.40 in direct cost savings for every pound invested in better information management.
But support from across the sector is needed to realise these benefits and returns on investment. Organisations including AtkinsRéalis, BEAMA, BSI, Binnies, the CICES, the Construction Products Association, McGee and the National Housing Improvement Council signed up to the IMI ahead of its launch. More have since been onboarded as signatories, with some additionally helping to fund the IMI’s development. All will be recognised as organisations pushing the sector forward.
With every worker dependent upon information to undertake daily tasks, ensuring the right information is immediately available to the right person at the right time and in the right format will also benefit every individual (they won’t need to be IT experts to do their jobs!).
And through their peoples’ routine use of common digital standards to create, exchange and use information, organisations will also be better at satisfying client’s information needs, more compliant with procurement and statutory obligations, and ultimately more efficient, competitive and profitable.
