An InfraTech policy ecosystem in the United Kingdom

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

Policy approach(es) used to catalyse investment: Development of a national, regional, or sectoral InfraTech strategy

Commercial approach(es) used to catalyse investment: New platform for InfraTech ecosystem

Technology approach(es) used to catalyse investment: A change in data standards/architecture, and implementation of cyber-security or improved privacy measures

Finance approach(es) used to catalyse investment: Public investment 

The UK has developed a government-led program that works with academia and industry to support and promote increasingly sophisticated digitalisation, digital modelling, and information management and sharing, supporting the optimisation of the built environment across its lifecycle and ensuring this is done in a way that maintains safety, security, and resilience. The program has driven the adoption of building information modelling (BIM), is improving information interoperability across the built asset lifecycle, and (through the government-led National Digital Twin Programme) is seeking to grow national capability in digital twinning. Work is ongoing, in collaboration with the Centre for Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), to develop the Information Management Framework, a formal mechanism to ensure that the right information can be made available at the right time to the right people, and that the quality of the information is known and understood. Additional work is being done by the UK's trade association, Tech UK, on shaping policy and standards for transformational technologies and the Connected Places Catapult,  which hosts the Digital Twin Hub and Global BIM Network.

Delivery of the program has enabled the UK to secure 20% savings on capex in 2013 against 2009 / 2010 benchmarks and was identified as a significant contributor to savings of GBP804 million (USD1.1 billion) in construction costs in 2013 / 2014.

The work of the program is referenced in several government strategies, showing the extent of its reach both within the built environment and in the wider data management and sharing context. These include:

• National Data Strategy
• National Infrastructure Strategy
• Transforming Infrastructure Performance – A roadmap to 2030
• Innovation Strategy
• Integrated Review.

BIM has been key to digital transformation and the delivery of improved information management across the UK built environment since the 2011 Government Construction Strategy introduced the requirement for fully collaborative BIM as a minimum by 2016. This is referred to as the UK BIM Mandate and is currently defined by the UK BIM Framework, which is based on the emerging ISO 19650 series of standard, and any of the remaining BS/PAS 1192 suite of standards. It was previously known as BIM Level 2 until it was superseded by the UK BIM Framework in 2018.

Replicability

The UK has worked through government-to-government partnerships around the world supporting development of similar national BIM policies and programmes in countries such as Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States of America.

Other approaches that enabled investment

The UK policies were supported by government and industry-funded socio-technical change programmes dedicated to growing sector capacity and capabilities in InfraTech including UK BIM Task Group, the National Digital Twin programme, the Construction Leadership Council and at NIMA, the UK BIM Alliance

Further information on Global BIM initiatives can be found at Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDDB) and Global BIM Network.