An investigation of civil information modelling (CIM) for the management of civil infrastructure facilities and assets and its value-add potential

Abstract

Information Modelling (IM) workflows are increasingly being applied to public infrastructure projects. However, it is not well understood how: (1) civil information models can be extended to post-construction lifecycle phases; and (2) how to define business value and measure economic and other social benefits that these data-rich, digital models might provide. This report captures the findings from an investigation into the value-add potential of civil infrastructure information models integrated with GIS-enabled systems for facilities and asset management. Some general conclusions from the literature indicate that full CIM integration within a GIS-enabled enterprise asset management system requires extensive work to develop the necessary ontologies for semantic modelling. Current standardized data structures such as IFC4 and CityGML v3 are not sufficient for seamless and efficient data exchange across platforms. Furthermore, there is a general lack of data and structured analysis related to the valuation of implementing IM technology in industry to justify this type of investment.