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understanding Interoperability: a new steel strategy E nter project information once and it will be available—and usable—to every stakeholder as needed, regardless of the software platform used, saving time and money while improving communication and collaboration. At least, that’s the goal of interoperability. The structural steel industry, under the leadership of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), is working to bring that vision to reality. It is developing a three-step interoperability strategy to evaluate data exchanges and integrate structural steel information into buildingSMART’s Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), an open and neutral data exchange format that covers multiple disciplines across the construction industry. The structural steel industry has been at the forefront of advancing interoperability through open standards since 1998, when it adopted the CIMSteel Integration Standard (CIS/2) as an open standard for the industry. Since then, however, the landscape of software interoperability and integration has changed dramatically. Even after a decade of progress, the issue has not been solved. In addition, CIS/2’s “steel only” format has meant that new solutions were needed as other disciplines began demanding data exchange. These changes have led to the industry’s new strategy to advance interoperability across the construction industry: Assess and enhance data exchanges available today and then integrate that knowledge into IFC, a common data schema that makes it possible to hold and exchange data between different proprietary software applications. Although IFC has yet to address some details of a building’s life cycle and does not yet include the depth of data that CIS/2 encompasses, the IFC schema aspires to cover every aspect of design, procurement, manufacture and assembly, and operations and maintenance. Acknowledging that raising IFC to the level required by the structural steel industry will take time, AISC has adopted a three-part strategy: • Short term: Ensure model data can be exchanged as needed by the structural steel industry, regardless of the nature of the exchange or format used. • Medium term: Promote IFC, and make the format more accessible and understood by working with buildingSMART, other trade organizations, academia and subject experts. • Long term: Facilitate the development and implementation of IFC to satisfy the needs of the structural steel industry. This new strategy ensures that data related to structural steel can be exchanged up and down the supply chain and with other disciplines and trades. AISC contends that open standards will never be able to transfer every piece of data a user or client may want or indeed that two software programs could exchange. Adds Deke Smit h, execut ive director of buildingSMART: “If all the market sectors had organizations representing them with [AISC’s] level of understanding and dedication to getting the job of interoperability done, we would see a far more effective construction industry in the United States, one that was more competitive internationally.” chrIS Moor IS DIrector of INDUStrY INItIatIVeS at the taMpa, fLa.-BaSeD aMerIcaN INStItUte of SteeL coNStrUctIoN. to LearN More aBoUt INteroperaBILItY aND the DIrectIoN takeN BY the StrUctUraL SteeL INDUStrY, coNtact Moor at (813) 401-1594 or at Moor@aISc.orG. dbia.org STEEL REPORT / By chris Moor winter//2011 17 http://www.dbia.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue

IQ Winter 2011: Annual Awards Issue

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