LiveCol explores the future of real-time data sharing cooperation during construction project planning

The picture shows the data gathered during the workshop.

The LiveCol project develops and validates new methods and tools that enable partners to communicate and share information concurrently within virtual 3D environments. The latest workshop focused on the transition in the building design process from document sharing to real-time data sharing online. Participants actively approached the topic from different perspectives, resulting in descriptions of the phenomenon, its possibilities, and its requirements.

The workshop was a continuation of a previous one, which centered on data regulation and its impact on corporate collaboration. Both are a part of VTT’s research in the LiveCol project, led by senior expert Jutta Suksi. Her research topic is the transition from document sharing to real-time data transfers, as well as various legal perspectives on the future of data sharing.

– In the previous workshop, I introduced where the European regulatory landscape is heading, as there are some really significant driving forces. We sought insights into how these will reflect on the built environment sector, after which we discussed the key areas of regulation, how IoT device data moves, what internal data management within organizations looks like, and what kind of data and information flow is involved in collaboration. There may be strict restrictions in sector-specific and national legislation that need to be considered in the collaboration. Based on the results of these discussions, we then focused on data sharing in the second workshop, Suksi says.

Currently, data sharing in the building design phase often relies on files, but there is often a need or benefit for real-time information sharing as well.

– Information sharing becomes more complicated with such intermediate stages and requires coordination, so it could be done more straightforwardly with real-time information sharing. Now we are considering what this really means and what examples exist in the direction of real-time data exchange. The discussion also highlighted the opportunities, requirements, and challenges. Future work is largely based on the inputs we have received from this. Next, I will explore data productization and how it fits into the whole process, Suksi states.

– It was important to have discussions with experts on the topic, as they know the essential aspects and details that are extremely useful in focusing future work, Suksi said after the workshop.

More information:

Jutta Suksi
Senior Specialist, VTT
jutta.suksi@vtt.fi