A consortium led by Skanska has been awarded £680,000 by Innovate UK to collate and visualise infrastructure and community data, supporting more efficient project delivery.
Skanska designs, builds and operates some of the UK’s main buildings and infrastructure assets, including schools, hospitals, roads and railways as well as gas and water works.
Through the ‘Visualise’ project, Skanska and its partners will aim to collate and overlay information from these buildings and systems, combining it with community based data – from environmental to social media information.
Sam Stacey, Director of Innovation and Business Improvement, Skanska UK, said:
“Across all of our projects, we hold a rich source of data.
“If we can find a way to collate and share it in an appropriate way, we could support our customers in reducing risks and finding ways to deliver projects more efficiently and effectively.
“Through seeing the bigger picture, we could work better together so project delivery is more coordinated. This will optimise the use of equipment and resources, while minimising disruption to local people.
“We’re looking forward to working with our customers to see what data can be shared. It will help support more informed decision-making and delivery of the targets in the Construction 2025 industrial strategy – 50% faster delivery, 50% lower emissions and 33% lower costs.”
The total project cost is just over £1m, with £680,000 coming from Innovate UK – the UK’s innovation agency – and the rest from the project partners. This also includes:
• Building Research Establishment – building science centre that works to improve the built environment through research and knowledge generation
• 3D Repo – develops 3D cloud based Building Information Modelling (BIM)
• CartoConsult – experts in capturing, analysing and visualising geospatial data through open GIS software
• Unit9 – production studio that focuses on virtual reality, digital and gaming
The project starts in March 2017 and will run for 18 months.