What we do not like to talk about at Parties.

(A

brief

discussion

about

Building

Information

T e c h n o l o g y i n t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n i n d u s t r y i n I r e l a n d , U n i t e d Kingdomandfurtherbeyond)

What is a cube?
Untilquiterecently,Ididn'tevenknowwhatadata'cube'wasmyself,orevenwhata 'database'wastobehonest.Myimpression,wouldhavebeenlikethatofmany.Adatabase isabitlikeaspreadsheet. It'sworthtalkingaboutthisandtryingtoexplainwhatthingslike'cubes'are. Databasesontheirowncanbecumbersometodealwithseveralterabytesinsizeforlarge onesorprojectswhichspanseveralyears,andcubescanbecreatedwhicharecarefully designedtofocusinonasubsetofthatoverallset.Theyareusedto'speed'upaccessand interactionwitha'database',andexposeittouseinallkindsofclientsidetools,various productscanbeusedtoconvertrawdatabasesinto'cube'.

Thecubecanbedefinedwithmanymorethanthreedimensions,butitisstillreferredto justasacube.Timedimensionofcourseisimportantandthingslikegeographicalregion (whichcanbemappedbackontocloudishmapservices). Itisworthbearinginmind,assomeonerecentlyremindedme,thatabuildingcanbeseen asasetofcoordinateslikea3Dmap.ThisiswherewecouldseeGISandBIMsortofblend togetherastechnologies. Havinggotthe'cube'outoftherawdatabase,thenittoocanstillbetoolargeand cumbersometoworkwith.Sothen,wecangetthingscalledCubeSlicerstocutbitsoutof thecube,andcreatelocalsubcubesaccordingtocertainsearchrulesetc,sothatthelittle cubeisfasterandeasiertoworkwith. Bearinmind,theoriginalideaofa'database',goingbacktothe1960sandbeyond,was intendedtospeedupanalysisofraw,unstructured,unmanageabledata,inthefirstplace. Itseemsthatlikeeverygeneration,somethingcropsupwhichtreatsthelastgenerationasif itwastheunmanageablething,andwegetsomethingnewwhichclaimstobealotfaster. Butofcourse,whatwealsoknowisthat'data'hasbecomelikeagiantTsnumaitoday, growingalotfasterthananyofthetechnologiesthatwearedevelopingtodealwithit.

What happens after the cube?

Whatalsotendstohappenisthatoneslicefromonecube,fromonedatabase,...canbe loadedinwithanotherdifferentslice,fromadifferentcube,whichmayhavecomefroma fewotherdatabases.Andonandon. Whathappensthen? Thenyougettheseslicedanddicedupdatacubes,beinguploaded.Googleforexample, offersit'sgadgets,whicharelikesocketsuponthecloud,whichourhybridizedcubesare pluggedinto,andaremadeaccessibleouttophonesandwhatnot.

ToquotearecentMicroSoftdatasheetonBusinessAnalysisReportingServices:"Use subscriptionstodeliverreportsataspecifictimeand/orlocationorenableuserstodefine theirowndatadrivenalertstoproactivelydeliverinformationtriggeredbychangingdata conditionsinoperationalreports.Flexiblealertrulescanbecustomizedandmanagedby eachuser". Soontheclientsideofthings,thedeviceinone'shand,onecanalsochooseorfilterthe amountortypeofstuffthatonewishestohavesent.Soitsortofworksfrombothends,the serversidecanbehighlycustomised,andsocantheclientside.Andofcourse,thewhole thingstartstodynamicallyupdateinone'shandandsoforth. Howdoesitallrelatebacktoconstruction?Well,inconstructionwedon'thavedatabases even.Nottomindanyotherpartsoftheinfrastructureinthemoderninformation technologylandscape.Thatshouldtellussomething.AndforallourBIMconferencesthat wehave,wedon'thearverymuchtalkaboutiteither.I'llbettheterm'cube',oreven databaserarelyifever,getsused.IfIwentthrough'howmany'standardsandguide brochuresforconstruction,IdoubtI'dfindthosewordseither.

Interaction with the cube.

Butwhatisalmostcertain,isthatsomehow,someway,inthefuture,peoplewhohave neverevenseenaBIMdesignscreen,willfindthemselvesinteractingwithitinallkindsof weirdandwonderfulways. Sayatradesmanormanagerinaconstructionsuppliers,whoneedstodeliverstuff.Bythe timeitgetsdowntohis/herphone/tablet,itmightbeenslicedamilliondifferentways havingfirststartedoutinsideaBIMproject.All'mashedtogether'withtheLordonlyknows whatmaybehisownproductcatalogueorotherinformationsource(weather, temperaturedataperhaps,invoicestatements??..orsomeweirdderivativeofallof those,..),..andthenrelatedbacktosome'map'ofa3Dbuildingwithgridlinereferences, GPSorwhatever. Inotherwords,havingbeenforged,extractedandthenhostedontheequivalentof YouTubeinthecloud,itwillhaveextraneousdetailexcludedsothatitperformsrelatively wellenoughtogettoabrowseronsomeone'sphone.

TheBritishCabinetOfficehavemaderumblingsofaworldof'BIMapps',atvariousstages. Anapptofigureoutwhatamountofconcretetoordertopourawall.Itwouldecho,the commentsfromsomeBritishcontractors,inrelationtoBIMbeingaccessiblebyalotof differenttradesetc.ButwhatIamsaying,isthatperhapsthisnotionofguyswalkingaround withiPadandgraphicalmodelexplorersonthem,isawaytoosimplistic. WhatIexpectmore,isthatworkerswillinteractwithBIMinways,thattheydonoteven suspectit.It'slikewhatKevinKellyalwayssaidabouttechnology.Whenitisatitsmost advanced,itdisappearsintothebackground.I.e.Notlikesomeforegroundfriendlywhirrly gigonaguy'sphone.

Talking about the cube.

TherearesomeveryrareconstructionprofessionalsoutthereIhavespokento,whogetthis sortofthing.AndIhavetoconfess,thatIwasn'toneofthemmyself. Rightnow,weareamillionmilesawayfromevenhavingthesekindsofrealconversations aboutBIM,orwhereweseeingitgoing.It'snotthateasywhenweassembletogethera groupofarchitects,engineers,surveyors,toseethebroaderpicture. Atthisstage,I'vepracticallygivenuponBIMconferences,becauseIfindthatthisnextstage ofBIMevolution,awaymoreinterestingandimportanttolearnabout.Thereisalotof 'forwardmotion'happeningnowinhealthcare,manufacturingandmanydifferentsectors andindustries.Constructionisstillnotevenatthestartingblocksandthecurrentformat ofourBIMconferencesdolittletohelpbuildabridgeeither. IhopethatalittleofwhatIsaidabovewillputintocontextremarksthatQuantitySurveyors 'don'twantmyquantities',fromarchitects,..orcommentsfromServicesEngineersthat architectwon'tshareanything.Theseareproblems.ButIfinditreassuringtofastforward thetapebeyondallofthatpresenttalk,andlookatwhereitwillallinevitablyendup.Scott McNealy,ex.CEOofSunMicroSystemswasfamouslymisquotedassaying,'You'velostyour privacy,getoverit'. Inconstruction,itiskindofaslowandpainfulprocess,withthegoalofendingupatthe samerealisation.We'velostcontroloverdata,getoverit.Theonlyquestionleft,ishowto dealwithit.

 Andwearehavingakindofupsidedownconversationalso.TheonlythingIhaveheardtalk of,isthe'dynamicupdate'goinginthewrongdirection. Forinstance,acladdingsuppliercreatesBIMcontent,theinfamous'Family'object,which getsinsertedbythedesignerintoa'project',andthatobjectupdatesitselffromtheoutside. Assumingthatthemodeldoesn'tfallasunderorkeeloverfromthestrainoftryingto updateitself,throughtheslow,overtaxedbroadbandlineintothedesignoffice!This claddingthingwillbejammedfullofstuffthatnotechnicianhadahandinplacing. Butwhathappensnext? Weallslapourselvesontheback,andsay'jobwelldone'.Butthenallofthisstuffonthe 500megabytecentralBIMfile.Wheredoesitgofromthere? ThisiswhereBIM,atthemoment,isnotlikethemoderndatabasesand'Business Intelligence'infrastructureatall.Thedatadoesn'tgoanywhere.Itsortofsitsthere, faceless,motionlessandexpressionless. Andthisiswhatwereallydon'tliketotalkaboutatparties,unfortunately,orconferences. What'supwiththat? BrianOHanlon 8thAugust2013