The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), an operating arm of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), plays a vital role in supporting the UK’s armed forces by building, maintaining and servicing the infrastructure needed to support defence. The DIO manages around 1.8% of the UK’s landmass, including 115,000 non-residential buildings and 50,000 houses.
The DIO engaged with Glider to deliver an Asset Information Management Common Data Environment (AIM CDE) platform capable of securely managing a complex level of asset data that could be integrated with operational systems to enable actionable insights across their large estate.
The challenge
In a world where technology is advancing at a rapid pace, the MOD is modernising, mobilising and transforming, and the Defence Estate must evolve with it. The DIO’s Defence Infrastructure Data and Management Information Strategy includes the definition of organisational, exchange and asset information needs, and as a result, it needs a secure, ISO-19650 compliant CDE as a foundational component for the Federated Data Architecture.
To support and comply with the Government Construction Strategy (GCS), Glider worked with the DIO to provide a seamless, integrated Asset Information Model (AIM) solution. gliderbim® is improving the management of the DIO’s data, models and documents to enable efficient collaboration with technical service partners, industry partners and suppliers.
Jane Dudson, Deputy Head of Asset Information Management, is leading the DIO’s data digitisation programme. Jane has spearheaded the ground-breaking project ensuring all asset data is defined and processed through the Federated Data Architecture for secure capture, storage and exploitation.
In August 2022, the DIO achieved its goal in the DIO Strategy to successfully implement an asset management system. This enabled the team to be data centric, digitally capable and to innovate by default, transforming the contribution of infrastructure to Defence. As a result, the platform was made available to Major Projects and Programmes, Regional Delivery teams and the Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) contractors and other related supply chains.
The solution
The AIM CDE provides the DIO with a clear master record of all of their asset information, provides a robust audit trail for better security and compliance, and has improved collaborative working through the use of a secure cloud.
As part of the project, Glider developed a Reference Data Library (RDL). This holds the tools, controls and content required to define the information management standards and policies for the Asset Information Architecture.
Using Project Workspaces, the DIO is able to manage models, documentation and processes for projects. This data can then be tested against the contracted version of requirements in the RDL. Once verified the information can be securely stored in the Establishment Workspace for operation and maintenance.
The outcome
Glider’s goal was to help the DIO with the delivery of data and management information to preserve the value of their assets across the estate following the mantra of secure, open and interoperable working.
The gliderbim® CDE has become a key component of the Defence Infrastructure’s Federated Data Architecture. It helps to manage asset information for both capital delivery projects and maintenance of their existing estate.
The result for the DIO is a substantially enhanced information flow and improved communication across all the varied workstreams, enabling a ‘one-stop shop’ approach for project delivery and asset detail.
The future
The next phase is to implement machine learning to further streamline the migration of existing data and building information into gliderbim®. This will help to speed up the data migration process making it more efficient and cost-effective.
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