Hello, this video will introduce you to the BIM Framework.
So, what is the BIM Framework and why are we generating all these videos and putting them on the YouTube?
So hopefully this short video will introduce you to the basic principles, the goals and what we’re trying to achieve through this.
So, first, what is the BIM Framework?
The BIM Framework is a research effort, and is ongoing. It started a while back and the intention here is to improve the performance of individuals and organizations.
And how we intend to do that is through something called knowledge engineering and knowledge sharing.
So really the focus here is on knowledge, it's not on technology or anything like that.
The BIM Framework started as my Doctoral thesis at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, here in Australia, which started 2005 and finished in 2013,
but it has been extended over these years, and continued beyond that, and will hopefully continue to be extended over the next few years.
And it has been adopted by a number of researchers, and used to develop a certain number of tools, templates, and new models, etc.
So, why really, do we need a BIM Framework and why do we focus on BIM?
Why don’t we just do a Framework about construction innovation or construction technology?
Well, BIM to me, if you’ve watched the video about the BIM definition, BIM really, is the current expression of construction industry innovation,
so it currently represents the industry’s innovation as a term, and that’s why the BIM Framework is a BIM Framework.
In the future when the BIM term is replaced by another term, the BIM Framework will still exist, with some changes in terms
because we use BIM to describe all technologies, processes and policies within the construction industry.
So please keep this in mind: when we’re discussing a BIM Framework, we’re really discussing a Framework about construction innovation,
but we use BIM because it has its own certain principles, certain terminologies that we all now understand, or we’re hoping to understand.
So, in order to benefit from BIM, what we really need to do is first understand what BIM is,
and hopefully this is an effort towards that, to help all of us to understand it a bit better,
and then apply this understanding to improve our own competency, our collective performance, our individual competency, and capability of organizations, project teams, etc.
And then, after we understand and apply, we need also to measure our performance to see if we improved or haven’t improved. And if we haven’t improved, what should we do to improve.
So, how would the BIM Framework achieve its goals?
The BIM Framework is of course a research effort, it has been used in practice but it is mainly a research effort.
And it will achieve its goals by conducting more research with academia and industry partners,
and then, this is very important, making this research available for everyone and anyone who’s interested,
and the way we’re going to make this research available is through peer-reviewed papers of course
for academia to build on top of that, and we build on top of other people’s work,
and to be presented through face-to-face presentations, and I’ve done quite a bit of that already,
and this BIM Framework video is part of a channel, a YouTube channel,
which will include lots of videos covering the parts of the BIM Framework which I’ll explain in a second,
and of course we’re gonna be using social media and have been using social media for a while.
So, to achieve also the goals we need a very clear language and we use a very clear visual language here.
I’m just, as a note, when I say 'we', this is, the BIM Framework is mostly an individual effort so far,
but in the past years many people have expressed interest in working together,
so when I use the word 'we' I refer to all our colleagues collectively who are working through the BIM Framework,
extending the BIM Framework and using it to develop new templates, tools, etc.
So, when we, to achieve the goals, first, we have to conduct the research, and then we have to use a very clear language.
And this language has to be visual so people will understand it quickly and accurately.
And you'll notice throughout all these videos, and if you've read some papers,
that there is a very clear use of visual language which I hope has helped some people understand the concepts and how they're related.
Another way for us to achieve the goals is by developing, based on the Framework,
some intuitive tools, which currently there’s a few of these which will help facilitate competency-based learning,
so we’re focusing on learning, focusing of course, on BIM implementation, and continuous performance improvement.
So what is the BIM Framework made of?
So, you heard the term BIM Framework many times already in the past few minutes, but what is really a BIM Framework, and what is it made of?
So, the BIM Framework is made of a large number of smaller conceptual components,
smaller parts, so when we say a Framework, really it is a combination of smaller parts.
Each of these smaller parts or components is intended to clarify a single term:
so you could have a small term with a definition, that’s considered a Framework part.
A Framework also helps to simplify a complex concept, like Performance Stages or Maturity Levels,
identify a workflow or a set of steps. For example, for implementation, there are certain workflows to be adopted, or certain steps to be followed.
So the Framework will include certain components which will help identify workflow or a set of steps.
And, also it will help to deliver a measurement or a decision support tool.
So we’ll need tools to measure our performance, or to measure the reliability of a document.
And also the Framework would deliver decision support tools to help, for example,
policy decision makers to make the right decisions when they are trying to implement BIM within an organization or even across a market.
So, the BIM Framework will try to provide these decisions support tools.
In essence the BIM Framework really is like a 'kit of parts' made of multiple small/simple units that can be added up to build a larger and more complex one,
and I’ll show you in a second what I mean by these parts.
So think of the Framework as a collection of parts.
And these parts start at the simplest form as a ‘Term’ and a description, we call this a dictionary,
so any kind of term, for example here you can see in small text the term called 'BIM Facilitation', and there is a description, together,
with other terms they form a dictionary.
The BIM Framework includes lots of terms, currently all of these terms are collected into something called the BIM Dictionary,
which you can find at BIMdictionary.com.
And in the BIM Dictionary you’ll find that these terms have attributes, it could be applicable to a certain country, etc.
So, I invite you to visit the BIMdictionary.com and have a look.
The next level up in developing these components is ‘Classification’.
So a Classification is a collection of terms with a common concept, so one concept and several terms behind it,
so it’s one level up. To give you an example, here we have something called the 'Level of Evidence';
it’s a Classification, it’s flat, it has a concept called ‘Evidence’, and inside it we have multiple levels, so there’s no branching.
So a classification is like a simple list made of a number of terms. The next level up is a 'Taxonomy'.
A Taxonomy is a collection of terms in a hierarchial fashion so there’s a kind of branching.
We can think of a mind map with things branched, that's a kind of Taxonomy.
One example here is the ‘Organizational Hierarchy’. In which, we start at the top-level with a term which branches into other terms,
we’re gonna be covering the Organizational Hierarchy in a separate video.
And then, above Taxonomy, we’ve got 'Models'.
So Models really benefit from all the below, so a Model is a collection of Taxonomies, Classifications and Terms,
shaped together to create some kind of a 'knowledge model' which combines concepts in order to either clarify them or to make them do something,
later on we’ll see how that works. So really a Model is a combination of Taxonomies, Classifications and Terms.
And here you can see the 'BIM Fields' model and you see in here also the 'Learning Triangle' model.
So really a Model is a collection of all these taxonomies, classifications and terms. And above Models there’s Frameworks.
Now, a Framework is a collection of Models.
So if you want, you think of a framework as a collection of models, and a model includes at least one taxonomy or classification and a number of terms,
and you can think of a taxonomy as multiple classifications, combined together in a hierarchy, and a classification includes a number of terms, coming from a dictionary.
So we call this strata of knowledge levels as a 'hierarchy', a Conceptual Hierarchy.
Now to connect all these together, so we got all these terms, classifications, taxonomies, and models. So if there’s nothing connecting them, really we cannot benefit from them,
we cannot really build taxonomies out of classifications, models out of taxonomies, or frameworks out of models without something connecting them.
And the BIM Framework uses a conceptual glue if you want, called the 'BIM Ontology'.
You don’t need to worry about the BIM Ontology too much, but just think about it as a kind of very structured language, that helps to connect these conceptual parts together in order for them to work,
I’m gonna be covering the BIM Ontology in a separate video in the future.
In here in this image you see something called a Conceptual Network,
this is really the number of models developed between 2005 up to 2013, there are more models developed by the BIM Framework since then, but it gives an idea about the different parts of it.
For example, here in yellow you can see the Terms, certain terms, here the definition of BIM.
Then here in red, you can see lots of Classifications, a very simple list, then in purple you see some of the Taxonomies, hierarchies and things like that,
and then we've got lots Models, and at the top we have Frameworks.
And one of the most used framework is called the 'Tri-axial Framework', which includes lots of these models, but also there are other frameworks for competency assessment and improvement, etc.
And out of all these terms, classifications, taxonomies, models and frameworks, there are, at the bottom here, something called 'Tools',
which are not part of the conceptual hierarchy but they are shown here to clarify how all this conceptual work end up being used in tools.
Whether is a template, a decision support template to help a decision maker select the right action, or it’s an online tool for assessment, or it’s an online learning module.
And we’ll be covering some of these tools in the future as well.
Hopefully this video has shown a bit, explained a bit of the BIM Framework, and how it’s made of all these different parts, what are its goals, some of its origins.
But, hopefully, in the future a number of videos covering specific models will help explain the overall framework. Thank you.
Closed Captions by: Alexia Motter