Use of Int’l standards to raise profitability

Following common international standards in information management would significantly improve the profitability of the real estate and construction sector.

It could also increase cooperation among the different organisations. Through the RASTI project launched under the KIRA-digi process, the environment ministry is now building a strategy for the use of international standards, said an official press release.

The aim of the RASTI project is to improve the efficiency of information management in Finland’s built environment by up to 50 per cent. In the long term, this would mean an annual cost savings of about EUR 300 million. At the moment, there are several international and local partly overlapping standards in use relating to information management, and it is a challenge for the operators in the real estate and construction sector to choose the most suitable ones.

“If the situation is not fully clear, the organisations may create solutions of their own. Having many different sets of standards makes it more difficult for the organisations to work together, which is then reflected as weaker productivity. Following international standards would also improve the opportunities of Finnish companies on the international markets,” said Teemu Lehtinen, the chief digital officer responsible for the KIRA-digi project.

The three-month project is being implemented by a group of experts from a consortium of companies brought together by the building SMART Finland Forum.

Under the project a proposal will be prepared concerning the harmonised use of international information management standards in the real estate and construction sector, followed by a strategy on how the target state is to be reached by 2030. At the same time, the project will help operators in the sector understand better the importance of joint information management and commit to implementing the strategy.

The results of the project launched in April 2018 will be published at the World Summit on Digital Built Environment (WDBE) 2018 scheduled to be held in Helsinki on 11-12 September.