Awareness and usage of information standards in the UK construction industry: A survey by the SIENE network

Abstract

The Network on Information Standardisation, Exchanges and Management in Construction (SIENE) was launched to streamline information standardisation and interoperability in the construction industry. It is an international network consisting of academics and industry practitioners from UK and elsewhere. SIENE’s main objective is to explore current research being undertaken in the area of information standardization and to benchmark UK performance with the rest of the world. The paper deals with the results of a questionnaire survey conducted by SIENE in the UK construction industry on awareness and usage of information standards. Forty members of the Construct IT, Centre of excellence in UK were selected as the initial target audience for the survey. It is expected to broaden the scope of the survey and to conduct case studies in its second stage. The paper discusses the different information standards, which are available and presents a synthesis of usage and awareness of information standards in the UK construction industry. It highlights how the construction industry could benefit by adopting information standards while providing an account of the barriers that prevent the adoption of standards.

Keywords: Information standardisation, interoperability, awareness and usage.