In the experience of our engineers, in our infrastructure projects carried out using BIM, the urban environment of the project is not an option when working on the insertion of a tram line, a square or a road. Fortunately, a growing number of local authorities around the world (Lyon, Rennes, Strasbourg, Berlin, Rotterdam, New York, etc.) have decided to maintain and make available their local data in an open format, CityGML. For those unfamiliar with this format, which belongs to the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) family, it represents a territory in 3D and includes information such as the location and names of streets, the function and name of buildings, etc. While this format is increasingly being taken into account by GIS engines, there are no - or very few - BIM collaboration platforms that allow these city models to be easily integrated alongside digital mock-ups of projects currently being designed...
To fill this gap, Egis has been working with Catenda developers to develop the integration of CityGML into their openBIM platform, Catenda Hub (formerly known as Bimsync).
We are particularly proud to be unveiling the results today and hope that this new functionality will help motivate local authorities who have not yet done so to take the CityGML plunge!
What are the benefits of integrating CityGML with a BIM platform such as Catenda?
For local authorities
- Increased value from the investment made by local authorities in providing spatial data
- This local data will become more embedded in the daily work of infrastructure engineers and contractors, resulting in faster project starts and safer construction sites.
For engineers and developers
- fluid, rapid use of urban data integrated into the work of BIM design teams
- Eliminate the need for GIS/BIM experts to manually reconstruct urban models from GIS maps and data sources
- The assurance of having up-to-date data directly from local authorities,
For stakeholders
- It is much easier for all stakeholders (local authority technical services, emergency services, elected representatives, user associations, etc.) to immerse themselves in an urban infrastructure project.
Conclusion
For the record, this development is part of the joint development programme between Egis and Catenda, to be launched in 2022 and called LYKT. As with other developments that Egis has led in the past (notably IFC rail 4.3), this work is part of Egis' commitment to promoting collaboration and the use of open data formats that benefit both engineering and management/operation/maintenance stakeholders (through "digital twins"). It is also an opportunity for Egis to develop its expertise in the role of Product Owner. Indeed, this role, which can be located at the crossroads of the IT and "business" worlds (by which we mean the company's traditional business lines), should play a particularly important role in the successful development of Egis' digital engineering solutions.
