Open data

The Open Data Institute (ODI) proposes that 'open data' is information that is licensed for anyone to use, for any purpose, at no cost.

Open definition proposes that a 'work' is 'open' if it satisfies a number of conditions, including:

• Availability as a whole and at no more than a reasonable reproduction cost, preferably downloaded via the Internet without charge.
• Availability in a convenient and modifiable form.
• Its license does not restrict any party from selling or giving away the work.
• Its license does not require a royalty or other fee for sale or distribution.
• Its license allows modifications and derivative works to be distributed under the terms of the original work.
• It is provided in such a form that there are no technological obstacles to its use.
• Requirements for attribution are not onerous.

It suggests that 'work' denotes a piece of knowledge which is being transferred, whether that is; content such as music, films, books; data be it scientific, historical, geographic or otherwise; government and other administrative information.

See Open definition for more information.

The Open Data Institute suggest that when several different organisations publish data relating to a similar field, it is beneficial if they adopt the same format. Ideally, open data should be published in a format defined in an open standard, delivered over a protocol defined in an open standard, and licensed with an open licence.

Publishing open data can:

• Provide greater transparency and encourage participation.
• Make it easier to share and use information.
• Release value in poorly used data.
• Encourage innovation.
• Encourage collaboration.
• Increase use of paid-for products or services.

There is clearly great potential for the use of open data in construction, particularly with the emergence of building information modelling (BIM). Open data might allow:

• Better prediction of demand pipelines.
• Better understanding of the availability of resources.
• Better understanding of how people use buildings.
• The analysis of performance data for buildings in use.
• Analysis of traffic flows.
• Better availability of product information and component models.
• Interoperability of software and exchange of building information models.
• Better creation of Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) files and linked data.
• Knowledge capture at the end of projects for the benefit of future projects.
• Closer and more straight-forward collaborative working.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• 5 steps for a healthy data culture in construction.
• Big data.
• Building information modelling.
• COBie.
• Collaborative practices.
• Data from smart energy meters.
• File formats for BIM.
• How data can stop waste.
• Industry Foundation Classes.
• Internet of things.
• ISO/TC 211 Geographic information/Geomatics.
• Knowledge management.
• Living in the hyperreal Post-Modern city.
• Making the most of big data.
• Native file.
• Open BIM.
• Open data - how can it aid the development of the construction industry?
• Open Data Institute.
• Smart buildings.
• Smart cities.
• TenderSpace.

[edit] External references

• The Open Data Institute.
• open definition.
• F.H. Abanda, W. Zhou, J. H. M. Tah and F. Cheung, Exploring the relationships between linked open data and building information modelling. Sustainable Building Conference 2013, Coventry University.