Cobuilder welcomes OpenBuilt – the game changer in the built environment
Published on April 14, 2021 |
Modified on April 14, 2021
IBM, Cobuilder and Red Hat announce the launch of OpenBuilt – an industry-lead platform being developed by the technology providers and a cross-industry ecosystem of five partners.
At Cobuilder we see OpenBuilt as a true game changer because the platform is designed to translate all the abstract promises of BIM, VDC and other digitalisation initiatives into practical means.
Collaboration and interoperability are achieved not only through building a software infrastructure on top of industry standards for managing data but also through a platform model allowing any actor and software to be connected.
OpenBuilt sets out to provide construction value chains with the insight and tools to more efficiently plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure through automation and high-end technology implementation, building on top of the existing process innovations.
To enable collaboration and interoperability, Cobuilder will provide our state-of-the-art technology for developing trusted, agreed, standard-based Data Templates as the foundation for data structuring within OpenBuilt.

Software architecture of the OpenBuilt platform
We are thrilled to see that our technology is now put into use in other global platforms. With OpenBuilt we will be expanding our value propositions to end-users through connecting with complementary services, which is part of our long-term strategy.
“We are in this project to ensure that OpenBuilt is created to maintain interoperability, not to become another silo locked in proprietary formats. Via the mechanism of our data dictionary solution Cobuilder Define, OpenBuilt data will be firmly rooted in the relevant standards for data management in the construction industry”, says Lars. Chr. Fredelund, CEO of Cobuilder.

Lars Christian Fredenlund, CEO of Cobuilder
With Cobuilder’s technology for authoring, managing and sharing Data Templates and their building blocks, ANY NUMBER of parties can communicate through a single digital language that all their supporting systems can understand. Hence, within the OpenBuilt platform, difference in technical language, legislation, user-specific needs are not a hindrance to doing business anymore.
About OpenBuilt
The OpenBuilt connectivity platform will allow all actors across the construction supply chain to exchange data and services via a common technological language and automate existing processes without complex, bespoke software development.
With OpenBuilt specialist software vendors like Cobuilder can simplify their own integrations and showcase their capabilities to a wider audience through Apps built on top of a common framework.
“Going beyond the platform itself, we are looking at OpenBuilt as a channel for our business to grow through automation with complementary solutions and the set up of automated flows between our tools and the OpenBuilt’s clients own IT environment”, adds Lars Chr. Fredenlund.
OpenBuilt will facilitate consistent, trusted data flows across all touchpoints across the customer journey, and will allow platform users to apply analytics and harness business insights. Through such automation and transparent information exchange the industry will be able to drive more efficient and sustainable projects that incentivise collaboration and long-term value.
To ensure the platform is driven by the ecosystem, OpenBuilt is an independent company owned and led by a consortium of industry partners. To date, the EDIN Network, CEMEX, Backe, Sol Services and Element Materials Technology have signed up as founding partners to own and steer the development of the platform. IBM, Red Hat and Cobuilder are providing technology and services to OpenBuilt and leading the creation of the platform.
OpenBuilt first use cases
The uses of the OpenBuilt platform are truly limitless. For instance, among its first three flagship applications OpenBuilt will release a digital marketplace that will ensure that industry actors who request data about building products, systems, elements can meet in a digital exchange, where specifying and purchasing a complex wall system is as easy as booking a hotel.
Through an integration with Cobuilder Define, OpenBuilt will also put forward a solution that links manufacturers’ data to design to manufacturing, to building, to operations, to life cycle assessment and circularity.
We believe that through the power of data OpenBuilt provides a new digital route to market for product and service providers like Cobuilder who want to develop a solution specifically tailored for a better, more connected, greener and safer built environment.
For more information about OpenBuilt, please visit the official website of the platform: https://openbuilt.io/