Molio partners up with Cobuilder to develop a data dictionary for the Danish construction industry

Modified on April 28, 2021

The Danish construction information center Molio has initiated a project together with Cobuilder to create a data dictionary for the Danish construction industry. This enables the use of a common “digital language” that allows actors across the entire sector to freely exchange digital data.

With this common language in place, Danish construction will be all set to start tapping into the great benefits of digitalisation: automated and more efficient processes, lower operational costs, and reduced environmental impact.

From manual processes to digitalisation

‘One of the key challenges for the wider adoption of digital technology in construction has been the lack of an industry-agreed method for digitising and exchanging digital information, says Christina Hvid, CEO of Molio. ‘This is one of the reasons why we, as an industry, haven’t been able to leverage the potential of digital data and are still heavily dependent on time-consuming manual processes in all stages of the construction process. This, of course, affects the bottom line. The ambitious goal of our new project is to change all that.’

Christina Hvid, CEO of Molio

For this project, Molio has partnered up with Cobuilder, who is among the first software providers to deliver a standard-based data dictionary, called Define. By implementing this software, Molio can create data templates – standardised data structures – that are in compliance with European standards and at the same time tailored to fit  the needs of the Danish construction industry. The data templates will enable Molio’s users to digitise and exchange construction object data in a way that ensures machine-readability and free information flow. Throughout all project phases, regardless of the purpose or the software that the various actors use for their specific tasks.

‘We are very excited to be part of this project’, says Lars Fredenlund, CEO of Cobuilder AS. ‘Data standardisation is key to accelerating the digital shift in construction, and Molio is now leading the way in bringing new and improved processes to the Danish construction industry.’

Lars Fredenlund, CEO of Cobuilder

A game changer for the industry

The demand for standardised digital data has been growing in the Danish market, and the international consulting group COWI is one of the actors that have been looking into ways to implement data templates as part of the information flow in their projects.

‘Creating value for our customers, partners and society as a whole has always been part of our vision’, says Morten Alsdorf, Corporate Digital Business Transformation Director at COWI. ‘Building Information Modeling has brought huge benefits to the sector and is increasingly integrated in our work processes. But we believe that adopting a common, standard-based language will be a real game changer for the entire industry. It enables us to share data more efficiently, allows us to improve collaboration and brings us closer to the digital shift.’

Morten Alsdorf, Digital transformation officer at COWI Group

Implementation

Rolling out data templates for the Danish construction sector will be a multistep process. As part of the first project phase Molio will gain access to data templates developed by Cobuilder and tailor them to the needs of the Danish construction sector. These will be made available through a dedicated platform for beneficiaries such as manufacturers, consultants, clients, etc. As a next stage, the data templates will be accessible through an API integration service, allowing enterprises to integrate them directly as part of their IT infrastructure and software vendors to incorporate them in their core business offerings. The end goal of the project is to facilitate and speed up the adoption of this common digital language across the entire Danish construction industry.

About Molio

Molio is a Danish Construction Information Centre that provides digital tools and services to ensure, that all parties in the construction industry, from builders, architects and consulting firms to major contractors and minor craftsmen can get the latest knowledge, as well as information on legislations and practices. The digital tools and services from Molio are developed to promote growth, digitization and streamlining, both within individual companies and across the entire industry – e.g. digital standards and information infrastructure, data for estimated calculations, structure and search in the many laws and regulations, as well as textbooks and courses.

Molio owns the conference centre HUSET, located in Middelfart on the island of Funen. Here Molio facilitates courses and educates more than 3500 professionals from across the entire construction industry during more than 200 course days a year. At HUSET visitors will also find Denmark’s largest building exhibition, visited by 80.000 every year.