BIMIreland.ie showcases some of the keynote speakers at the CitA BIM Gathering 2021.
Alexandra Bolton has been Executive Director of CDBB (Centre for Digital Built Britain) since it came to the University of Cambridge in 2017. A previous speaker at CitA Tech Live at Croke Park in 2018, she holds degrees in both engineering and law and previously worked in industry and the city. Alexandra presents her keynote speaker paper ‘How can we be better ancestors? Using data infrastructure to create the future we Want’ at this year’s Gathering.
This focuses on the work of CDBB and its National Digital Twin programme and looked at how we use data to make outcome-based decisions, following on from the recently published ‘Vision for the Built Environment’. This report states that the explicit purpose of the built environment must be to create a future in which people and the planet can flourish together for generations to come.
‘’Today we stand between a great opportunity and an existential threat. The recent IPCC report shows us a glimpse of what the future might hold for us. For the first time in history, we have the technology and the techniques to manage the built environment in a way that will allow both people and nature to flourish for generations to come. However, if we let this chance slip through our fingers, we will allow a resource-hungry and wasteful built environment to destroy the ecosystems we depend on’’ she says.
‘’We need to think about data throughout the whole lifecycle of any asset. Before we pick up a pen or a mouse – what data do we need; who needs it; and in what format; and how can we share it, appropriately, securely and resiliently; throughout the design, build, operation and integration phases of the asset. And we need to continue to think about that data and how it is used as the asset is built, handed over, used and decommissioned, to make better decisions – not only about the individual asset or building, but also about other similar existing assets, new construction and the ecosystems in which those assets sit’’ she adds.
Alexandra believes our determination must be to pull together to deliver the future we want for the planet – the ultimate system of systems: ‘’We must use data intentionally to make better decisions for better outcomes for our children, our grandchildren and their descendants’’ she says.
Click Here To Book Tickets: www.cita.ie/cita-bim-gathering-2021
