Integration directions

The paper develops a roadmap of different integration directions and their implications for the product and process modeling efforts that underpin them. It does so by hypothesizing ten axioms of effective data and process integration in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (A/E/C) industry, with emphasis on interoperability among A/E applications. The paper articulates the need for a process centric approach to operational data exchange and addresses the imminent need to present convincing business cases, e.g. based on the ‘Project Window’ metaphor and provide the means to capitalize on existing product models. A new integration initiative is discussed to highlight some of the promising new integration directions that bypass the fundamental problems that plague current ‘integration solutions’.