Autodesk University offers glimpse at the very-near future of AEC

Today’s Autodesk University keynote focused on product innovation and offered a glimpse at the not-so-distant future of making things in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Sarah Hodges, director, Autodesk Construction Business Line, revealed these top news items to 10,000 customers in Las Vegas:

Birthday Bash for BIM 360 Docs

At last year’s Autodesk University, we previewed Autodesk BIM 360 Docs, the long-awaited answer to our construction customers’ collective call for a single source of project truth – bringing together all plans, models and documents into a single app – connecting the office and the job site, and keeping the whole project team building from the same, accurate information.

BIM 360 Docs learned to walk at Autodesk University last year – and this year, our baby is one year old and off and running.

We celebrated BIM 360 Docs’ first birthday with some big news:

• BIM 360 Docs will be available on the Android platform. Android is the second most popular platform used in construction and we made it a goal – based on our customers’ feedback – to give this cross-platform functionality to BIM 360 Docs.
• Request for Information (RFI) functionality is coming to BIM 360 Docs. Project teams will be able to receive and resolve issues even faster. RFIs can drive a lot of conflict in projects so the quicker that issues can be resolved, the quicker a project can get back on track, changes can be implemented and things can move forward within the current budget and schedule.
• Manage submittals on BIM 360 Docs. BIM 360 Docs is gearing up to handle submittals, an important part of your construction administration/construction management tools.

Autodesk BIM 360 Docs Offers Single Source of Project Truth.

These are just a few of the new capabilities coming to BIM 360 Docs in addition to the more than 50 new features since BIM 360 Docs’ official launch in 2015. Again, check out BIM 360 Docs to learn more about Docs and make sure to subscribe to the BIM 360 Docs blog to stay ahead of the game for updates on product availability.

“Space, the Final Frontier…”

In the 1990s, television viewers got to know “Star Trek: The Next Generation” character Lt. Commander Data.  Smart and knowledgeable about all things, “Data” was always on the ready to provide insight into whatever challenges he was called on to solve.

Now picture yourself as a construction professional and imagine having your own helpful assistant – like Lt. Commander Data – who every morning could point you in the direction of the highest potential risks for the day. What if that assistant could sift through the thousands of issues on all of your sites and prioritize, automatically, the top 20 risks to your project?

BIM 360 Project IQ provides intelligent assistance by mining construction project data and applying machine learning and analytics.

BIM 360 Project IQ provides that intelligent assistance by mining construction project data and applying machine learning and analytics. The IQ system is continuously learning from expert feedback. This human-machine collaboration makes the assistant smarter every day.

BIM 360 Project IQ is already proving its value with customers who have been collaborating with us throughout the development process. We’ve transformed their project data into actionable, reliable, and prioritized information which will help to reduce risk on project sites.

E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One

It seems that there’s an app for just about everything – and construction is no exception. Autodesk itself has a host of BIM 360 apps.

The proliferation of business apps means lots of sharing, moving files around, translating, opening/closing, emailing to someone, exporting/importing, etc. throughout the design, build and operate lifecycle.

Imagine instead a connected experience that puts your project in the center and lets you and your teammates move seamlessly from one work context to another.  From one tool to another with no interoperability issues.

Imagine no longer.

Autodesk expects to bring to market a BIM 360 solution that puts everyone on your extended team and everything you need to know about your project in one place.

Let’s break this big news down a bit further.

BIM 360 is built on the Autodesk Forge platform, with BIM 360 Docs as the common data environment.

With everything in one place, you will be able to create, store, and use data across a project or multiple projects.

You can work on the device of your choosing – desktop, web or mobile devices with equal fluidity. There is no single platform, just a single experience. 

The data is instantly accessible to the people whom you authorize to work with you.

Think about the power project teams will soon have at their fingertips with all data and cross-project data analytics in one BIM 360 solution.

The Final Word: Darwin had a Point

With the advent of the cloud, the old physical and digital barriers to success, which have traditionally separated our ideas, designs, and most importantly, our teams, are becoming blurred and largely meaningless because of the era of connection in which we live.

At Autodesk, our role is to build the tools that help you capitalize on the opportunities before us all – and to build cloud-enabled bridges among your teams whether or not they are in the same city, country, or even the same company.  The goal is seamless collaboration and your clients expect no less.

Now is the time for you to adapt to the changes occurring in the AEC industry – or be overtaken by those competitors who are embracing the tech evolution. Sounds somewhat Darwinian, but it’s true.

Autodesk is uniquely positioned to be your partner and to guide you through the changes happening now and those to come.

Let us know how we can help.