Innovation – the process of implementing new ideas, creating dynamic products, or improving existing services. It involves the introduction of novel concepts that enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and value within an organization or industry. In the context of infrastructure and construction, innovation often refers to the adoption of advanced technologies and methodologies that streamline processes, improve project delivery, and foster collaboration among stakeholders. (Source: BIM Clearinghouse—Knowledge Platform)
Digital Delivery- a modernized process for the design and delivery of digital data, such as 3D models, to enhance various phases of infrastructure projects, including planning, design, construction, and asset management. It aims to improve efficiency, accuracy, and cost effectiveness by integrating digital tools and data management practices throughout the project lifecycle. (Source: BIM Clearinghouse—Knowledge Platform)
Digital As-Builts- A digital data-oriented process for tracking, documenting, and archiving asset information created during project delivery. DAB’s focus on enhancing access, use, and management of highway project data from design to asset management. All asset data provide useful lifecycle facility asset inventory information for data management, with data that are accessible, searchable, geospatial, contextual, reliable, durable, extractable, and interoperable. (Source: Federal Highway Administration)
Building Information Modeling (BIM) for Infrastructure – BIM is a collaborative work method for structuring, managing, and using data and information about transportation assets and networks throughout their lifecycles. It liberates data from siloed systems and makes those data available via automated processes to anyone who needs them when they need them. (Source: Advancing BIM for Infrastructure: National Strategic Roadmap)
Digital Twin—A digital twin is an integrated data-driven virtual representation of real-world entities and processes, with synchronized interaction at a specified frequency and fidelity. (Source: Digital Twin Consortium).
Level of development—LODs range from LOD 100 to LOD 500, with LOD 100 being less developed and LOD 500 being more developed. The Level of Development (LOD) framework allows the Project Participants to understand the progression of a Model Element from conceptual idea to precise definition and description. The LOD of a given Model Element informs the other Project Participants about how developed the information is expected to be, and the extent to which that information can be relied upon, at a particular point in time in the development of the Model. (Source: American Institute of Architects).
Model as Legal Document (MALD) – refers to a framework where digital models, particularly in the context of Building Information Modeling (BIM), are used as contractual documents in construction and infrastructure projects. This approach aims to clarify the risks and liabilities of stakeholders involved in a project by utilizing digital workflows that allow for better information exchange between design and construction phases. The implementation of MALD requires changes to traditional contracts and workflows to fully leverage the benefits of BIM technology (Source: BIM Clearinghouse—Knowledge Platform)