Interoperability in AECO and the oil & gas sectors: object-based standards and systems

This research proposes recommendations that could improve interoperability in the architecture, engineering, construction and operations (AECO) sector, by connecting domains, building lifecycles, and software systems with each other and the web. The objective has been to identify methods that promote evolution from file-based formats by advancing object-based data exchange solutions. The research design is a mapping of standards and systems that have affected the nature of object-based data exchanges, and which have either been proposed or implemented in AECO and the Oil & Gas sector. This is an approach which allows for the range and diversity of information to be examined. A review of the Oil & Gas sector confirms a norm where object-based, rather than file-based, transactions have shaped data exchange models, formats, use case methodologies, and collaboration mechanisms, thus contributing towards semantic connectivity across its diverse systems. Key research questions address the nature of these sectors, the promise that object-based data exchange offers, and examine recommendations that would improve standards and systems. The paper affirms that measures taken to improve interoperability in the Oil & Gas sector have relevance for the AECO sector, and that better understanding, and recognition of the structure of AECOs interoperability ecosystem is central to effecting lasting and significant change. Thus, we make recommendations that acknowledge the hybrid nature of AECO data exchanges and propose an interoperability ecosystem that connects both distributed and centralised federated models. Improved standards to define application programming interfaces (APIs) and adaptors, based on a modular approach, would be central to this proposal. We also make recommendations to improve use case definitions, and to ensure that semantic connectivity at the object level is scalable to web-based transactions. Finally, we assert that, to realise these changes, the developers and vendors of its systems should recognise and address the AECO sector’s pressing needs and concerns.