The architect of a building is unlikely to talk to the facility manager in a years time and even less likely to talk to the investor in 20 years.
The architect will talk with the contractor, but when data silos are broken down, data will flow easily throughout the life cycle. In property, humans will only ever be likely to break out of their ‘silo’ into the next silo. Whether through appropriate structuring and standardisation or improved analysis of unstructured data. More important is the flow of data or as is often the case, the lack of it - the 'Data Silos'.Īs we generate increasing amounts of data, it is more and more important to be able to share this across the whole building life cycle. Well - not really, the human silos are only a small part of the problem. So technology can and is helping to break down the human silos by easing communication, so problem solved! New methods of working, originally forged in technology companies are being adopted to work in more agile ways (literally and metaphorically).New online project management tools help different teams keep track of what is going on and to work together.Technology such as video calls and conferencing allows teams to mix and communicate more effectively.Mobile computing, whether on phone, tablet or desktop means more flexible and dynamic working.So how can technology help the built environment to break down these human silos? It represents people, teams or companies who are working towards the same objective, often in close vicinity but not sharing information - people not talking to other people - and this leads to wasted time and cost, not to mention missed opportunities. “Working in Silos” has become one of the most commonly heard phrases in the work place, but what does it mean and does it matter?