Interoperability: a business strategy or digital duct tape?

In digital construction, interoperability is often used as shorthand for data exchange. But automation doesn’t just happen because data moves from one system to another. True automation depends on something far more demanding: the ability of software to understand and act on data—without human intervention.

This distinction matters!

Take a typical workflow: an architect exports an BIM model for use in structural analysis. If the data is genuinely interoperable, the structural engineer’s software can recognize load-bearing elements, material properties, spatial relationships, and start calculations immediately. But in practice, this rarely happens. Instead, the engineer spends hours reclassifying elements, remodeling geometry, or interpreting ambiguous metadata. Why? Because although the data arrived, it wasn’t operable.

Real-World Cost of Misunderstood Data

According to a 2018 McKinsey report, poor data interoperability and miscommunication cause the construction industry to lose $15 billion per year in the U.S. alone. Autodesk and FMI research shows that 30% of construction professionalsspend more than one day per week on data-related rework. That’s over 400 hours per year, per person—wasted on manual fixes that could be avoided with true interoperability.

Interoperability ≠ Data Transfer

The core misunderstanding lies in treating data exchange as the end goal. But sending a file is the easy part. The hard part—the “operability”—is ensuring the receiving software understands the data’s semantics and structure.

If your software requires translation, manual tagging, or human review to function, then you don’t have interoperability. You have digital duct tape.

Business Case for Comprehension

Organizations that invest in interoperable, automation-ready data formats (like properly structured IFC, enriched using bSDD) consistently report:

• 30–50% reduction in manual data processing

• 20–40% faster coordination cycles

• Up to 5x return on investment in integrated digital workflows

These aren’t theoretical gains. They're a direct result of removing friction from data interpretations—and enabling systems, not people, to interpret and act on the data.

Strategic Takeaway

Automation only delivers value when the software can comprehend and operate on the incoming data. So next time a vendor claims “full interoperability,” ask:

Because moving data isn’t enough. Making it work is where the value lies.