Technological advancements has a positive impact on the development of countries worldwide, including Lithuania. Building Information Modelling (BIM) application for building design, construction and operation represents one of the most significant steps in advancement of technology. In the context of the growing digitalisation of the construction industry Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) has signed the Agreement of Cooperation with Riga Technical University and Tallinn University of Technology for joint development of the first unique Centre of Excellence for BIM Advancement in the Baltics.
Activities of the Centre of Excellence for BIM Advancement will be based on consolidated human and technical resources of the three partner universities and encompass training of highly qualified BIM professionals, adjusting the methodology and training curriculum, developing and implementation of joint study programmes, sharing the research results.
VGTU Rector Alfonsas Daniūnas claims that “Digitalisation and application of BIM solutions constitute an integral part of the competitive and innovative growth of the construction industry. The fourth industrial revolution is making its pace around the world, thus digitalisation is expected to have the profound impact on most areas of life both locally and globally. In response to the growing labour market demand for civil engineers VGTU has initiated the establishment of the Centre of Excellence for BIM to be developed in cooperation with the leading technical universities in the Baltic region. The Centre of excellence is expected to contribute to the practical implementation of the BIM methodology, training of highly qualified professionals in the area of civil engineering, architecture, environmental and infrastructure engineering, even more so the industrial community will be prepared to meet the challenges of digitalisation”.
Construction market is characterised by the growing demand for the qualified staff, especially trained in the field of digital technologies. This demand is driven by the huge regional project development, such as Rail Baltica. Therefore, main activities of the Centre of Excellence will be targeted at integration of BIM technological, management and practical skills into the training and upskilling programmes and update of the existing training programmes content. The best examples of the global infrastructure projects will be taken into account in the course of implementation of the abovementioned activities.
Riga Technical University Rector Leonids Ribickis expresses its support for the establishment of a common centre of excellence and is convinced of its success. It has been started in the right time and direction. There are large-scale infrastructure projects in the European Union that are very important for our common future. Such a BIM Centre of Excellence is in line with our strategic goals and will contribute to the global growth of university ratings.
TalTech Rector Jaak Aaviksoo welcomes the establishment of the Centre of Excellence for BIM as an important landmark for all of us. “TalTech civil engineering is known from solid achievements already for last 100 years and it is good to see that this field with extremely strong traditions is capable for dynamic development also today and tomorrow towards digitalized and sustainable construction. Because of largest possible products and typically unique architecture, digitalization and automation in construction has turned to be one of the most challenging compared to other industries. However, big turnover of the sector and high prices of buildings call for the productivity and recourse efficiency improvements expected to be resulted in benefits for large number of end customers. Co-operation and knowledge sharing are the key terms when building leading building information modelling competences in Nordic and Baltic scale. BIM can be expected to be a similar success and possibility for high-quality built environment as energy efficiency already has shown a model example how a small country can rapidly develop to be among leading players in this field.”
The founders of the Centre commit themselves to the development and maintaining close university, industry and business relationship, further development of BIM methodology and its practical implementation in the construction, transport, infrastructure and real estate maintenance sector as well as supporting public and private sectors in creating the digital society. These activities will be implemented by sharing best practices, ensuring mutual cooperation and public awareness on the benefits of BIM.
