& Construction
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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing
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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
4 min read
The sheer quantity of information and diversity of tools leveraged in the architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) industry has exploded. AEC firms’ data storage was six times higher in 2023 than in 2018.*
And the information surge only continues to expand.
Due to this growth, users are heavily relying on infrastructure to facilitate flexibility and interoperability across stakeholders, tools, and project requirements. To date, over 20,000 projects spanning the United States and Europe have adopted Autodesk’s AEC Data Model API since it launched at AEC Magazine’s NXT BLD conference in mid-2024 — and this is just the beginning!
Today, we are pleased to announce that Autodesk customers storing information in our Australia data region can now access the capabilities enabled by Autodesk’s AEC Data Model API.**
The industry is shifting from project details locked in files, or stuck on servers and FTP sites, to a landscape where data itself becomes the building blocks of collaboration, automation, and insight. This innovative approach breaks down files into granular data, standardizes it at the object level, and centralizes the information in a hub to enable unified permissions. The firm managing the data can share it with control, allowing it to reach the right project and person — at the right time— across every stage of the project lifecycle.
Autodesk is unlocking granular data for its customers through the delivery of our AEC data model, beginning with a set of data structures and capabilities that establish a shared language across the lifecycle of a project. The AEC data model unlocks the data stored in files and models from their individual applications and presents that information via API in Autodesk Docs, Autodesk’s common data environment.
Autodesk’s mission has always been to support a full asset lifecycle management process for the industry. The AEC data model will eventually encompass many data types and input, connecting information from planning to design to construction to operations. Today, we have started this journey by unlocking information from Revit models and Autodesk’s AEC data model that currently holds, standardizes, and maintains updates to Revit property and element data for Revit models 2024 and above.
That object-level data is available via a cloud-based GraphQL API, freeing users from the time-intensive struggle of manually extracting information from Revit files. Stakeholders that do not normally operate in the modeling environment can now interact with critical information thanks to highly democratized model data.
In one instance, a customer built an AI-enabled chatbot on the AEC Data Model API that helped team members in procurement and finance interrogate model data. For example, an operations team member responsible for booking the right size truck to bring steel girders to a construction site can directly access information on steel girder dimensions and quantity. This next generation of technology will leverage granular, object-level data to help connect the entire project lifecycle.
The AEC Data Model API joins two powerful existing capabilities already available to Autodesk customers storing their data in our Australia region:
Managing information effectively includes breaking down today’s data silos and helping data flow where it is needed most, reducing rework and outdated documentation. Successful data management now requires teams to access granular-level information, facilitating more efficient and cloud-based collaboration in tandem with more powerful information control and permissions.
A larger and more diverse set of stakeholders can form better decisions using powerful dashboards, cutting down on needless time spent looking for the right information, while driving efficiency and automation.
Better information can help AECO professionals understand the health and performance of their businesses: where to invest resources, gain efficiencies, reduce cost, and streamline operations.
Accessing property and element information is just the beginning. Next up, we’re working to deliver the ability to query geometry via the AEC Data Model API.
Additionally, we will also enable extensibility or the ability to add custom properties to the information available via the API. Customers looking to append custom data – whether sustainability information, cost codes or procurement information – will now be able to add their data to elements within the AEC data model.
Autodesk is also conducting ongoing beta testing with a small, select group of users that were provided early access to the AEC Data Model API’s new geometry and extensibility capabilities. This selected group of users will explore and test the new features on select projects before providing feedback. A new AEC data model public roadmap further highlights our strategic product focus areas in addition to where we are headed—including the areas we are currently focusing on, what we plan to work on next, and new functionality we are considering in the future.
Learn more about how democratizing data will help maximize efficiency and enable better outcomes across the AEC project lifecycle.
**The switch in ACC Admin to enable the Autodesk AEC Data Model API will begin appearing for customer accounts hosted in the Australia data region over the next several days.
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