Driving Digital Delivery for Ireland’s Infrastructure: Raising Awareness of ISO 19650 and the Irish BIM Mandate
Industry leaders and stakeholders from across Ireland’s construction and built environment sectors gathered this week for the Digital Delivery for Ireland’s Infrastructure event, jointly hosted by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, Build Digital, and the Infrastructure Division of the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.
The event brought together key voices from across infrastructure and construction to highlight the growing importance of digital delivery and the standards underpinning it, most notably the ISO 19650 series. Attendees also heard from Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Jack Chambers TD, who reinforced the Government’s commitment to advancing digital practices across public infrastructure.
Ahead of the event, Minister Chambers said:
The BIM mandate is a key element of the Government’s approach to digital delivery in public infrastructure. Engagement with standards such as ISO 19650, and participation in consultation processes, supports its effective implementation across the public sector.
At the centre of discussions was ISO 19650, a globally recognised managing information framework using Building Information Modelling (BIM). By promoting a consistent approach to information management across the lifecycle of asset-related projects, the standard supports improved collaboration, greater efficiency, and better project outcomes, aligning Ireland with international best practice in digital delivery of infrastructure.
A key theme of the event was the ongoing public consultation on proposed updates to ISO 19650, open until May 5th via NSAI’s Your Standards, Your Say platform. This consultation provides an important opportunity for industry stakeholders to contribute to the evolution of these standards, ensuring they continue to reflect both Irish and global industry needs.
Welcoming the event, Geraldine Larkin, CEO of NSAI, said:
The ISO 19650 series provides an important foundation for consistent and effective information management in the built environment. Its adoption supports improved collaboration, greater efficiency and better project outcomes for industry, underpinning the digital delivery of Ireland’s infrastructure. This event was an opportunity to raise awareness of the standards and to encourage engagement with the public consultation process, ensuring that Irish stakeholders can contribute to their continued development.
The event also supported awareness of the Irish BIM mandate, which promotes the use of BIM and aligned standards in public works projects. A dedicated session on Practical Pathways to ISO 19650 Certification explored how organisations can move from awareness to implementation, supported by Build Digital’s structured tools and guidance.
Led by Technological University Dublin in collaboration with Atlantic Technological University, Munster Technological University, South East Technological University, and University College Dublin, and working with the Grangegorman Development Agency, Build Digital plays a central role in supporting the sector’s transition to digital delivery. Its mission is to unite stakeholders across the construction and built environment ecosystem to drive the adoption of integrated, interoperable digital data practices, enhancing efficiency, productivity, sustainability, and international competitiveness.
Through its programme of guidance, education, and industry support, Build Digital is helping to ensure that world-class digital practices are adopted across the entire construction value chain, from project initiation through to delivery and operation.
Dr Clare Eriksson, Director of Build Digital, said:
This event demonstrated how Build Digital, working with NSAI and the Infrastructure Division of the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, our project funder, is supporting the practical implementation of digital delivery in Ireland. As part of the wider reform agenda, including the Accelerating Infrastructure Working Group, we are helping construction and built environment organisations adopt and implement structured information management and build towards certification.
The event also marked the forthcoming release of results from Build Digital’s annual industry survey. Capturing current adoption levels, challenges, and emerging trends in BIM and digital delivery, the findings will soon be published as an interactive dashboard, providing valuable insights to support benchmarking and forward planning across the sector.
Through a combined focus on standards, consultation, and practical implementation, the event reinforced the importance of collaboration across industry and academia, ensuring that Ireland continues to build a more innovative, efficient, and digitally enabled infrastructure sector.