HONG KONG, CHINA -  Media OutReach - 27 October, 2020 - GS1 Hong Kong has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HKABAEIMA (Hong Kong Alliancefor Built Asset & Environment Information and Management Associations),which is the Hong Kong chapter of buildingSMART, to enable the constructionindustry to benefit from the combined expertise of both organisations through theuse of standards and services they deliver.

Anna Lin, Chief Executive of GS1 HK (left) and Ada Fung, President of HKABAEIMA(right) signed a MoU to advance global standards in the construction sector. 

The use of global buildingSmart and GS1 standards, in particular forproduct instance identification and exchange of product data, is critical inaddressing today's challenges of digitalisation in the construction sector.

This agreement further strengthens the benefits of open standards-basedinteroperability throughout the building and infrastructure value chain andlifecycle, and the broader application of digital product information. Withshared visions and goals, the aim of this MoU is to jointly expand the breadthand depth of the standards that are developed and maintained in theirrespective communities.

"As a vendor-neutral and not-for-profit body that leads the development ofopen digital information flows across the built asset economy, we uphold theVision of buildingSMART to enable full benefits from digital ways of working inthe built asset industry; and we uphold the Vision of the HKABAEIMA to fostersocietal collaboration for smarter information management across built assetand environment. I look forward to collaborating closer with GS1 Hong Kong toadvance the frontiers of built asset industry, helping to enable digitaltransformation for Smart City development," said Ada Fung, President ofHKABAEIMA cum Chair of Hong Kong Chapter of buildingSMART.

"GS1 standards for identification and product data exchange enhance supplychain efficiency, enabling interoperability between actors in BIM processes.The standards build the foundation for life cycle traceability of buildingmaterials, which supports the construction industry with better authentication,enhanced compliance and increased sustainability," Anna Lin, Chief Executive ofGS1 Hong Kong said. "We are honoured to collaborate with HKABAEIMA in strengtheningopen standards and interoperability throughout the supply chain, driving thedigital transformation of Hong Kong's construction sector."

About GS1 Hong Kong

Founded by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in 1989, GS1 HongKong is the local chapter of GS1®, a not-for-profit, standards organisationthat develops and drives adoption of easy-to-implement global standards forbusiness to uniquely identify, accurately capture and automatically share vitalinformation about products, locations and assets. Headquartered in Brussels,Belgium, GS1 has 115 national chapters serving 150 economies globally.

GS1 Hong Kong's mission is to empower business to grow and to improveefficiency, safety, authenticity and sustainability across multiple sectors andfacilitates commerce connectivity through the provision of a full spectrum ofplatforms, solutions and services based on our global standards. We provide atrusted foundation for accurate, sharable, searchable and linkable data. OurEPC standard lays the foundation for IoT, powering a range of IoT-basedservices and applications. We are helping industry to meet the challenges ofomni-channel commerce and create a seamless customer experience. By engagingwith communities of trading partners, industry organisations, government, andtechnology providers, we are fostering a collaborative ecosystem and aiming for"Smarter Business, Better Life".

Currently, GS1 Hong Kong has around 8,000 corporate members covering closeto 20 industries including retail consumer goods, food and food services,healthcare, apparel, logistics as well as information and technology.

For more information about GS1 Hong Kong, please visit www.gs1hk.org.

AboutHKABAEIMA:

Hong Kong Allianceof Built Asset & Environment Information Management Associations(HKABAEIMA) is founded by three associations [i.e., Hong Kong GeographicInformation System Association (HKGISA), Hong Kong Institute of Civil andBuilding Information Management (HKICBIM) and The Hong Kong Institute ofBuilding Information Modelling (HKIBIM)] which are specialised in InformationManagement for Built Asset and Environment industries.

The Alliance formsa platform to gather all experts and professionals in Information Managementfor sharing their experience and collaborating to develop cross-disciplineinformation flow for a better integration of the use of information within ourbuilt asset industry and realize the full societal, environmental and economicbenefits of open sharable infrastructure and building asset information intocommercial and institutional processes worldwide. Our vision is to proactivelyfacilitate the active use and dissemination of open data standards enablinginfrastructure and building asset data and lifecycle processes to improving thevalue achieved from investments in built assets and enhance opportunities forgrowth in the following levels:

(1) Industry level:To connect information management communities across built asset and environmentindustries.

(2) Society level:To serve society by building capacity, sharing experience and enablinginformation exchange.

(3) Global level:To drive digital transformation in line with global development.

The openBIMapproach promoted by buildingSMART targets to enhance interdisciplinarycommunication using industry-standard exchange methodologies and streamline theinformation sharing and collaboration process. HKABAEIMA sees the openBIMpotential and opens an opportunity to local and global practitioners to learn,to share and to interchange with each other to empower the development of asustainable BIM roadmap.

Currently,HKABAEIMA cum Hong Kong Chapter of buildingSMART have more than 30 members thatare corporations, educational institutions, or societies. GS1 HK is one of ourCorporation Members and our associations currently have more than 2,000 memberssince established in November 2019.

For more information about HKABAEIMA, please visit www.hkabaeima.org