Shaping the organization

How do you shape an organization that needs to create impact for municipalities and other public institutions—such as archives—in the field of sustainably storing objects in public space?

Sustainable storage, what does that actually mean?
Of course, we look at the cadastre, but it goes much further than that. Consider, for example, an up-to-date database of all quay walls and bridges in the Netherlands. With a team from the municipalities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Eindhoven, Amersfoort and Apeldoorn (with more to follow), we are shaping the organization that can make this possible. Our goal is to determine how we can record data about the built environment — both above and below ground — in a way that lasts for eternity. In time, the applications and platforms capable of doing this will naturally follow.

Why do we want this?
Many user stories have shown that people want to reuse built-environment data to perform analyses, for example, to identify which materials were used (a materials passport). You could also analyze which permits were granted in, say, 1981 for a government building in your area.

"A massive amount of data is being lost. And we all know that data equals money."

In discussions like these, AI is often mentioned almost immediately. A common response is: "Can't we just solve this with AI?" What is often overlooked, however, is that AI is merely a tool and does not carry responsibility. Especially when it comes to structural safety, this distinction is critical. Just as an engineer must be able to rely on correct calculations and assumptions, analyses must be based on structured and validated data. Without that foundation, assumptions and risks emerge that AI cannot correct. Structured data is therefore a necessary condition, but professional judgment and human oversight remain essential for responsible decisions about the safety of our built environment.