From July 9 to 11, BIM-Connected attended LDAC 2025 in Porto. This annual event – short for Linked Data in Architecture and Construction – brings together researchers, software developers, and companies working on digital innovation in the construction industry. For BIM-Connected, LDAC is a yearly highlight: this is where science and practice meet. Just like in previous years, we were not only participants but also sponsors of the event.

Why LDAC is important to BIM-Connected
LDAC revolves around the very topics we work on every day: linked data, knowledge management, and semantic technologies in the built environment. Lucas Verhelst, partner and consultant at BIM-Connected:

“We find it important to stay connected to scientific developments. Our yearly visit to LDAC helps us do this and ensures we remain engaged. This way, we can apply the insights we gain directly in practice.”

Four colleagues, one mission: gaining and sharing knowledge
Four BIM-Connected colleagues traveled to Porto. Over three intensive days, they attended workshops, joined keynotes, and engaged in discussions with researchers and other professionals from across Europe.
“As a sponsor, we also had our own booth,” Lucas adds. “It offered plenty of opportunities for engaging conversations. It was great to share our expertise and at the same time gather new ideas.”

What do we take away from LDAC 2025?
The insights we gained during LDAC are translated directly into our daily work, such as:

• Capturing requirements and regulations in a smart way to enable automatic validation and identify conflicts.

• Recording 3D geometry in Linked Data.

• Offering real-time and static data in context to an LLM (for example, to control a robot on the construction site).

By continuing to learn, BIM-Connected keeps leading the way. LDAC plays an important role in this.

We’re happy to share our insights with you. Get in touch with us to discover how we can support your organization.

We’re excited to welcome Nima Azari as a 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁! With his strong background in data engineering, business intelligence, and geo-data, Nima brings the skills we need to make our projects smarter and better connected.

🔍 At BIM-Connected, Nima will focus on:
• 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 & 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: helping design ontologies and SPARQL queries to align BIM, IFC/CityGML, and asset-management datasets.
• 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: configuring low-code, modular dashboards, editors, and visualizers on the Wistor platform, built on open linked-data standards for infrastructure asset info (like those used in Utrecht’s municipal CDE)
• 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: streamlining metadata, version control, and CI/CD to boost data reliability and reuse.

Nima: “I love turning raw data into smart, usable systems — whether it’s rows, coordinates, or graph triples. At BIM-Connected, I’m bridging BIM with infrastructure and city-scale data through linked data and semantic models.”
With his energy and technical expertise, Nima is a great addition to our team and our mission: making data work, at both site and city scale.

👋 Curious about linked data, smart cities, or asset management? Reach out to Nima!

#BIMConnected #Welcome #LinkedData #DataSpecialist #SmartCity #Wistor #BIM

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We showed it during a successful two-day training at Wetterskip Fryslân. Over the course of two days, we took seven of their team members on a deep dive into topics like 𝗡𝗘𝗡𝟮𝟲𝟲𝟬, 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗧𝗟. We even rolled up our sleeves and explored the 𝗢𝗧𝗟-𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 hands-on. And wow: did it spark inspiration! 💡

Jan Schoof shares: “Wetterskip Fryslân is keen to level up its smart data management for assets, which includes understanding standards like NEN2660 and applying an OTL. On day one, my colleague Ellen van den Bersselaar guided the group through defining information needs, object-oriented thinking, and why this is key for data-driven asset management. This laid the groundwork for participants to create their very first OTL, based on a sample asset.

On day two, I took the group for a deep dive into the topic of ‘OTL in Linked Data’. We talked about the shift from application-centric to data-centric working and explored this further by translating the building blocks from day one into concrete W3C/Linked Data standards and techniques. With that as a base, we really got to show the power and potential of Linked Data ontologies for information management.

We wrapped up by demonstrating the Wistor apps: OTL-editor, OTL-validator, and OTL-viewer. All the puzzle pieces coming together!”
The training brought a ton of energy. The group was enthusiastic, and lively discussions popped up, grounded in their real-world work. Wetterskip Fryslân left inspired and ready to take on their own OTL journey. Moving towards smarter, more data-centric, and future-proof asset management!

👉 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻 𝗢𝗧𝗟? We’re happy to help with a tailored training. Just reach out!

#BIMConnected #LinkedData #NEN2660 #OTL #Wistor #OTLeditor #OTLvalidator #OTLviewer #Ontology #AssetManagement #InformationManagement #DataManagement

At 𝗕𝗜𝗠-𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱, we’re always exploring how cutting-edge technology can help structure, connect, and make sense of information. One of our latest internal experiments? Using 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 (𝗟𝗟𝗠’𝘀) to support 𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.

🔧 Over the past few months we:
– Selected a promising academic approach from recent research,
– Set up pipelines to run experiments using  𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 like 𝗡𝗘𝗡 𝟮𝟲𝟲𝟬 and 𝗜𝗠𝗕𝗢𝗥,
– Tested different models and prompting methods (OpenAI, Mistral, DeepSeek, Spacy),
– Created a prototype app to extract ontologies from natural language descriptions,
– And began integration with our own platform, Wistor.

We treated this as an 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸—bridging research with practical BIM use cases. The result is a 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳-𝗼𝗳-𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 that shows how we might bring semantic technologies closer to everyday workflows.

This kind of initiative reflects who we are as a company: always curious, always experimenting, and always aiming to turn complex ideas into real-world solutions.

💡What’s next? We’re now thinking about how to take this further: better criteria, more use cases, and broader accessibility. We’ll keep working on this in the coming period.

BIM-Connected had a strong presence last week at the Knowledge Graphs, Linked Data & Standards event by Platform Linked Data Nederland (PLDN)!

Hans Schevers mentioned Wistor in his presentation “What are the possibilities of the Kadaster Knowledge Graph?” Meanwhile, Luuk Wijnholts teamed up with Willem Sosef and Emil Otte from Gemeente Utrecht for a presentation and live demo on object registration at the municipality.

Luuk Wijnholts: “During our presentation and demo, we showcased how the municipality of Utrecht uses Linked Data within their asset information system. The core of this system is the Object Registration, which acts as the Single Source of Truth for all municipal assets. This solid foundation is built in our data-centric platform Wistor.”

It was great to see how open standards and knowledge sharing contribute to better information flows in Public Space Management across the Netherlands!

A big thank you to Kadaster and Forum Standaardisatie for organizing this event.

Interested in this topic? Let’s connect!

#LinkedData #AssetManagement #GemeenteUtrecht #Kadaster #Wistor #Standards #KnowledgeGraphs

A new addition to our team! Roel Smeets joined BIM-Connected on February 10th as a UI and UX designer. In this role, he focuses on designing the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX).

From Freelance to BIM-Connected

Roel studied Industrial Design at TU Eindhoven and then worked for a year as a UI/UX designer. “I enjoyed the work, but the company I worked for wasn’t the right fit for me. So, I decided to start freelancing, mainly focusing on graphic design. After 6.5 years, I was ready for a new challenge. I wanted to get back into interaction design—it offers more complexity, and I was craving a bigger puzzle!”

A Familiar Face

Roel has known BIM-Connected for years—in fact, he’s worked with us before! “Founder Jakko Heinen and I lived in the same student house and stayed in touch. We started our businesses around the same time and even rented desks in the same space. As BIM-Connected grew, Jakko asked me to design some of their interfaces. I’ve seen the company evolve over the years, and I already knew almost all my future colleagues. When I was looking for my next challenge, I thought: why not BIM-Connected? And that’s how things started rolling.”

Diving into Data

“The field BIM-Connected operates in really excites me,” Roel continues. “Technology offers endless possibilities, but if you don’t translate it into practical, user-friendly solutions, you miss the mark. BIM-Connected focuses on the data domain, which I find super interesting. Over the coming months, I’ll be working on a new software application for managing public spaces. In the Netherlands, we collect data on everything from trees to trash bins—but how do we make the most of this information? It’s fascinating to be part of this process from the ground up.”

We’re excited to have Roel on board—welcome to the team! 🚀

Does your organization want to work data-driven? Then reliable and high-quality data is a must! Sounds logical, right? But in practice, many organizations still don’t fully own or control their data. So, what’s causing this, and how can it be done differently?

In this article, we dive into the issue and explore what data-centric working can do for your organization.

Happy and grateful to share that we have been ranked as one of the top consulting firms in this industry.

Consultancy.nl: The rating of consulting firms is based on feedback from clients (1,100 reviews) and consultants (4,200 reviews across the various areas of expertise), and an extensive assessment of capabilities on themes such as Nuts expertise, reputation, awards, benchmarks, track record, thought leadership and more.

View all rankings: The best consultancy firms in the Netherlands 2024.

On Friday, December 13th, we wrapped up the year together during our team day. A moment to reflect on the past and set our sights on the future.

The day revolved around sharing our company strategy and roadmap for the next three years. We’re proud to have laid this out clearly, with a strong vision and mission. After all, it’s important that everyone in our team understands:

👉 The challenges organizations face,
👉 What they need to succeed,
👉 How our solutions align with their missions and visions,
👉 Our strategic goals for the next three years,
👉 And where our focus for services and products will be in 2025.

In addition to sharing our strategy and roadmap, we also had a fun activity, a quiz, and wrapped it all up with a shared meal.

Curious to learn more about our company strategy and vision? Or are you looking for solutions to improve data management and data exchange for your organization? Feel free to get in touch with Jakko Heinen (jakko.heinen@bim-connected.com – +31 6 533 393 82).

Follow our Wistor page to stay updated on the Wistor app developments and releases in 2025!

Enjoy your holidays and see you next year! 🎅

hashtag#TeamDay hashtag#BIMConnected hashtag#Wistor #2025 hashtag#Strategy hashtag#Roadmap