India and Japan form data partnership to power AI smart cities

BENGALURU: A Japanese construction technology company and an Indian Institute of Science-backed data platform have joined forces to try to unlock one of the most persistent blind spots in urban planning: the vast amounts of construction data that disappear when building projects close.Tottori-based open standards built environment data specialist ONESTRUCTION Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding with DataKaveri Systems, the commercial arm of IISc Center for Data in the Public Interest (CDPG) Bangalore, to integrate building data into an AI-powered urban data exchange for cities in India and Japan.The signing took place during the first-ever Japan-India Strategic Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence, a bilateral initiative to advance cooperation on artificial intelligence and data infrastructure.Under the agreement, the two organizations will work to connect ONESTRUCTION’s openBIM platform, built around the internationally recognized open data standard for construction information IFC, with DataKaveri’s Intelligent Universal Data Exchange (IUDX), which is already running in 55 smart cities in India, covering urban transportation, utilities, environment and public services.The goal is to enable construction data such as floor plans, utility layouts and asset history to flow securely into city-scale AI applications and digital twins, rather than being lost or locked in individual project silos after construction ends.Lucas Haywood, vice president of global strategy at ONESTRUCTION, said the partnership heralds a future in which standardized building data may play a role in “describing everything else about a city.” Ashok Krishnan, VP Commercial Business and Revenue at CDPG and DataKaveri, describes the construction industry as a “data gold mine” that rarely goes beyond the scope of a single project.The two companies said they will jointly explore AI use cases leveraging construction and urban data sets and pursue bilateral funding opportunities. Both expressed hope that the model could be replicated internationally.