The annual mFUND networking symposium took place on 09.-10.10.2023 at RWTH Aachen University. mFUND is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure that intends to promote research and development projects with the focus on digital and data-driven applications for mobility of the future.

At this event, Professor Koch and Chris Voigt (MKP) presented the research project OpenSIM, which is one of the research projects currently running at the Chair of Intelligent Technical Design. OpenSIM aims at standardizing inspection processes and Structural Information (SI) data through BIM methodology for in-service infrastructure. To this end, standards, guidelines, processes and methods for data processing, visualization as well as use of open interfaces, data formats and data provision tools are investigated and specified. Potential outcomes of this project may be implemented for long-term maintenance of existing infrastructure.

At the mFUND networking symposium several research projects with a wide range of topics. Funded researchers and institute leaders showcased their commitment by presenting their interim results and by engaging in detailed discussions on the methodologies employed within their research projects. It has been observed that despite different objectives and use cases, research projects presented have many overlaps, which need to coordinated to achieve unified digitalization of the construction industry.

Within this networking event, Chair of Intelligent Technical Design contributed to organizing a workshop in collaboration with industry partners from the research project IDA-KI. The workshop tackled issues around data integration and data fusion in digital twins for civil infrastructure with respect to inspection and monitoring processes. Over 30 participants from various research projects highlighted different requirements and perspectives, which were not only valuable to the OpenSIM project, but also have provided positive feedback for other research projects.

The mFUND networking symposium has offered an excellent opportunity for exchanging ideas among researchers, which is yet another evidence of liveliness and potentials supported by mFUND. We are looking forward to future developments of these exciting projects.