A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been announced between representatives for the United Kingdom and the United States of America, cementing a pledge to work together on the development of the U.S. National Building Information Management (BIM) Program.

Marking the next step in a two-year collaboration, the MoU will see the National Institute of Building Sciences work with experts from the UK's Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) on the development of a National BIM Program for the U.S., supporting international alignment on technical standards for the built environment. The US-UK collaboration has been enabled through the support of the UK's Construction Innovation Hub.

"The mission of the U.S. National BIM Program is to convene industry stakeholders to lead the development and broad deployment of next-generation national information management standards and practices focused on significantly improving the built environment delivery and operation processes," said Lakisha A. Woods, CAE, president and CEO of NIBS. "We are thrilled to work with CDBB as a collaborative partner to address these global industry opportunities."

NIBS will work with CDBB to adapt the UK program model and materials as a guide to developing a U.S. national roadmap aligned with the international standard for BIM-ISO19650. The MoU also will support and encourage the public and private sector in both countries to learn from each other and exchange of best practice creating benefits to both economies and growing trade opportunities by increasing the sector's productivity and performance.

The U.S. National BIM Program will foster a productive and more collaborative international digital construction sector for the public good, facilitating innovation to drive increased value and be an engine for long-term sustainable growth.

The new agreement was announced May 25 during a Digital Construction Week Connect series webinar.

CDBB Head of International Adam Matthews, said, "This partnership continues the global trend of knowledge sharing between countries that is accelerating and aligning the construction sector's digitalization journey. It marks the culmination of two years of close joint working between the two countries — by working together to innovate the built environment we can create better outcomes for people and places."

Fergus Harradence, deputy director for construction at the UK Government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), added, "BIM is at the heart of the digitalization of the construction sector. The creation of a U.S. National BIM Program aligned to international standards marks a major step forward for the global construction sector. We are delighted to be collaborating with the U.S. to share the learnings from our UK BIM program. This collaboration will lead to economic and environmental benefits for both countries by boosting the economic performance of the construction sector and helping to improve social outcomes and trade opportunities."