buildingSMART Germany and IDTA sign cooperation agreement at Light + Building
Joint standardisation for the digital future of building construction
buildingSMART Germany e. V. and Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA) signed a formal cooperation agreement at Light + Building, the leading international trade fair for lighting and building technology, on 11 March 2026. The partnership aims to bring together Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) as complementary technologies, thereby laying the foundation for seamless digital processes in the construction and real estate industries.
The signing of the agreement marks an important step towards tighter networking between two key standardisation organisations. While buildingSMART Germany addresses the construction industry as a competence network for digital planning, construction and operation with open standards such as IFC, BCF and IDS, IDTA represents the international standardisation of the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) – the digital twin for industrial assets. Both organisations share the goal of developing interoperable, manufacturer-neutral standards and establishing them in practice.
As part of the cooperation, employees and volunteers from both organisations will actively participate in each other’s preliminary standardisation work. In addition, buildingSMART Germany and IDTA have agreed to exchange work results, provide mutual support at specialist events and develop joint publications.
Dr Kai Oberste-Ufer, Member of the Board of Directors of buildingSMART Deutschland e. V.:
“IDTA and buildingSMART Germany have already been working closely together and have produced some initial tangible results. I am therefore all the more delighted to now officially seal this successful partnership. Collaboration in the field of digital topics also means having the right digital mindset and being open to new solutions: Both of these qualities are present in this partnership, and I am certain that this cooperation will generate many more effective impulses for the construction industry.”
Gunther Wölfle, Managing Director of buildingSMART Deutschland e. V.:
“The cooperation with IDTA is a logical next step for us. Building Information Modelling and the Asset Administration Shell follow the same basic principle: making information available throughout the entire life cycle of a building in a consistent, structured and interoperable manner. By integrating our standardisation efforts more closely in the future, we are creating the conditions for digital processes to extend seamlessly from the building to the building systems, rather than ending at sector boundaries.”
Dr Matthias Bölke, Chairman of the Board of IDTA:
“AAS opens up enormous potential that is increasingly being leveraged by various industries. At the same time, it thrives on close exchange between these industries, which face similar challenges. The integration of BIM standards with the AAS creates seamless collaboration and promotes the emergence of integrated data spaces – from the planning of a building to the operation of the systems installed in it. This synergy strengthens the market relevance of both open standards and serves as an excellent example of the success of interdisciplinary cooperation.”
Dr Christian Mosch, Managing Director of IDTA, says:
“We already have a constructive working relationship with buildingSMART Germany, which we can now build on in a targeted manner. The cooperation opens up new opportunities for both communities to jointly develop practical applications for AAS in connection with building technology. This will enable us to further advance the integration of systems, building technology and digital twins throughout the entire life cycle and create concrete added value for users of both standards.”
The cooperation agreement is initially valid until 31 December 2027 and will be automatically extended unless terminated in due time.
Image: Cooperation agreement confirms partnership between buildingSMART Germany and IDTA (from left to right: Dr Christian Mosch, Dr Kai Oberste-Ufer, Dr Matthias Bölke, Gunther Wölfle)
Source: IDTA