Abstract
Although data integration has been a research subject for decades in the AEC (architecture engineering construction) industry whose data is usually highly fragmented, nowadays we still see problem statements regarding data integration, which are often very similar to those discussed in articles dated long time ago. Representing a departure from existing methods, this paper suggests exploring a novel method, the community-specific conceptual representation, based on the Markov model framework and the mediator concept. The community-specific conceptual representation provides a de facto standard for collaborating systems in order to share data; while the Markov model framework and the mediator concept provide a theoretic foundation for the generation of the conceptual representation with expert assistances. This paper offers a theoretic discussion on the relevant theories and concepts. Further studies are needed to validate the feasibility and the practicality of this approach in the context of the AEC industry.