Newsroom

Year of Renewal for CFIHOS

By Peter Townson

Peter Townson

2019 saw the completion of a major milestone of the CFIHOS programme with the publication of Version 1.4 of the CFIHOS Standard. In 2020 we became an IOGP Joint Industry Programme (JIP36), and began a new phase of work to move CFIHOS forward over the next five years.

Steering in a new direction

In January, over 100 people from CFIHOS member organizations joined us for the annual Face to Face Event London. Over three packed days they shared their feedback with us on priorities for action and CFIHOS’ future direction over the next five years.  There was particularly strong support for becoming more agile in the way CFIHOS works and makes decisions.

Our first steps in Spring 2020 reflected these priorities. We elected a new Steering Committee who remobilised the working groups that drive so much of CFIHOS’ activity. We also built a new strategic roadmap for CFIHOS’ next five years.

We now have a much clearer idea of how all our strands of activity fit into the bigger picture and contribute to achieving our strategic aims. We’re also actively working on other priorities identified by members:

  • gathering data and case studies showing how CFIHOS adds value across the information supply chain
  • creating better guidance/training for users of the CFIHOS Standard
  • developing Memoranda of Understanding with strategic partners to gain alignment across information and data management standards initiatives
  • preparing to release CFIHOS V1.4.1 in early 2021 – the first time we’ve been able to do a point release

Changes to change requests

One of our biggest priorities this year was streamlining the process for making Change Requests – a key part of updating and maintaining the CFIHOS Standard.  Thanks to more agile ways of working and a streamlined workflow and voting process, the way we handle Feature Requests (as we now call them) is far more efficient. A virtual Kanban board also makes the entire process more easily visible to all members.    

Communicating with members

In 2020 the challenges of COVID-19 have made keeping in touch even more critical.  Monthly member calls have helped us carry on our dialogue with over 300 participants across CFIHOS’ 56 member organizations.  A “12 weeks of CFIHOS” campaign offering deep dive webinars into what the working groups are doing is also helping members to see the bigger picture of how our work fits together.

Sharing our story

To achieve maximum benefits the CFIHOS standard needs to be adopted and used widely. We’ve been creating new resources and channels to build awareness in audiences.  We launched a new website  in early April, and have just set up a CFIHOS company page on Linked In.

We also created a short animated video telling the story of what CFIHOS is and the benefits it delivers. It’s had over 5000 views since its launch in September and we’ve had great feedback from viewers. You can see the video at https://vimeo.com/442077157/7d3cfef2ca.

COVID-19 gave an extra impetus to transforming the way we work this year. It hasn’t always been easy but the commitment of our committee, working groups and member organizations has kept us progressing towards our ultimate goal of making CFIHOS the go-to standard for the information supply chain.

Our deep thanks to everyone who has contributed.


Peter Townson is Programme Director of CFIHOS (Capital Facilities Information Handover Specification)

CFIHOS’ goal is to make information handover quicker, easier and safer for anyone involved in building, operating, maintaining or decommissioning industrial facilities.  It became an IOGP Joint Industry Programme (JIP36) in January 2020.

Related Articles

Back to top button