Understanding the Persistence of Unstructured Data in AEC through the Lens of Irish Practitioners’ Perspectives: a Qualitative Investigation

Abstract: The AEC industry generates vast unstructured data,primarily in the form of natural languagecommunications, complicating machine-interpretableinformation retrieval. While the focus of existing researchhas been on transforming unstructured data into structuredforms, few studies address the root causes of unstructureddata generation and the complexity surrounding it.Through semi-structured interviews and thematicanalysis, this study identifies systematic, not technical,issues as primary contributors. It highlights confusion inunderstanding structured data, structured data-sharingprocesses, and BIM’s purpose and definition. The studyemphasizes the need for education on data sciencefoundations and a universally accepted understanding ofBIM.