Deploying an Interactive GIS System for Facility and Asset Management: Case Study-Ministry of Education, Kuwait

Abstract

Geographical Information System (GIS) can be considered the core of the Interactive Facilities Management Environment (iFaME) framework in managing different facilities on the building bases. This study aims at building a comprehensive geodatabase for different elements of infrastructure facilities and services on the building bases for a selected number of schools and developing a GIS-based iFaME interactive application to manage different facilities at the school level in Kuwait. The iFaME is a two-dimensional/three-dimensional (2D/3D) desktop application. It is intended to take planners, decision makers, and maintenance experts inside the building to provide an interactive GIS platform to manage, visualize, query, maintain, and update the database related to school assets and facilities. The Autodesk Revit software was used to produce 3D building information models (BIM) for the selected schools. It provides accurate geometrical representation of the school building elements in an integrated data environment. The iFaME application is integrated with the Revit BIM models and the STAR-APIC Elyx 3D software solution. With the development of the iFaME applications, the facility managers in the MoE could establish greater control over the space allocation and management, asset management, emergency planning, and other areas of facility management. The school managers and maintenance engineers are considered among the most beneficiaries from this application. The school managers will monitor the maintenance activities all the time, while the maintenance engineers will use the application as a container for maintenance orders, and on the same time to document what they accomplished on daily basis. The iFaME application will reduce the maintenance cost of school assets and facilities in addition to increase their efficiency.

Analytical and Early Detection System of Infectious Diseases and Animal Health Status in Kuwait

“…The Kuwait virus isolates were closely related to isolates from central Asia and were likely vectored by migratory birds ( 1 ). Studies report more than 300 bird species in Kuwait; most of them are migratory in nature ( 33 , 34 ). Kuwait is located within two primary migratory bird pathways, the Black Sea/Mediterranean flyway and the East Africa—West Asia flyway.…”

Facility maintenance management system based on GIS and indoor map

“…At present, geographic information system is popularly used for many aspects such as analyzing proper location, managing transportation routes by showing with various patterns for instance, web application and application via mobile device or smartphone [ 4,5]. For facility maintenance notification and asset management, GIS was applied to crate building layouts of the university in the form of Desktop Application [3].…”

“…4, August 2019 : 3323 -3332 3324 for this matter, e.g., notification via Electronic Maintenance or E-Maintenance [1] and via web applications [2]. Asset management systems are also developed based on GIS via desktop applications for data management, display, and report [3]. Nonetheless, those applications still have limitations.…”

A Facilities Management Solution for Montessori in Redlands

“…Web GIS is a popular solution for running the system as it provides user-friendly features that are accessible from many devices. Projects deploying GIS for FM and other indoor mapping applications are widely documented (see Bahri et al, 2019;Bingaith, 2010;El-Gamily & Al-Rasheed, 2015;Mwaniki & Odera, 2014;Tekavec & Lisec, 2020;Wu et al, 2021). This project will build on the techniques adopted by previous projects and utilize recent advances in GIS methods to build a system that is useable by people without substantial GIS skills.…”

“…The base application provides users with room and utilities information and allows for rooms to be reassigned and adapted for future use. It also stores maintenance data, including scheduled maintenance and replacement as well as requests from staff and students (El-Gamily & Al-Rasheed, 2015).…”