In this heavily data-driven era, businesses can find tremendous opportunities in using their data to operate efficiently while gaining significant competitive advantages through the use of analytics and smart predictions. However, the first step in realizing these opportunities is to organize existing information and convert it to data that can be analyzed.
This article describes a data transfer standard that is gaining widespread acceptance in the geotechnical and geoenvironmental communities. The deep foundations industry represents one such community that could benefit significantly from using a common language to transfer and store files. The outcome has been the development of a framework called Data Interchange for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (DIGGS), which can be used to compile geotechnical, foundation and load testing data; to assess project performance and safety; to track productivity; and to compile load test results and quality assurance information (e.g., verticality and alignment, depth, concrete properties and quality control tests).