What we have built
Data platforms of several kinds, built and kept running
Large-scale Researcher Database (LDB)
- Covers roughly 11,000 research institutions, 70,000 laboratories and 150,000 researchers
- Grants and research themes are linked to the records, and the daily churn of reorganisations and researchers moving is tracked
- It has become a piece of industry groundwork that connects companies to academia, used both for joint research and for marketing
Product master data on a common standard (BRP-Code)
- A hub for product information: 30 million items gathered from dozens of manufacturers and kept in order
- Specifications, prices and campaign information are held in one place and sent on to distributors and the systems around them in whatever form each needs
- Each manufacturer gets its own connection, so master updates arrive automatically. Formats are made uniform and duplicates removed, which is what keeps the quality high
BIM Commons — the public data platform for building materials and equipment
- Following an open call by the BIM Library Consortium Japan (BLCJ), the systems and data comprising the BIM library site were transferred to SAGBRAIN in February 2026, and we now operate the platform.
- Catalogues that differ in format, field names and units from one manufacturer to the next are consolidated in one place under the classifications and attributes of the BLCJ BIM Object Standard V2.1. Architects and contractors can search and reference without logging in.
- Manufacturers can publish free of charge in their own CSV or ZIP format, with AI assisting the conversion to the standard. Copyright stays with the manufacturer, and a listing can be withdrawn at any time.
- 298 BLCJ generic objects are published. CAD and BIM tool vendors can pull the standardised data into their own tools through the member API.
- Catalogues can be submitted by upload through the member screen (CSV or ZIP), by email, or by registering the URL of a CSV hosted on the manufacturer’s own site. AI proposes the column mapping and the BLCJ classification and we check it, and submitted data is published only after our approval.
- Three manufacturers have begun submitting data on a trial basis. From here we are widening the range of participating manufacturers and listed products.
- As a BIMSIA member we operate the platform neutrally, in conformance with the published standard.
Our strengths
What comes of maintaining data continuously, and of seeing the whole field
1
Collecting widely, then checking it holds together
- Research institutions, manufacturers and public sources brought together into one set of records
- Duplicates removed and formats made uniform, and the result kept current rather than left to age
2
Seeing the whole industry, and leading on it
- We know where things stand across bioscience, construction and other fields, and we have built up how to solve the problems they share
- We work with industry, academia and government, and across sector lines, to build up an ecosystem in which data actually gets used
3
Built to be run for years, not months
- Regular cleansing and a governance routine are in place, so a new product, a reorganisation or a change in the law is absorbed quickly
- Fitted to whatever the infrastructure requires, cloud or on-premise, holding both security and availability at scale
4
Groundwork that something new can be built on
- Data put in order is what AI and machine learning stand on, and it is what makes a new business or a reworked process arrive sooner
- We back that work wherever it happens — in research, in manufacturing, on site, and in marketing
For anything to do with data management — building a database, running product master data, operating a BIM library — please get in touch through the form below.
We would be glad to put what we have built and learned to work on your business or your research.