The data layer sits on top of the device and network layers as the data infrastructure for any smart building software application. The applications need an ontology to understand all the data they're consuming, including all the underlying devices and how they fit together into a system of systems.
Independent Data Layer (IDL) vendors provide a data layer solution that is *independent* from the application layer. Meaning Buyers can buy the data layer as a separate product from any applications that sit on top of the data layer.
The Application Layer needs a way to understand all the data it's consuming, including all the underlying devices and how they fit together into a system of systems. That's where these standard Ontology initiatives fit in. Buyers can adopt these standards for use in their stacks and capitalize on all the work done by the volunteers that maintain each standard.
"Data Layer, coupled with Applications" vendors provide one or more software applications at the Application Layer AND their solution can serve as the central data layer for other applications. Meaning they provide a Data Layer that is coupled with applications. These vendors often use terminology such as Building Operating Systems (BOS), Digital Twins, or Integration Platforms.
This NexusCon 2025 presentation features Rob Knight, Senior Smart Buildings Consultant at ARUP, and Robert Bray, Vice President & General Manager at Autodesk, tackling a problem most owners quietly accept as “just how it is”: losing critical building data at handover.
This NexusCon 2025 presentation captures a live owner-vendor debate on two questions many FM, IT, and OT leaders are quietly wrestling with: do data layers just move vendor lock-in up the stack—and should owners buy or build their own independent data layer?
This NexusCon 2025 presentation brings together Rick Szcodronski and Christopher Manna from Willow, Steve Burrell from Northern Arizona University, and Jose de Castro from Mapped to show how a large public university turned years of disconnected building data into something operators could actually use.
This NexusCon 2025 presentation walks through how Goldman Sachs is executing one of the most ambitious smart building programs in the industry—spanning 94 sites across retrofits, new construction, and live deployments.
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