Sitephysical

Sitephysical is a conceptual framework for integrating digital representations with their physical context on a site. It aims to tie asset information, spatial data, and environmental conditions into a single model to improve accuracy of inventories, maintenance planning, and safety assessments.

Origin and scope: The term emerged in the mid-2010s in discussions about digital twins and spatial information management. Sitephysical emphasizes a location-centric approach, organizing data around physical sites (buildings, campuses, construction sites) and their sublocations, rather than around standalone assets.

Technical overview: The model comprises layers for locations, assets, sensors, and environmental properties, connected by a graph-based data store and an ontology with relations such as locatedAt, contains, and adjacentTo. Time-stamped events and provenance data support historical analysis. Standardized APIs enable data ingestion from sensors and integration with GIS and CMMS systems.

Applications: Sitephysical supports facilities management, construction site monitoring, infrastructure rehabilitation, cultural heritage preservation, and disaster response. Benefits include improved asset traceability, contextual analytics, and proactive maintenance; challenges include data interoperability, sensor coverage gaps, data quality, and privacy concerns.

Reception and status: As a concepts framework, sitephysical has influenced practices in digital twin implementations and GIS-enabled asset management, though it remains a niche term outside of specific vendor ecosystems. Ongoing work focuses on expanding the ontology and refining integration standards.