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Special Activity Group on AI and Digitalisation

Motivation

This initiative marks a decisive step in fib’s strategic vision to support and guide the civil engineering community through the digital transformation that is reshaping the construction industry worldwide. fib recognizes the critical importance of this moment and reaffirms its commitment to proactively guide this transition by initiating the Special Activity Group on AI and Digitalization.

Scope and objective of technical work to achieve its goal, the SAG will focus on three objectives:

The SAG will operate through three dedicated tasks groups, ensuring that AI integration is addressed both at the strategic and operational levels, with a strong foundation in ethical responsibility and human oversight.

The SAG will carry out a series of targeted activities aimed at guiding the responsible integration of AI into structural engineering. This includes defining a long-term vision for AI’s role in the field, conducting sector-wide surveys to identify current challenges and opportunities, and developing data governance frameworks to ensure trustworthy deployment. A central goal is the creation of an AI knowledge platform that builds on fib’s technical heritage, making expertise more accessible and usable. These efforts will reinforce fib’s commitment to global knowledge exchange, technical excellence, and innovation in structural concrete.

As structural engineering enters the age of digital intelligence, fib invites researchers, practitioners, industry leaders, and stakeholders worldwide to join this initiative and help shape the future of structural concrete.

 

Sylvia KesslerCommission Chair
Sylvia Kessler
Deputy Chair
TBD

 

TG.SAG2.1 - fib Ethical AI Consideration

The fib recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies are rapidly transforming structural concrete engineering. While these technologies offer significant opportunities to enhance efficiency, insight, and decision support, they also raise fundamental questions related to (1) professional responsibility, ethics, and accountability as well as (2) integrity, provenance, and governance of engineering knowledge.

The main objectives can be attributed to two main pillars:

(1) Responsibility and judgement

  • Clarify the role and responsibility of engineers when using AI-based tools in design, assessment, construction, monitoring, and asset management of concrete structures.
  • Identify ethical risks and challenges associated with AI adoption, including overreliance on automated outputs, lack of transparency, bias, explainability, and accountability gaps.
  • Define the boundaries between AI-supported decision-making and human judgment, ensuring that final responsibility remains with qualified professionals.
  • Promote awareness that AI tools, particularly generative AI, should complement - not replace - engineering expertise, critical thinking, and professional ethics.
  • Develop guidance on human-in-the-loop and human-on-the-loop approaches suitable for structural concrete engineering applications.
  • Align ethical AI use with existing engineering codes of ethics, professional standards, and fib’s mission and values.

(2) Knowledge integrity and stewardship

  • Address ethical issues related to the use of AI in accessing, processing, and disseminating fib knowledge and technical documents, including intellectual property, copyright, provenance, attribution, and preservation of the normative intent of standards and recommendations.
  • Promote principles for transparency, traceability, and governance of AI-supported engineering tools, ensuring that sources, assumptions, limitations, and applicability domains are clearly communicated to users.

Sylvia KesslerConvener
Sylvia Kessler
Moustafa Al Ani Co-Convener
Moustafa Al Ani

First nameLast nameCountryAffiliation
KesslerSylviaGermanyHelmut-Schmidt-University/ University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
Fernández-OrdóñezDavidSwitzerlandfib
TošićNikolaSpainUniversitat Politècnica de Catalunya
JedrzejewskaAgnieszkaPolandSilesian University of Technology
AsproneDomenicoItalyUniversity of Naples Federico II
RodriguesHugoPortugalUniversity of Aveiro
koçArmanTurkey
RousakisTheodorosGreeceDemocritus University of Thrace
Al-AniMoustafaNew Zealand
NoroozinejadEhsanAustraliaWestern Sydney University
JiangChaoChinaTongji University
TriantafillouThanasisGreeceUniversity of Patras
AndradeCarmenSpainCentre Internacional de Mètodes Numèrics en l’Ènginyeria (CIMNE)
BakhoumMouradEgyptACE Consulting Engineers (Moharram - Bakhoum)
MarinielloGiulioItalyUniversity of Naples - Federico II
DecanGeoffreySpain
KyriakidesNicholasCyprusCyprus University of Technology
Castro quispeVivianaItalyPOLITECNICO DI MILANO
KomarizadehaslSeyedmiladSpainDept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), BarcelonaTech. C/ Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034, Barcelona, Spain.
RossFenellaUnited Kingdom

TG.SAG2.2 - fib Large Language Model

The fib has accumulated an unparalleled body of technical knowledge over decades, including design codes, guidelines, state-of-the-art reports, scientific publications, proceedings, and technical documents. While this knowledge forms the foundation of best practice in structural concrete engineering worldwide, its growing volume and complexity increasingly challenge efficient access, interpretation, and practical application.

The main objectives are to:

  • Define the functional objectives of the fib knowledge-based digital framework, such as controlled knowledge retrieval, contextual interpretation of existing fib documents, decision-support assistance, design guidance, and recommendations aligned with best practices.
  • Establish the scope and limitations of the framework’s application in structural concrete engineering, clearly distinguishing informational support from engineering responsibility and final decision-making.
  • Curate, structure, and maintain a high-quality, authoritative knowledge base composed exclusively of fib resources, ensuring accuracy, consistency, traceability, and representation of diverse perspectives (e.g. structural engineering, materials, academia, and practice).
  • Develop an LLM-based AI-supported system architecture optimized for domainspecific reasoning in structural concrete engineering, incorporating knowledge representation strategies that reflect engineering logic and terminology.
  • Implement transparent and explainable AI mechanisms, allowing users to understand the origin, rationale, and limitations of AI-generated responses.
  • Validate the framework through rigorous testing, expert review, and user acceptance testing (UAT) to ensure reliability, relevance, and alignment with fib’s objectives.
  • Address legal, ethical, security, and data protection requirements, ensuring compliance with applicable regulations (e.g. GDPR) and alignment with fib ethical guidelines.
  • Design processes for deployment, user support, performance monitoring, continuous improvement, and long-term adaptability of the system.

Sylvia KesslerConvener
Sylvia Kessler
Giulio MarinielloCo-Convener
Giulio Mariniello

First nameLast nameCountryAffiliation
KesslerSylviaGermanyHelmut-Schmidt-University/ University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
Fernández-OrdóñezDavidSwitzerlandfib
GhiassiBahmanUnited KingdomUniversity of Birmingham / School of Engineering
DoganGamzeTurkeyKonya Technical University
SpyridisPanagiotisGermany
AsproneDomenicoItalyUniversity of Naples Federico II
RodriguesHugoPortugalUniversity of Aveiro
StraussAlfredAustriaBOKU University
GaoYuqingChinaTongji University
KryzhanovskyiVitaliiGermanyTU Dortmund
MoroFabrizioSwitzerland
CoricVedadSwedenLuleå University of Technology
MarinielloGiulioItalyUniversity of Naples - Federico II
AkramiHammamMoroccoCivil Engineering and Environment Laboratory
PatelRaviGermanyInstitute of Building materials (IMB)
DecanGeoffreySpain
Castro quispeVivianaItalyPOLITECNICO DI MILANO
KomarizadehaslSeyedmiladSpainDept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), BarcelonaTech. C/ Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034, Barcelona, Spain.
KangChongjieGermany
ZandiKamyabCanadaTIMEZYX, Canada | Sweden
Fernandes PaulaRaquelPortugalSTAP, S.A.
ChacónRolandoSpain
KuhnSophiaSwitzerlandETH Zurich
ChatziEleniSwitzerlandETH Zurich
BiróAndrásHungaryBudapest University of Technology and Economics

TG.SAG2.3 - Data Foundations and Ontologies

The successful and responsible application of artificial intelligence in structural concrete engineering depends fundamentally on the availability of structured, high-quality, and semantically consistent data. While the fib possesses a rich and diverse body of technical knowledge, spanning materials, design, durability, construction, monitoring, and lifecycle performance, this knowledge is currently distributed across documents, databases, and models that are not uniformly structured or semantically aligned.

The main objectives are to:

  • Identify and classify key data domains within fib that are most relevant for AI applications, such as materials properties, structural performance, durability, environmental exposure, construction processes, degradation phenomena relevant to existing structures and structural health monitoring.
  • Review existing fib documents, databases, models, and terminologies to identify overlaps, inconsistencies, gaps, and opportunities for harmonization.
  • Develop shared ontologies and data models that define essential entities, relationships, and metadata in a machine-readable and consistent manner.
  • Align fib ontologies with relevant international standards and initiatives (e.g. ISO, CEN, buildingSMART) to promote compatibility beyond fib.
  • Establish interoperability frameworks that enable structured data exchange between fib databases, digital tools, AI workflows, and external systems.
  • Support ontology-based integration into AI applications, enabling automated reasoning, information retrieval, and cross-domain analysis.
  • Define a governance concept for maintaining, updating, and extending shared ontologies over time.
  • Facilitate capacity building and alignment across fib commissions and task groups to promote consistent terminology and data modeling practices.

Roman Wan-WendnerConvener
Roman Wan-Wendner
Agnieszka JedrzejewskaCo-Convener
Agnieszka Jedrzejewska

First nameLast nameCountryAffiliation
Wan-WendnerRomanBelgiumGhent University
JedrzejewskaAgnieszkaPolandSilesian University of Technology
GhiassiBahmanUnited KingdomUniversity of Birmingham / School of Engineering
RamosAntónioPortugalNOVA School of Science &Technology
LeonardiMaria LauraPortugalUniversity of Minho
SpyridisPanagiotisGermany
koçArmanTurkey
StraussAlfredAustriaBOKU University
NoroozinejadEhsanAustraliaWestern Sydney University
JiangChaoChinaTongji University
PreinstorferPhilippAustriaTechnische Universität Wien
KryzhanovskyiVitaliiGermanyTU Dortmund
YuKarinSwitzerlandETH Zurich
MoroFabrizioSwitzerland
CoricVedadSwedenLuleå University of Technology
KoehnckeMartinGermanyHelmut-Schmidt-University
PatelRaviGermanyInstitute of Building materials (IMB)
KesslerSylviaGermanyHelmut-Schmidt-University/ University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
Fernández-OrdóñezDavidSwitzerlandfib
KangChongjieGermany
ZandiKamyabCanadaTIMEZYX, Canada | Sweden
Fernandes PaulaRaquelPortugalSTAP, S.A.
ChatziEleniSwitzerlandETH Zurich
SongXiaoliGermany
DepoliMatteoSwitzerland

First nameLast nameCountryAffiliation
Fernández-OrdóñezDavidSwitzerlandfib
KesslerSylviaGermanyHelmut-Schmidt-University/ University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg
HuberPatrickAustriaVienna University of Technology
koçArmanTurkey
PreinstorferPhilippAustriaTechnische Universität Wien
VorwagnerAloisAustriaAIT- Austrian Institute of Technology
ZandiKamyabCanadaTIMEZYX, Canada | Sweden
MoroFabrizioSwitzerland
GhiassiBahmanUnited KingdomUniversity of Birmingham / School of Engineering
KoehnckeMartinGermanyHelmut-Schmidt-University
MaranoGiuseppe CarloItaly
TošićNikolaSpainUniversitat Politècnica de Catalunya
RousakisTheodorosGreeceDemocritus University of Thrace
SasGabrielSwedenLuleå University of Technology
AndradeCarmenSpainCentre Internacional de Mètodes Numèrics en l’Ènginyeria (CIMNE)
NoroozinejadEhsanAustraliaWestern Sydney University
TriantafillouThanasisGreeceUniversity of Patras
Fernandes PaulaRaquelPortugalSTAP, S.A.
RamosAntónioPortugalNOVA School of Science &Technology
SpyridisPanagiotisGermany
CoricVedadSwedenLuleå University of Technology
GaoYuqingChinaTongji University
StraussAlfredAustriaBOKU University
ZhangJiao-LongChinaTongji University
YuKarinSwitzerlandETH Zurich
SisodiyaChetan SinghIndia
KyriakidesNicholasCyprusCyprus University of Technology
MaslovskyDanielCzech Republic
JedrzejewskaAgnieszkaPolandSilesian University of Technology
Bigaj-van VlietAgnieszkaNetherlandsTNO - Buildings, Infrastructures and Maritime
BakhoumMouradEgyptACE Consulting Engineers (Moharram - Bakhoum)
Dias-da-CostaDanielAustraliaThe Univ. of Sydney
KuhnSophiaSwitzerlandETH Zurich
FerraraLiberatoItalyPolitecnico di Milano
MarinielloGiulioItalyUniversity of Naples - Federico II
AsproneDomenicoItalyUniversity of Naples Federico II
JiangChaoChinaTongji University
RodriguesHugoPortugalUniversity of Aveiro
DoganGamzeTurkeyKonya Technical University
ChacónRolandoSpain
Wan-WendnerRomanBelgiumGhent University
KryzhanovskyiVitaliiGermanyTU Dortmund
KomarizadehaslSeyedmiladSpainDept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), BarcelonaTech. C/ Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034, Barcelona, Spain.
AzenhaMiguelPortugalCivil UMinho - Universidade do Minho
LeonardiMaria LauraPortugalUniversity of Minho
GuadagniniMaurizioUnited KingdomUniversity of Sheffield
Al-AniMoustafaNew Zealand
MleczkoWojciechPoland
TaoYaxinChinaTongji University
VasilicKsenijaGermanyGerman Society for Concrete and Construction Technology
KangChongjieGermany
SongXiaoliGermany
Castro quispeVivianaItalyPOLITECNICO DI MILANO
UngerJörgGermanyBundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung, BAM
DecanGeoffreySpain
SimwandaLenganjiCzech RepublicCzech Technical University in Prague
ChatziEleniSwitzerlandETH Zurich
BiróAndrásHungaryBudapest University of Technology and Economics
AkramiHammamMoroccoCivil Engineering and Environment Laboratory
MedielDiegoGermanyUniversity of the Bundeswehr Munich
MohammadiAmirhosseinPortugalUniversidade de Minho