Overview - ISO 37173:2023 (Smart community infrastructure)
ISO 37173:2023 provides guidance for the development of smart building information systems (SBIS) as part of smart community infrastructure. The standard focuses on information architecture, data management, security and privacy, and subsystem interconnection for smart buildings. It explicitly excludes civil engineering and construction processes and is intended as a reference for governments, enterprises, organizations and individuals responsible for developing SBIS.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Principles: Emphasizes four core principles - reliability, trustworthiness, maintainability, and security - as foundations for SBIS design and operation.
- System recommendations: Calls for design features such as extensibility, stability, security, operability, maintainability, and compatibility for long-term, resilient deployments.
- Layers and subsystems: Recommends a layered SBIS architecture including the physical sensing layer (equipment records, spare parts), application layer, and interaction layer, plus subsystem interconnection.
- Visualization and data compression: Addresses fidelity requirements and trade-offs when compressing and visualizing building data to balance accuracy and bandwidth/storage.
- Data security: Provides principles and measures for protecting data and service actors, threat identification, and safe operation and maintenance.
- Data privacy: Defines privacy strategy, governance, accountability, notification and procedural requirements for handling personal and sensitive information.
- Use cases: Supports building operation & management, data exchange with smart communities, monitoring (mobility, energy, environment, security), decision support and emergency management (e.g., integration with a city-wide ISAC).
Practical applications and who uses ISO 37173
- Building owners and facility managers: Improve operations, preventive maintenance, and energy efficiency through structured SBIS design.
- System integrators and vendors: Design interoperable, extensible platforms that integrate sensors, BMS, access control and analytics.
- City planners and smart city program managers: Align building systems with broader smart community infrastructures and situational awareness centers.
- IT, cybersecurity and data governance teams: Implement data security and privacy controls, threat identification and operational resilience.
- Consultants and standards professionals: Use the guidance to specify requirements, procurement criteria and governance policies.
Related standards (if applicable)
- ISO 37173 is developed by ISO/TC 268 (Sustainable cities and communities).
- The document references terminology and concepts consistent with other ISO work (for example, ISO 16781:2021 for fidelity definitions).
- Note: ISO 37173:2023 contains no normative references; it is intended as guidance rather than a prescriptive technical specification.
Keywords: ISO 37173, smart building information systems, smart community infrastructure, data security, data privacy, system architecture, subsystems, visualization, data compression, maintainability, interoperability.