James Benham of Smartbidnet launches Construction Open Software Alliance at AGC IT Forum

CHIGAGO – James Benham, founder of Smartbidnet, announced the formation of the Construction Open Software Alliance at the Associated General Contractors of America’s IT Forum in Chicago. Speaking at the Sofitel Hotel on Chicago’s Wacker Drive, Benham said the COSA will be a community of software developers and providers who support an open standard in construction software applications, in order to provide the most useful, integrated solutions to the end-user.

"Naming standards and methods of transport are things that should be decided, as standards, going into a project," Benham said.

The COSA is a supporter of the AGC’s AGCxml data exchange schema, released in 2008. It has not been embraced a large percentage of the construction industry and Benham said it is the COSA’s hope that a grassroots approach by software providers will encourage broader adoption.

Charters members of the COSA include Smartbidnet, Notevault, Online Plan Service, and eSub.