Building a future ready content foundation for Thomas Telford
Introduction
Thomas Telford is the publishing arm of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), responsible for creating high‑quality specialist products and services for the civil engineering and construction markets. Its portfolio includes the internationally recognised NEC® suite of contracts and guidance, widely regarded as the industry standard.
Business drivers
Thomas Telford was modernising the way it delivered its contract products through the introduction of a new digital publishing platform, and sought to establish a robust and scalable content foundation capable of supporting structured content delivery, improved findability and future innovation.
Their existing content structures needed to evolve to support:
- Greater consistency and reuse of contract content
- Improved navigation and discovery for users
- A scalable foundation for future digital and semantic capabilities
To achieve this, the organisation required a clear and well‑defined data framework and ontology design that could support its core publishing products while remaining flexible enough to accommodate future enhancement.
Key requirements
The primary objective of the project was to create a structured data framework to underpin Thomas Telford’s new digital publishing platform.
Key requirements included:
- A canonical data model capable of representing complex contract content
- A taxonomy to support classification, navigation and content organisation
- An ontology design to act as a future‑facing asset, enabling richer semantic relationships and later AI‑driven use cases
- Practical integration with the chosen content management system
The Metataxis approach
Metataxis delivered the project under a fixed‑cost engagement, designing and implementing a comprehensive data model alongside a supporting taxonomy and ontology for Thomas Telford’s core publishing product.
The data model was used to configure the Pimcore content management system, ensuring that structured content could be managed, reused and published effectively. The taxonomy and ontology were developed in parallel to support consistent classification and to establish the foundations for enhanced semantic functionality.
The project was delivered through a lean and efficient engagement model. Metataxis worked with a high degree of autonomy while maintaining regular review points to ensure alignment with Thomas Telford’s expectations. Deliverables were reviewed thoroughly and constructively, enabling smooth progress and timely delivery.
Business benefits
The project delivered immediate and long‑term value for Thomas Telford, including:
- Successful implementation of a structured data model within Pimcore
- Establishment of a scalable content framework to support digital publishing
- Improved consistency and reuse across complex contract content
- A future‑proofed architecture capable of supporting semantic enrichment and AI‑driven use cases
The work also produced a set of highly reusable assets:
- A detailed canonical XML data model
- A structured and validated taxonomy
- A completed ontology designed for future implementation
- Enhanced XSLT scripts for automated content output
- Supporting design documentation
These assets provide a strong foundation for Thomas Telford’s ongoing digital strategy.
Overall, through the design and delivery of a robust data model, taxonomy, and ontology, Metataxis has helped Thomas Telford establish a sustainable and scalable foundation for digital publishing. The project demonstrates how careful information architecture and data modelling can support immediate operational needs while also preparing organisations for future innovation, including semantic technologies and AI.
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