A major public asset owner in Ireland sought to collate structured asset information that could be used for improving future decision making in respect of a communications network. Due to the lack of an organization-wide standardized approach to asset information management, the authors proposed a vendor-neutral, standards-based approach, with machine-readable rules and instance data using Web technologies. Clearly defined use cases were elicited from end users such as maintainers and operators. A sub-set of these use cases was selected to identify information needed for each asset type, focusing on the most important information. To define the machine-readable rules, ontologies and validation scripts were developed iteratively through use case testing on small data sets. A proprietary site inspection mobile application was used to gather data, which was also supplemented through desktop study of as-built records. The data was then exported, post-processed, transformed, automatically validated, and uploaded to the database. The agreed use cases were achieved and demonstrated to the asset owner. The work presented various technical challenges, including software functionality, availability of information, post-processing of collected data, communicating the outcomes. However, the prospective benefits warrant due attention by public asset owners seeking to futureproof their data and systems.