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Technology is driving the future of infrastructure – are we ready?

Fresh from a tech enhanced holiday, Antony Oliver highlights the need for infrastructure to wake up to the culture shift needed to embrace a technology rich future.

Just back from holiday. And for the first time this year I went away completely paperless in the ticket department. 

Of course for many that’s probably nothing new. I could have used smart phone technology years ago to avoid printing tickets, boarding cards, maps, and the other instructions needed to secure a family abroad. But this was the first year I dared go the whole hog.

To be honest the move was assisted by my printer running out of ink and a last minute rush to get out of the door. But the fact remains that this year, for the first time, I was genuinely not a bit worried about not having the physical documentation – other than passports of course!

"Despite the old cliché that your children’s future jobs may have not been invented yet, the fact is that being ready for business in the tech generation is critical for infrastructure firms of today."

The reason is simple. It now all works. Whether it is number plate recognition on Eurotunnel, check in apps for airlines, digital boarding cards, Google Maps with guidance from nowhere to anywhere and text reminders to guide you to destinations.

I even had wifi in the middle of the Adriatic (although I’m not sure that is really what you need on holiday, mind you).

My point is that for me to be embracing this new world on holiday, we must have now moved beyond the tipping point, with digital technology now a seamless part of the experience. Without missing a beat.

So what has that got to do with infrastructure? Well simply that creating this kind of seamless experience to embrace and embed digital technology into the infrastructure lifecycle really is going to be at the heart of asset management in the future. 

In short, as infrastructure clients and owners across the transport, water, energy, communications and property sectors now increasingly shift their primary focus away from just building and maintaining assets towards delivering to their customer’s needs, the use of technology really will need to be integral to the offer.

And while, as in my small travel consumer example, much of this is already possible, the key challenge will be more about creating culture change than finding the necessary technology. It is a people, process and change management issue.

My question is therefore not whether it will happen but rather who will be ready to deliver it.

"I even had wifi in the middle of the Adriatic (although I’m not sure that is really what you need on holiday, mind you)."

As I found on holiday, there are very clear advantages of embracing technology for both customer and service provider. Less hassle, better customer service, less need for staff, less chance of mistakes, greater flexibility, less time taken to process. Less cost all round. 

The same is true when it comes to the management and operation of infrastructure. 

Infrastructure businesses of today must therefore prepare themselves to embrace this future. While the currency and skills of today may well still be firmly rooted in the physical asset, success in the future will also require a deep understanding of the way in which data gathering and management will enhance customer service.

Despite the old cliché that your children’s future jobs may have not been invented yet, the fact is that being ready for business in the tech generation is critical for infrastructure firms of today. 

I fear that we are not yet reacting fast enough to meet the pace of change.

Antony Oliver is the editor of Infrastructure Intelligence

If you would like to contact Antony Oliver about this, or any other story, please email antony.oliver@infrastructure-intelligence.com.