Foresight: key future issues for infrastructure
What are the key issues for the future of infrastructure? Our European Advisory Board has looked ahead and identified some critical issues for our infrastructure that everyone working in water, road, street and rail will need to address.
The Council is made up of leading researchers who are experts in different types of infrastructure, asset management and governance. The last time we brought them together for a workshop, they discussed both increasingly urgent and growing problems – but also changing conditions and fantastic new opportunities.
We boiled the discussion down to a series of points about water and roads. Insights that can serve as a basis for discussion and food for thought, perhaps within your organization?
Water – policy och finance
When it comes to water, we see a range of changes and opportunities, not least in policy and finance, which is the first future issue we want to highlight.
Here we see, among other things, how important it is to increase collaboration between and within organizations to increase delivery capacity, share expertise and manage long-term trends such as climate adaptation and increased costs.
– The challenges we face may seem overwhelming, but by working together, in the same direction and learning from each other, we can use a common momentum to get much further than we can as individual organizations, says Åsa Flydén, Deputy Program Manager and Project Manager at RISE.
Click here to see all the water policy and economics foresights
Water – technology
On water, our second discussion point was technology. We see that new technologies will impact the water sector, but how? We see a number of trends, including how technical systems will become increasingly autonomous and advanced, enabling continuous monitoring and better predictive maintenance. But there are also challenges, not least in terms of safety and skills requirements.
– The new technology can be double-edged, there are both threats and opportunities, but to move forward we need to embrace it while working on safe solutions, it is possible to do both, says Åsa Flydén, Deputy Program Manager and Project Manager at RISE.
Click here to see all water and technology foresights
Water – sustainability
On water, our third discussion point was sustainability. We see an increased focus on reducing our climate footprint and using all our resources more wisely, while at the same time dealing with new and old pollution.
– The existing infrastructure is the result of an incredibly large investment, not only financially but also in terms of natural resource use and climate emissions. Taking care of our infrastructure and optimizing its lifespan and benefits is therefore a very important part of sustainability work, says Lars Thell Marklund, our Programme Manager.
Click here to see all the water and sustainability foresights
Transportation – policy and finance
When it comes to transport and transport infrastructure, our first discussion point was policy and finance. We see stricter environmental legislation and climate adaptation on the horizon, but also increased collaboration and new opportunities.
– Lack of resources and skills leads to a growing maintenance debt for municipal roads. The need for skills is greatest in small and sparsely populated municipalities, and I believe that more collaboration between municipalities could be a solution. It could be a way of spreading but also sharing expertise between municipalities,” says our program manager Lars Thell Marklund, researcher in soil and water technology at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.
Read all the foresights on transport infrastructure, policy and economics here
Transportation – technology
When it comes to transport and transport infrastructure, one of the discussion points was new technology. Digital advances, increased connectivity and, not least, automation and AI are both placing new demands and offering opportunities.
See the main technology trends for transport infrastructure here
Transportation – sustainability
Last in our discussion on the future of transport infrastructure is the issue that keeps all sectors busy: sustainability. For roads, streets and railways, it ranges from resilience and strategic planning to demands for new fuels.
Read all our foresights on sustainability in transport infrastructure here
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