Calls for industry shake up to deliver infrastructure for people, by people

“We will only be able to do this with a new order of leadership – purpose needs to be at the core; with our new drivers being progress, partnership and people,’’

“In this coming decade, competition does not take the form of organisations; but the ticking clock of climate change and rising inequality – we just need to recognise we do have a shared vision and that we are all on the same team,’’

“Competitive advantage will not be defined by IP, rather by the speed at which innovations are shared to reduce the learning curve for others,” she said.

Urbis Future State Director Kate Meyrick says we’ve lost sight of infrastructure’s purpose – to rightfully serve the people it exists for.

The report calls for collaborative reform across eight key areas including:

• An industry united by its declared purpose – Driving change from within underpinned by a cultural shift from monopolistic to a common-good approach.
• Knowledge and capacity building – To build the expertise of the sector, accelerate the sharing of new ideas that drive service level innovation.
• Codifying excellence – Setting out the standards of world-class infrastructure to clarify expectations; ensuring alignment with relevant international rating
• A robust data platform – Combining the longitudinal and real-time information required to drive evidence-based decision-making. Underpinning transparent prioritisation and business case development.
• A fully integrated infrastructure model – Driving change from within underpinned by a cultural shift from a monopolistic to a common good approach.
• Place-based, creating intergenerational value – Clearly solving for a defined problem and generating new opportunity through more enlightened delivery models grounded in conversations with the end user.
• Procurement based on multi-dimensional value – Capturing all positive externalities and addressing negative impacts. Embedding resilience and demonstrating the highest and best use of funds.
• Funding security – Depoliticising funding and increasing certainty, connecting funding to outcomes overtime. Leveraging new forms of finance instrument to meet the burgeoning cost of transformational infrastructure.

The Infrastructure Sustainability Council will be assembling a Coalition of their members to review the report and collaborate across industry to drive this agenda forward.

Please find a full version of the report by clicking here: Advance our nations, fair – world-class infrastructure for thriving nations. 

For further information please contact Laura Harkins-Small, Head of Advocacy at Infrastructure Sustainability Council (info@iscouncil.org.au) or Kate Meyrick, Future State Director at Urbis.