The Infrastructure Trilemma

The Infrastructure Trilemma

The significance of a country’s infrastructure is often overlooked, whether it be motorways and roads, railway networks, utilities or power generation. They are the backbone of every country and they directly effect the prosperity, social standards and a country’s ability to trade both domestically and internationally¹.

The term “Trilemma” is used as a means to group the three most prevalent problems faced in the infrastructure industry: decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitisation. It can find its origins in the energy sector of major infrastructure²; these three issues span more than just energy production and are more than applicable to almost all forms of major infrastructure. Here, we examine the complexities of these issues and the relationship between them.

Decentralisation

The delicate balance between centralised (governmental) and decentralised (local) control and oversight of infrastructure has long been a challenge faced by the industry, and this continues to this day, but as infrastructure networks grow in size and are being used in ever-changing ways, this problem is only exacerbated. With ever more localised and micro solutions being developed by local groups, local authorities and devolved governments all wishing to have greater autonomy of their amenities and immediate infrastructure so that it best reflects their needs³ and removes the one size fits all solutions often provided by national agencies.

However, there is still a great need for national oversight and planning so that a consistency and continuity of provision can be provided; one example of where decentralisation is impacting development is in the Indian road network; as it attempts to rapidly expand to meet the needs of its ever-growing population and economy it is encountering the problem that the National Highways service accounts for only 2.0% of the total road network but the road system is handling some 57.0% of the country’s freight transport⁴. Meaning that the network is heavily burdened but vital to the national economy, but the development of the sprawling road network is overseen by a multitude of different local, general and central government agencies that often overlap and are in competition with one another or they have differing agendas for development⁵ further complicating long term national planning and limiting the availability of funding which could slow or even halt major improvement projects.

Decarbonisation

The agenda for decarbonisation is not unfamiliar to anyone with almost every industry seeking to adopt greener and more sustainable ways of working and this is no different in infrastructure. With governments and international organisations creating sustainability targets such as the United Nations’ and European Union’s Sustainable Development Goals, that seek to develop countries’ economies, trade and infrastructure in an all-inclusive and environmentally friendly way⁶.

Infrastructure has the ability to greatly influence the environmental impact of a country through the optimal utilisation of its existing assets and in the development of new assets that are more efficient and fit for purpose. A prime example of this happening now is in Network Rail’s upgrade of national signalling systems from the antiquated Victorian system to a sensor-based rail management system⁷, which will result in fewer trains being stopped on the line with engines idling, trains running at faster more fuel-efficient travel speeds and a vast reduction in the maintenance crews needing to be dispatched on the system⁸ which will all aid in reducing the environmental impact of the network.

Digitisation

The digitisation of infrastructure encompasses a wide range of technologies and processes that address some of the key issues with the established working process is infrastructure and the wider architecture engineering and construction industries. The digitisation of infrastructure strives to make better use of information that is produced throughout an assets life cycle so that better more informed decisions can be made about the operation, maintenance and upgrades. In addition to this, the digitisation process will enable operators and asset managers to employ new tools that improve their work processes.

While we see some infrastructure assets adopting digitally-enabled workflows and technologies these are almost all via new developments and major upgrades and redevelopments, however, if we are to follow this programme it would likely take decades to fully digitise infrastructure networks. One of the major issues with the digitisation process is the plethora of new and innovative technologies that all seek to improve the current methods in which we procure, build and maintain our infrastructure and give a more comprehensive view than we have ever had before. Though there is currently a distinct lack of a cohesive plan for the implementation and integration of these technologies and processes which could leave them falling short of the anticipated benefits so, as we move forward there must be a holistic approach to technology adoption. We can already see the development of overarching principles for this with the UK’s Gemini Principles for the creation of a national digital twin.

The relationships inside the Trilemma

These issues cannot be viewed in isolation but rather in relation to one another, then areas can be identified where they could be leveraged against one another to become a means of provoking change in the other. In Figure 1 below, some of the potential catalysts for change in one aspect of the trilemma are shown against the issue they could positively influence.