The Infrastructure Podcast

It's a powerful episode this week as we talk about housing and in particular what can be done to accelerate construction of the vital homes that are needed to support our society across the UK.Now the need for housing – in particular affordable housing - has become one of THE most pressing social issues of our time. The current New Homes in New Ways project being hosted at the Building Centre in London makes that point abundantly clear – too many people are still living in temporary or substandard accommodation and it’s something that, for a developed nation like the UK, is simply unacceptable.Yet despite widespread acknowledgment of the problem, progress towards change has been slow, and systemic barriers continue to stall meaningful solutions. The Government’s new target of building 1.5 million new homes in the next five years is ambitious and welcome, but it still raises fundamental questions about feasibility, funding, and strategic planning.So what to do? My guest today is Jez Sweetland, founder of the Housing Festival think-tank and a passionate advocate for changing the way we deliver housing in the UK. As he pointed out very powerfully in his opening address to the launch of the New Homes in New Ways, the fact that one in nine children is homeless in the London Borough of Newham is something that should cause us an industry and as a society to bow our heads with shame.Because building affordable homes is doable – YES it requires financial resources and land and YES, it needs innovative thinking, new materials, new techniques and effective collaboration across the huge number of stakeholders that make housing possible. But all of this is available and possible – so why is it so difficult - let’s hear more. ResourcesHousing FestivalBuilding Centre New Homes in New Ways ExhibitionJez Sweetland Launch Speech for New Homes in New WaysPlaybook - Social Rent Housing at Pace - The MMC PlaybookHope Rise – Innovation In PracticeRegister Interest for Summit On Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th February we will host a two-day summit, bringing together local authorities, housing commissioners and the MMC housing supply ecosystem, to mobilise the delivery of social rent homes on small sites. Tickets available soon! 

Today’s podcast is a bit special - and I have to say it was a bit nerve-racking - as we talk about the challenges, barriers and opportunities for women in leadership with executive coach and strategy consultant Alex Oliver who – full disclosure – is also my wife.Alex works with a range of people – women and men - across a multitude of sectors helping all these leaders to, as she puts it, “unleash your potential, power your growth and open up a fulfilling and purposeful life”. It is powerful and really important stuff. Understanding what it takes to be a good and effective leader in business is not something that necessarily comes naturally and almost certainly improves with training and personal awareness. To be honest, I have been looking for an excuse to interview Alex on the podcast for a while so the launch last week of She Leads; Step Into Your Value, her new women’s leadership programme seemed a fantastic opportunity to peer around the door of her office – not least as it coincided with the Association of Consultancy and Engineering’s own Female Leadership conference this week.A recent Major Projects Association report on wellbeing highlighted the critical leadership challenges facing the modern infrastructure sector which traditionally has relied on a command and control, top down leadership styles. The reality is that boosting and promoting new, more empathetic leadership skills is an issue which the infrastructure sector is only really just starting to cotton onto.But for women in particular, the challenges of leadership are acute, stemming from the continuing lack of gender diversity in the sector, exacerbated by traditional leadership cultures, and underpinned by a failure to appreciate a rake of specific blockers and barriers faced by women in infrastructure.In short, for a sector which needs every ounce of talent, this failure to support and develop the next generation of female leaders remains a glaring missed opportunity.So what to do? Well let’s find out and get some advice from the expert. ResourcesShe Leads; Step into Your ValueAlex Oliver Consulting websiteACE - Engineering Futures: Removing the Barriers to Female LeadershipICE Connect - Women in Fellowship

A week after Labour's first budget in 14 years - its "big" budget - we talk on the podcast about how the UK turns all the infrastructure aspiration announced into the kind of life, economy and climate changing reality that is implied – perhaps promised.Yes, infrastructure investment plays a key role in driving economic growth across the nation and across the regions of the UK – and according to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, the budget’s £40bn budget spend will add some 1.4% to the economy – discuss! But only if these plans can be first turned into projects that actually succeed in creating the outcomes promised and demanded.So infrastructure professionals simply have to get the delivery right. The economic pressures facing the nation, the social need in terms of housing, jobs and living standards, the absolute need to prioritise global net zero targets and a resilient future mean we cannot afford to get it wrong.That means starting with an end in mind and then putting in place the steps that lead towards success - in the short term delivering to time and budget; in the longer term creating and maintaining the nation’s infrastructure to set us up for a sustainable future. Easy to say but harder to deliver. So what can actually be done to put in place the kind of steps required to plan our infrastructure, access the financing and then deliver to expectation? Well my guest to today is Hannah Vickers, Global Head of Advisory at construction and consulting giant Mace. In this role, as I understand it, Hannah is responsible for the creating the strategies, business cases and practical insights that increase delivery confidence, enhance productivity and create value for Mace’s clients and investors - so I reckon she should be well placed to help shed some light on this conundrum. ResourcesThe Budget - October 2024Mace website Mace ConsultCLC websiteProject 13Construction PlaybookPAS 2080 - carbon managementCLC CO2nstruct Zero 8th Quarterly Performance Framework

In today’s podcast we talk about the very latest digital twin visualisation technologies and find about a bit more about how and why these new immersive tools are truly set to transform the way we design construct, operate and maintain our infrastructure. At the heart of today’s discussion will be infrastructure software developer Bentley Systems’ new iLab experience which gives hands-on experience with real-time digital twins and features the latest advances in project visualization to bring models to life literally in front of your eyes. I was given a glimpse of this impressive tool recently by my guest today Greg Demchak, Vice President for Emerging Technologies at Bentley Systems at the Year in Infrastructure event in Vancouver where the latest iteration of the iLab experience was being rolled out to the press and to industry professionals.It is quite something! The iLab is an experience which provides users with an immersive infrastructure experience that is capable of both educating and explaining infrastructure while also helping professionals to get hands on with a real-time digital twin visualization. This allows users to not only enter and experience designs in their real world settings but also provides a range of tools AI enhanced tools to explore options, make changes and visualise the impact of their decision making in real time.To be quite honest, seeing is believing! It is quite an extraordinary experience and one which, I hope, the words in this conversation with Greg today will do justice to. Let’s find out!ResourcesBentley Systems iLabThe Digital Twin HubBentley Systems Year in Infrastructure 2024YII 2024 KeynotesCesium 3D TilesGoogle partnershipUnreal Engine

Today's special episode is recorded live in Jamie Oliver's new restaurant in Covent Garden London as we return to the tricky, but absolutely crucial issue of skills and the need to lever more of the best talent from schools into the infrastructure, construction and building sector. Now, anyone who has ever attended an industry conference recently and, I dare I say it, anyone that's ever listened to an industry podcaster lately, will be very aware that the deficit of skills in this sector is presenting a real risk to the ability to deliver our ambition for accelerating investment in the industry and boosting growth and improving the living standards across the UK. And add to that, the reality that technology is set to transform the way we work, underlines the reality that we have to change to make sure that the brightest minds really do good into the sector. It's a huge challenge. And so who better to talk to than Alison Watson, president of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors, and founder of the Class of Your Own initiative, which, as we heard in Episode Six, way back in March 2023 is a program that is successfully embedding its Design Engineer Construct agenda into the school curriculum and radically increasing the number of students actually making it into the industry.But not fast enough. Which is why Alison joins me today in Jamie Oliver's lovely new restaurant in Covent Garden, London, as she prepares to launch a new initiative that she hopes could actually start to change the way the sector approaches its support for schools.The episode also includes a chat with RIBA president-elect Chris Williamson (his design-a-restaurant advice – “listen your clients”) and past winners of the original Design a Restaurant competition John Haylett BSc (Hons) NECReg and Sam Boone who both underline the value of schools/industry competitions when it came to shaping and driving their own careers in the built environment.ResourcesDesign a restaurant with Jamie Oliver Class of Your Own websiteDesign Engineer Construct website

In today’s podcast we return to the interesting, important and very often controversial topic of artificial intelligence – specifically the way that it is set – or not set - to transform the way we design construct, operate and maintain our infrastructure. Now, no one will have escaped to ubiquitous emergence of AI tools now finding their way into virtually every aspect of our lives – driving our phones and computers to influence and guide our working patterns, social media feeds, entertainment choices, cars, our social activities, food and perhaps even our friends.The infrastructure sector is not immune to this influence. As the use of data, digital technologies and software tools increases to help boost the efficiency and outcomes of design delivery and operation we are now seeing an inevitable rise in AI tools creeping in to smooth the flow of information.That means, at the one end, helping out with the time-consuming number crunching tasks by making sence of the vast amounts of data now flowing out of the infrastructure life cycle. Think of it as a handy helper tackling the mundane tasks and freeing up head space and time for professionals to focus on the creative problem-solving tasks.On the other hand, we are now also seeing the rise of AI tools capable of much more advanced decision making, using live data and complex rule sets to guide and influence the design, construction and operation and maintenance operations; easing the management of processes across all aspect of infrastructure. Some might say creating a fantastic opportunity to boost efficiency; others fear a spiralling route to disaster. Software companies are at the cutting edge of this AI revolution, creating new tools and platforms daily to transform the way professionals interact with data.Bentley Systems is one such software business which, at its recent Year in Infrastructure conference in Vancouver, revealed the on-going ambition to “revolutionise infrastructure through AI”. It is indeed an exciting and daunting moment for the sector so to hear more about these revolutionary ambitions it is my pleasure to chat today to Julien Moutte, Chief Technology Officer at Bentley Systems the man driving forward this revolution and rolling it out at dizzying pace for the infrastructure sector to grasp. ResourcesBentley Systems Year in Infrastructure 2024YII 2024 KeynotesCesium 3D TilesGoogle partnership

Today's podcast comes from Canada as I'm on a short North American trip, and  our discussion is focused how technology is set to – perhaps is already – transforming the delivery and operation of public transport. In particular, we ask what lessons can be learnt from around the world – specifically from Toronto - by welcoming Kirsten Watson, Vice President of Government Relations and Transit Market Sector Leader at AECOM to the podcast todayKirsten is former Deputy CEO at Toronto Transit Commission and has just been chairing a fascinating series of conversations about the future of infrastructure at the Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit in Toronto. This is the latest in a series of global summits hosted by infrastructure software business Bentley System, which, over the last couple of years I have had the pleasure of assisting in the delivery. (for a summary of the summit see this digital book)So why Toronto? Well, of course the need for investment in infrastructure is a global challenge as we attempt to drive economies through the provision of better, more effective, lower carbon energy sources, housing, healthcare, water supplies and transport. Toronto - and Ontario Province in which is sits - understands this well and has ambitious plans, led by Infrastructure Ontario, to invest over $185 billion Canadian dollars in the next 10 years to build new roads, transit and hospitals as using public cash through the Canadian Infrastructure Bank and the new Ontario Infrastructure Bank to support further private capital.A pressing issue not least given the impact of a changing climate and the fact that the population of the Greater Toronto area is expected to grow by 2.5 million by 2041.From the outset, Ontario has set out its ambition to harness the use of new technologies to both help deliver this ambitious agenda on time and on budget, but also to improve and transform the operation and maintenance of assets through the use of data digital twins and an array of artificial intelligence tools. It is a bold plan and one that perhaps the world might learn from – and, indeed, it must be said, Toronto is equally keen to learn from others. So let’s hear more. ResourcesToronto's infrastructure plans Ontario Infrastructure Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit TorontoCanadian Infrastructure BankAECOM TorontoBentley Systems TIP hubThe Future of Infrastructure Group CanadaSummit Digital Book

In the podcast today we talk about the challenge of inclusive design and how to make the infrastructure sector more accessibility to a wider range of society.It’s a huge issue and “not merely a problem to be solved, but a commitment to ensuring independence and dignity for all.” Not my words but those of my guest today Meg Ginsberg, who describes herself as an assistant project manager at South West Water, charity founder and disabled mum. As a wheelchair user who has forged a career infrastructure,Meg knows first-hand the challenge of both improving accessibility for disabled professionals in the industry but also the vital difference that her perspective brings to decision making.According to Meg, while hiring diverse employees capable of adapting, upskilling, and delivering is key to success in construction, the employment rate of disabled people is 53%, compared to 82% of non-disabled people.Perhaps, she adds, because one in five disabled individuals is unable to travel due to the lack of appropriate transport options, a reality that impacts the lives of the 16M disabled people in the UK.For example, she says, a wheelchair user's commute can take up to five times longer than that of a non-disabled person in London. Therefore, closing the transport accessibility gap for disabled people in the UK, she says, could deliver economic benefits of over £70bn per year through improved well-being and access to education and employment.Meg is tackling the challenge head on and has founded the Construct Ability charity which she hopes will refocus attitudes and provide the tools to create a society where infrastructure is not a barrier to, but a facilitator of equal opportunities for all.ResourcesConstruct Ability About MegICE accessibility blogAbout Meg's Bath & Bristol Railway Marathon challengeEnergy & Utility Skills 2024 Awards

In today's podcast we tackle a vital but too often overlooked area of infrastructure delivery namely commissioning – the art and science of preparing and taking assets into service ready to deliver the outcomes required from the investment.   It is indeed a vital activity for every infrastructure professional to be aware of. For every asset owner and project sponsor for that matter. And while the results of getting commissioning right are so often unnoticed, the impact of getting it wrong can be commercially, socially, environmentally and politically disastrous.So often fantastic infrastructure projects fall at the final hurdle by either opening late, having to close immediately after opening for retrofit and repair, fail to deliver outcomes to expectation, or see costs spiral as teams rally and race to meet the commercial promises of opening dates.In the UK we might think about delays to the opening of the Jubilee Line Extension and Crossrail projects, West Coast Mainline, baggage handling problems on Heathrow Terminal Five, signalling and train power issues on the Channel Tunnel Rail link - the list goes on. Usually the problem simply comes down to a lack of thought, time, investment and prioritisation for the commissioning process – those vital steps that make the assets ready for operation.It doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, according to the Industrial Commissioning Association,  a relatively new organisation devoted to improving the quality and performance of commissioning across infrastructure, industrial and process sectors, the more people working on projects understand the importance of commissioning and the value it provides, the more successful projects will be in meeting cost, schedule, and quality objectives.So let’s here more about this very attractive proposition and find out about the opportunities and what’s holding us back by welcoming Paul Turner, chief executive of the Industrial Commissioning Association who is driving the new organisation forward after a career spent wrestling with commissioning around the world.ResourcesIndustrial Commissioning Association websiteProject Commissioning - Start With the End in Mind reportGlobal Commissioning StandardHow Big Things Get Done

In today's podcast we reflect on last year’s HS2 north project cancellation and, one year one, explore what lessons might be learnt for future major project delivery as we move into the Starmer government era.Now, I have been writing about infrastructure projects for 30 years and it seems that when you look back, one consistent theme constantly crops up – the delivery of major infrastructure projects is troublesome to say the least. As an industry we continuously over-promise when it comes to budgets and programme and under-deliver when it comes to social, economic and environmental outcomes. I’m thinking Jubilee Line Extension, Heathrow T5, Channel Rail Link, Crossrail – all fantastic assets today, but the delivery process has left the industry’s reputation in the eyes of the public and politicians in tatters. In fact, according to book “How Big Things Get Done” by Flyvbjerg and Gadner, 99.5% of major projects worldwide are over budget, over time and fail to deliver their expected benefits.So when then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced to the Conservative Party Conference in October 2023 that phase 2 of the HS2 project beyond the West Midlands would be cancelled and replaced with “Network North”, a £36bn hastily thrown together hotch potch of transport projects, it was hardly a surprise.HS2, said Sunak. “is a project whose costs have more than doubled, which has been repeatedly delayed and it is not scheduled to reach Manchester for almost two decades… … and for which the economic case has massively weakened with the changes to business travel post Covid.”  Much disappointment and derision followed. HS2 will now run only from London to Birmingham, with the Oak Common to Euston link on hold until a private sector backed solution can be found. The industry’s reputation for delivery sent once again into the bin.I say again because this is not the first example of politically driven descoping as politicians run out of patience waiting for a ribbon to cut. Think the Channel Tunnel in the 1970s, the Crossrail project in the late 1980s, the Advanced Passenger Train in the 1990s, numerous tram projects in the noughties. Of course many of these projects eventually restarted and reaped benefits beyond expectation..The question is why do they seem to have such troubled births? It warrants deeper discussion. It is therefore my pleasure to welcome Kay Hughes, former HS2 design director and Andy Murray, executive director at the Major Projects Association who have just jointly authored a new report looking specifically at what the major projects sector can learn from this recent HS2 cancellation experience. Resources-MPA report: "Cancellation of major projects: Perspectives on rethinking the approach to major projects inspired from HS2 Phase 2 lessons"-MPA Prestige Lecture 2024: The Politics of Projects: Professor Ben Ansell-HS2 North Cancellation announcement -Network North-How Big Things Get Done