Atkins has appointed Kelly Burdall as digital programme director for its transportation division, responsible for improving the way technology and data is harnessed to increase the predictability of project delivery.

Burdall joins Atkins from Connect Plus Services – the Balfour Beatty, Atkins, Egis joint venture that operates and maintains the M25 – where, as head of performance and quality, she drove business improvement with a focus on lean management and digital transformation. Prior to this, Burdall held management roles at Atkins and Mouchel.

Lizi Stewart, managing director of the transportation division at Atkins, said: “Kelly’s appointment is a crucial step as we continue to transform the way we deliver projects through a more data-driven and collaborative design approach. She will be instrumental in shaping the digital strategy for our transportation business, working across Atkins and with clients to drive innovation and best practice.”

Commenting on her appointment, Burdall said: “As the UK looks to build back better and prepare for a net zero future, we need to seize the opportunity that digital technology and data brings, recognising that we can and must do better as an industry.

“I now look forward to helping our clients across the full engineering lifecycle, from our digital designs to bringing new insights from data to intelligent operations. By creating structured data representations of the physical asset, we will be able to increase the predictability of project delivery while also increasing the whole life value of assets.”

Atkins’ digital transformation forms part of company-wide investment into digital solutions that have the potential to revolutionise infrastructure delivery. In the transportation sector, Atkins is using the latest digital tools and techniques to efficiently integrate and streamline the production of complex multidisciplinary design services, and has been at the forefront of utilising automation, digital twins and lean tools to drive efficiency, increase safety and reduce costs.