The 2019 report Common Challenges, shared responses, produced with the ICE’s Infrastructure Client Group, uses Mott MacDonald’s Smart Infrastructure Index© to assess progress since Project 13. Jamie Radford, a senior information consultant at the firm, explains.

It is widely accepted across our industry that the digital transformation of infrastructure will unlock the step change in efficiency we need to meet growing demand with increasingly constrained resources. However, the first step on our journey is to understand where we are now. 

We recently launched Common challenges, shared response, a report prepared by our smart infrastructure team benchmarking the digital maturity of the UK’s Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) which represents more than 40% of annual UK infrastructure spending. The report is based on over 150 responses to the Smart Infrastructure Index© which assesses digital maturity of an enterprise, ranging from customer insights to asset performance and digital strategy to asset delivery. 

This is the first in a series of four articles based on insights and recommendations in the report. The results of the report highlight areas of progress and where more work is needed, with three key calls to action to the UK’s infrastructure asset owners and operators.

1. Benchmark your digital maturity

Complete the Smart Infrastructure Index© to assess the digital maturity of your organisation. It takes just 15 minutes and provides a personalised report, benchmarking scores against industry best practice and recommending next steps and areas of focus.

2. Shape your strategy

Drive coordinated action across your whole enterprise with a digital transformation strategy that sets out a clear vision aligned to your corporate objectives and joins up pockets of existing good practice. Learn from industry best practice and apply the ICG’s Digital Transformation Strategy checklist to identify any potential gaps in current plans.

3. Commit to the Gemini Principles and Information Management Framework

A national digital twin could release an additional £7bn of benefits across UK infrastructure each year. However, this requires a coordinated approach to information management, enabling secure data sharing between owners’ digital twins. Help the Centre for Digital Built Britain to develop and then implement the information management framework that underpins that vision and ensure your digital twins are compliant with the Gemini Principles.

The report provides a snapshot of where the industry is today, and some of the steps we should take to accelerate progress. Different companies are moving at different speeds, with some leaping ahead on their digital journeys, and others moving at a more organic pace. As the positive impacts become clearer, I hope it spurs on more of our leading owners and operators to really embrace digital transformation and commit to new ways of working – unlocking benefits for them, their customers, and wider society.

Richard Shennan, group digital business development director at Mott MacDonald, comments:

“If you can measure it you can manage it.” It’s a saying commonly used in our industry, and it’s clear that having a standard methodology for measuring digital maturity will help infrastructure owners and operators accelerate digital transformation. 

"The Mott MacDonald Smart Infrastructure Index© provides that standard. It enables organisations to plan change based on a clear understanding of their current position and provides a methodology for implementation and measurement. It also provides a valuable benchmark with respect to peers."

Click here to access the SI Index© and benchmark your organisation’s digital maturity in just 15 minutes.