That includes considering the need for new infrastructure – whether renewable power, fibre broadband, or water transfers. The UK relies on effective infrastructure to drive sustainable growth, improve our competitiveness and improve the quality of life for everyone.Īt the National Infrastructure Commission, our role is to provide the government with independent and evidence-based advice on what infrastructure the UK will need up to 2050. That’s why today’s launch of the UK’s Data and Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure is an important step forward in using data to transform how we think about infrastructure. The key is not just the quality of the data we collect, but how we process it and finally how and where we use it. Neither will ‘running the numbers’ in the way we’ve always done. Merely collecting data alone will not improve the nation’s infrastructure.
Interrogate it hard enough and it will tell you whatever you want to hear. There is an old joke – data is like people.
New technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning offer the potential for the UK’s existing infrastructure to become smarter and work as an optimised system.ĭata is now as important to UK infrastructure as concrete or steel. Today, unprecedented amounts of data are at our fingertips in an instant. Data was limited in its availability, and sometimes questionable in its quality. We used slide rules rather than iPads and GPS. When I started out as an engineer, most of what we did was paper-based and on old fashioned spreadsheets. Having the right numbers and information to hand has always been essential to the successful construction and operation of any piece of infrastructure.īut how we think of data in the infrastructure space has changed dramatically. “Thank you very much for inviting me to speak today.Īs an engineer, I’ve spent my career building infrastructure and managing the processes behind creating new roads, railways, power stations and other physical structures. The data and modelling accessible through the DAFNI platform will be important to the Commission’s resilience study, which is considering what action government should take to ensure that UK infrastructure can cope with future changes, disruptions, shocks and accidents. It is the first data and analytics facility of its kind to support infrastructure planning and research, facilitating collaboration across and between universities, government and the private sector. DAFNI is the Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure. Sir John Armitt today gave the keynote speech to the DAFNI conference.