Committee calls for Smart Infrastructure Task Force

A parliamentary committee has called for the establishment of a task force to ensure a more coordinated approach towards the development and adoption of smart ICT for Australian infrastructure.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities has published a report into the role of smart ICT in the design and planning of infrastructure projects.

According to the report, a smart ICT approach to infrastructure would embrace numerous spatial industry innovations including building information modelling (BIM), geospatial information technology, IoT devices, spatial gamification, 3D visualisation and spatial data capture methods.

The report finds that smart ICT has the capacity to transform the design, construction and management of infrastructure assets as well as the management and use of existing assets. It has applications in the operation of transport, communication, energy and utility systems.

The main recommendation is the establishment of a Smart Infrastructure Task Force, based on the model developed in the UK. The task force would provide national coordination between governments, industry and researchers.

The report also recommends that the use of BIM be made mandatory for all government infrastructure projects exceeding $50 million.

BIM is a process involving the generation and management of virtualised representations of the physical, spatial and functional characteristics of places.

Committee chair John Alexander said the technologies explored in the report have the capacity to dramatically increase the productivity of the Australian economy.

“In order to achieve this, however, governments and industry must be aware of the potential of smart ICT, and must invest in the technologies, skills and systems to make the transformation a reality,” he said.

The Spatial Industries Business Association (SIBA), the association representing the spatial industries in Australia and New Zealand, has welcomed the findings of the report.

The association’s chair, Glenn Cockerton, said the recommendation to model the proposed task force after the UK equivalent will allow Australia to build on the experience of others rather than duplicating effort.

“Scotland is being regarded as the second-generation UK BIM policy model. Our joint submission included a letter from the Scottish Futures Trust. This letter confirmed Scotland would like to explore how both countries might mutually benefit through an innovation collaboration in this digital space,” he said.

“This collaboration we have helped facilitate for Australia should be proactively embraced by government as it will considerably reduce risks and greatly accelerate time to yield full productivity with BIM.”

Image courtesy of Payton Chung under CC