How can Civil Engineering

thrive in a Smart City World?

Foreword
Growing urbanisation is placing pressures on cities the
likes of which we have never seen before.
There is no other profession that is in a better position to tackle the issue of how to
manage the demands of a growing population than civil engineering. From water
and sanitation to energy and transport, the way that infrastructure is designed,
delivered, operated and maintained has a critical impact on everyone’s lives.
If we get it right civil engineers can proudly claim to have made life better for
people across the globe. If we do not, society will look to others for solutions
as the digital era makes it easier for new players to step up to the plate with
innovative answers to the world’s problems.
Civil engineers have throughout time, always innovated to solve the issues
of the day. Bazalgette, Telford and Brunel are rightly feted for being ahead of
their time in seeking to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles to transform
people’s lives.
The Institution of Civil Engineers is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2018
and can count these engineering giants as past members. There is no doubt in
my mind that these great innovators would have grasped the opportunities we
now have at our disposal with both hands. As an industry we must follow their
lead and swap ‘faster and cheaper’ for ‘smarter and more effective’. We must
think about achieving better outcomes for the societies we serve, and we must
embrace the new tools that the digital era offers us.
Nathan Baker
Director, Institution of Civil Engineers
2
There is no other profession that is in a
better position to tackle the issue of how
to manage the demands of a growing
population than civil engineering.
This report gives us a great insight into the change in mind set that all of us,
as individuals, businesses and professional bodies need to achieve in order to
thrive and not just survive in the face of radical digital change.
The recommendations will require civil engineers to step outside of their
comfort zone, but we must address the lack of ‘soft infrastructure’ that exists
within our industry if we are to flourish as an industry and become digital
leaders rather than followers.
ICE is already at the forefront of encouraging industry transformation.
Project 13, the industry-led initiative to improve the way high performance
infrastructure is delivered, has already begun to challenge the status quo.
The recommendations in this report provide us with an opportunity to work
with industry to develop a strategy that will not only allow us to compete in the
digital era, but to lead the way in using technology to improve people’s lives.
Contents

Executive summary Section 3: Where we need to go

Introduction
Solving challenges with soft infrastructures
Purpose of this report
The missing piece
Our approach
Soft infrastructure 1: Potential for commercialisation
Method
The need for new business models
Report structure
New digitally-enabled business models
Challenges to business model change
Section 1: Fighting challenges in the digital city
Bringing about change
Context: Cities cannot exist without the civil engineer. Recommendations to the civil engineering profession
What do civil engineers do?
Soft infrastructure 2: Governance and process
Where do civil engineers work?
The need for new approaches to governing innovation?
Change: An approaching smart city age What do we mean by frameworks?
What do we mean by the smart city? How can these frameworks reduce uncertainty while still providing freedom to innovate?
Increased data availability How should these frameworks be developed?
Better connectivity Recommendations to the civil engineering profession
Increased processing power
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital
The theoretical case for digital technology in civil engineering Why do civil engineers need to change their knowledge, skills and behaviours?
What opportunities could digital technology bring to civil engineers? What will this change look like for different career stages?
How can civil engineers leverage these opportunities to address the Is there a need for new roles in civil engineering?
challenges they face?
Recommendations to the civil engineering profession

How digital innovation creates value – tomorrow
Section 2: Where we are today
The reality on the ground
Three challenges to radical change
Summary of recommendations
Perception of high risk
Perception of limited value Authors
Poor understanding of role About us
How digital innovation creates value – today Bibliography

3
Executive Summary
Fighting challenges in the digital city
Civil engineers make cities work. Their many constructions support
systems from energy to transport to sanitation; without them, urban
living as we know it would not exist.
New opportunities are on the horizon. ‘Smart cities’ is on the tip of
every mayor’s tongue: a vision that digital capabilities may bring
value to our urban areas. Passion for this paradigm may lead to radical
digital change in the civil engineer’s habitat – and possibly, within the
profession itself.
Three digital capabilities stand out – better connectivity, a greater
availability of data and a rise in processing power. These could
empower civil engineers to be more efficient and more effective,
better combating challenges in individual infrastructures, across
infrastructure systems, and throughout society as a whole.
But are civil engineers ready for radical digital change?
Where we are today
The Civil engineer is no stranger to digital innovation. Our research
however shows modest progress: a profession with isolated instances
of innovation, focusing on efficiently producing outputs, blinkered to
individual infrastructure and the short term.
Civil engineers paint digital innovation as an unappealing pursuit;
stakeholders describe a view of high risk, limited value, and a poor
understanding of their role in its delivery. Injecting the profession with
hard infrastructure – specific digital technologies – has not delivered.
A “faster and cheaper” philosophy can only go so far. Soon it will
become a distraction. If the civil engineering profession continues its
current approach to digital innovation, no matter the vigour, we predict
new competitors, rising commodification and shrinking influence.
At present, civil engineers may best aspire to survive in a smart city age.
4
Where we need to go
We believe in an alternate path forward. The challenges we have seen This report tells the story
are symptomatic of a wider issue: a lack of soft infrastructures – cultural of civil engineers moving
systems that govern human behaviours. Our analysis focuses on three
connected instances: from surviving to thriving
Civil engineers need to perceive the wider potential of digital in the face of radical
innovation. However, this value is irrelevant if engineers cannot
translate wider outcomes to profitable Commercial Practice. A
digital change.
need for new business models is created. Even with a lucrative
arrangement, delivering digital innovation remains an elusive,
amorphous and risky process, warranting new Governance and
Process. These new structures will place individuals in distinctly
different roles and we do not believe civil engineering’s Human
Capital will suffice. New approaches to knowledge, skills and
behaviours are necessary.
Investigating each, we make recommendations to individual engineers,
engineering organisations, and the Institution of Civil Engineers.
The change needed is substantial, the recommendations difficult
and improvement areas lie outside the profession’s comfort zone.
In history, however, the civil engineering profession has shown the
ability to deliver significant soft infrastructure change in times of
significant technological change.
The profession needs to rewrite its strategy to digital innovation. It
must broaden its world view, invest in soft infrastructures, and draw
on its roots as an innovative profession that brings great societal
good. While digital innovation may be at odds with the profession’s
current culture, it is highly complementary to its purpose.
We believe, if we can rise to this challenge, civil engineering will
thrive – not only in tomorrow’s smart city age, but also in the UK’s
industry as it stands today.
Introduction
Purpose of this report
The city is the playground of
the civil engineer. A myriad of
connected constructions provide
the essential infrastructure
citizens need to live, work and
play. Without them, the cities of
today would not exist.
In a future, ‘smart city’ age, civil
engineers will need to solve
challenges in a more digital
habitat. But are they ready for
radical digital change?
A rising urban population, the changing climate and increased resource scarcity present the
profession with an increasingly challenging realm in which to engineer.
In parallel, new digital technologies are disrupting professions with new ways of doing
and being.
This new urban context presents challenges and opportunities for civil engineers. The
emergence of “smart city” thinking – where digital capabilities create value – may
accelerate the use of digital innovation around the civil engineer. This could present
a context for change and improvement: this could present a context for stagnation
and obsolescence.
This focussed study considers how the role of civil engineering could change as “smart
solutions”, or digital technologies, become more commonplace in our cities, and
potentially, in how infrastructure is designed, delivered and maintained within (and
between) them.
Extensive research has already been undertaken on the technical nature of digital
technologies. This study focuses instead on their use by civil engineers, how the
profession’s culture shapes their interpretation and what change is necessary achieve to
achieve more of the benefits that digital innovation has to offer.
Digital technologies are not new to civil engineering. Through this research, we will
acknowledge and assess the state of digital innovation within the profession, explore what
success in a more digital future might look like, and assess the challenges to
this end.
Comparative to other implementation research, this report concerns radical digital change
over smaller, evolutionary improvements. Analysis of the profession will be unflinching
against this stretching lens: a number of uncomfortable truths should be expected herein.
We aim to provide advice to civil engineers as to how their profession should evolve in
the face of digital technology. This study is supported by the ICE, but offers a strictly
independent perspective. Whilst the focus of our study has been the UK, we expect that
many of our findings will be more widely applicable.
5
Our Approach
Method
Between July and October 2017, Arup, with support from
the University of Bristol, carried out the following tasks:
-- A desk study and literature review, exploring both
commercial and academic literature relating to smart
cities, civil engineering and the built environment.
-- Interviews with key stakeholders working in digital
technology, smart cities and civil engineering.
Interviewees were sought from the public and private
sector, from infrastructure operators, contractors and
consultants, and from across all career stages.
-- A workshop with experts from a range of key
infrastructure sectors, including water, energy and
transport, with expertise ranging from civil engineering
to digital technology to legal and commercial.
-- Analysis and reporting of the data collected above.
This report is kindly supported by an Institution of Civil
Engineers Research and Development Enabling Fund grant.
6
Report structure Section 3: Where we need to go
The remainder of the report is structured into three sections -- Solving challenges with soft infrastructures introduces
as follows: the importance of a type of intervention – ‘soft
infrastructure’ – alongside hard digital technology, in
Section 1: Orchestrators of the digital city.
achieving change.
-- Context: Cities cannot exist without the civil engineer
explores the purpose of civil engineers and their vital -- Soft infrastructure 1–3 each explore a specific soft
role in cities. infrastructure, detailing our analysis and recommended
interventions.
-- Change: An approaching smart city age explores the
context of the smart city, setting a clear definition of this -- How digital innovation creates value – tomorrow
term and contributing digital capabilities. summarises the value we believe civil engineering could
-- The theoretical case for digital technology in civil draw from digital innovation through the pursuit of our
engineering provides a theoretical overview of the recommendations.
opportunities digital innovation could bring to civil
-- Conclusion: Surviving in a smart city age concludes
engineers.
Section 3 with the likely future of civil engineering in a
Section 2: Where we are today. smart city age, if it embraces a different path
-- The reality on the ground provides a practical This report ends with a summary of our recommendations
overview of the status quo of digital innovation in and a list of the authors.
civil engineering, drawn from our observations of the
profession.
-- How digital innovation creates value – today
summarises the value digital innovation creates for civil
engineers today.
-- Conclusion: Surviving in a smart city age concludes
Section 2 with a consideration of civil engineering’s
likely fate in a “smart city age” based on its current path.
Framework 1. Fighting challenges
2. Where we are today
This report focuses in the digital city
on digital innovation
in the civil engineering

How we
profession. In the course
of our study, we have
created a framework
What do civil How this
that communicates and
approach
connects our findings.
engineers do creates
To support the narrative
digital
in cities? value
of our story, we will
punctuate our report
with snapshots of
the framework‘s innovation
development. To begin
with, sections will hold
placeholders with the
questions we wish to
answer. Visual answers
will be added as they 3. Where we need to go
are introduced, chapter
by chapter. The initial

How we
placeholders can be
seen here.
What do we How this
approach
mean by creates
digital
“digital”? value
innovation

7
Section 1

Fighting challenges
in the digital city

8
Context: Cities cannot exist without the civil engineer

What do civil engineers do?

Civil engineering deals with the design, construction, and
maintenance of the physical and natural built environment,
in and between urban areas. Civil engineers improve
and maintain this environment to enhance the quality
of life for present and future generations1. In essence, 3
civil constructions are required for everything from the
provision of food and water, to effective sanitation, to
reliable transport.
Through their work, civil engineers have a key role
in solving a wide variety of challenges in the built
environment, from the smallest infrastructure faults 2
to global resource shortages. These challenges are not
confined to the scale of individual pieces of infrastructure,
but also span the systems these infrastructures collectively
form, and in the wider society that depends on them.
We will not exhaustively investigate civil engineering 1
challenges within this report, but have identified an
example for each level. We will return to these levels later
in our analysis as a means to assess the potential of digital
technology.
This answers “What do civil engineers do in cities?”
in the framework.

“Civil engineering is everything you

see that has been built around us.”
Institution of Civil Engineers

What do civil engineers do in cities– Civil

engineers solve challenges at the levels of:
1) individual infrastructures, 2) infrastructure
systems, 3) wider society

9
Context: Cities cannot exist without the civil engineer
Individual infrastructures
Civil engineering projects often focus on a single piece
of infrastructure – a building, a bridge, a tunnel. Civil
engineers work to create, maintain, upgrade and operate
these individual infrastructures, to meet the needs of
citizens.
One particular challenge at this level is the need to
restore ageing infrastructures – almost half of London’s
water mains are over 100 years old, and 70% of the UK’s
buildings that will be in use in 2050 already exist2,3.
Replacing this infrastructure is often prohibitively
expensive, and an increase in the proportion of repair
and maintenance construction (as is expected with
ageing infrastructure) has been linked to the issue of low
productivity in the construction sector4.
Infrastructure systems
Cities form a convergent point of many different
infrastructures, connecting to form large and complex
systems. The positive synergies emerging from these
connected systems are what make cities liveable.
In addition to solving problems at the individual
infrastructure level, civil engineers can use their
understanding to ensure that individual infrastructures
work well within a system. Civil engineers work to
understand and control these systems effectively, with the
aspiration to improve outcomes for citizens.
10
At this level, civil engineers face challenges including Where do civil engineers work?
the increasing complexity and interdependency of
Civil engineers may have a unified purpose, but they
infrastructure systems, as observed over the past 50
practice their profession in a diverse range of organisations.
years2. There is increasing overlap between different
This can span many sectors, including four we have
infrastructures – for example, the electrification of vehicles
focused on in this report:
is creating new interdependencies between transportation
and energy systems. This presents an increase in risk: -- Transport (rail, road, aviation, urban mobility)
a minor fault in one part of the electrical distribution -- Energy (generation, storage, transmission, distribution,
network could result in significant consequences across use)
the connected transport network.
-- Water (supply, processing, distribution, waste water
Wider society treatment, flood protection)
While their work is usually focused on specific -- Property (housing, commercial, public)
infrastructures or systems, civil engineers’ fundamental
role is to improve the built environment for society. Civil engineers can be employed by a number of
commercial or non-commercial entities in each sector,
Whether directly or indirectly, civil engineering contributes such as:
to solving challenges at the wider societal level, including
large-scale issues such as climate change, inequality and -- Professional bodies (e.g. ICE)
resource scarcity. -- Government (local and national)
The wider societal issue of climate change, for example, -- Civil engineering consultants
poses a twin challenge for civil engineers: to provide -- Civil engineering contractors
solutions that are resilient to the coming environmental
changes, while also minimising their contribution to -- Academic institutions
worsening these changes. -- Infrastructure asset owners
The construction sector (and therefore civil engineers) have -- Infrastructure asset maintenance and operation firms
a significant opportunity to minimise this contribution:
energy from fossil fuels consumed in the construction and
operation of buildings alone accounts for 50% of the UK’s
CO2 emissions. This is in addition to the impact in other
infrastructures such as energy and transportation. Civil
engineers have both an immediate impact in this respect,
and influence long term user behaviour6.
Change: An approaching smart city age

What do we mean by the smart city? Examples of digital technologies Digital trends Digital capabilities
(Existing, Emerging and Future)
Having undergone a boom of interest since the 90s,
the term ‘smart city’ now has many interpretations and Smaller, cheaper, more versatile
definitions8. sensors
New ways to collect data
For simplicity, in this report we define smart cities as 3D LiDAR
urban areas where digital capabilities create value. This
is a recurrent theme across many definitions. Recent smart Open data Increased
city literature emphases the importance of citizen-centric Greater accessibility of existing data data
thinking – ensuring that the value this creates has a tangible New data markets
availability
and wholly positive impact on the quality of citizen life.
Social media
We have identified three key digital capabilities used to Increasingly digital lifestyles
create value in the smart city: Contactless payment systems

1. Increased data availability

4G
2. Better connectivity
Faster, higher capacity networks with
3. Greater processing power Li-Fi
better coverage

These capabilities are being enabled by a series of 5G

digital trends, which themselves are brought about by Better
the development of both new digital technologies and VR/AR connectivity
innovative ways of using existing technologies.
Social media
One trend can also enable new technologies to drive other New digital interfaces
trends: the development of higher capacity networks, for Smaller, cheaper, more versatile
connectivity devices
example, is enabling the use of cloud computing, thereby
providing a new way of accessing greater processing power. Wearable technology

Digital innovation is the process of using digital technology

in a way to create value – regardless of whether the novelty Machine learning More intelligent processing
is in the technology itself, or in the means in which it is used. Greater
The diagram across shows some example interactions of Cloud computing processing
technologies, trends and capabilities. These are explained Nano computing
Power
Availability of faster processing
in more detail overleaf.
Quantum computing
This constitutes the “What do we mean by “digital?” in the
framework. What do we mean by “digital?” – the interaction
of technologies, trends and capabilities.

11
Change: An approaching smart city age
Increased data availability
An increased availability of data – in terms of volume,
velocity, veracity and variety (‘4V’)12 – is being
driven by:
New, more effective methods of creating
and collecting data
New methods include sensor networks enabled by sensors
that are increasingly smaller, more functional, and cost-
effective, and new scanning technologies (such as LiDAR)
which provide 3D data at an unprecedented level of
resolution.
Greater accessibility of existing datasets
The “open data” movement is driving the development of
platforms that make large third-party datasets accessible,
such as those provided by the Met Office, Ordnance
Survey, and the UK Government’s data.gov platform13,14,15.
Increasingly digital lifestyles
The general public are leading increasingly digitally-
enabled lifestyles, which are creating more data – 94%
of adults in the UK now own a mobile phone, with 52.4
million 4G mobile subscriptions16.
12
Better connectivity
Greater connectivity, between and among both people and
things, driven by:
Faster and higher capacity wireless networks
New wireless technologies have the capability to transmit
information at increasingly high speeds and capacities. In
addition to existing 4G technology, future technologies
include 5G and Li-Fi, which will use visible light to
transmit information at speeds up to 100 times that of
conventional Wi-Fi9.
Greater coverage of these networks
4G LTE coverage is 53% in the UK, increased from 3%
in 2013 (although still poor when compared with other
developed countries such as South Korea and the USA,
with 96% and 81% respectively)10,11, providing potential
for people and things to be connected across wider
geographical areas.
New and innovative interfaces among and between
humans and objects
Social media is providing the potential for rich interactions
between huge numbers of users. Increasingly vivid
augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) experiences allow
humans to collaborate more effectively with each other,
and gain an improved understanding of their designs.
Smaller, cheaper and more versatile ways of connecting
devices are enabling objects to communicate with each
other forming an ‘Internet of Things’.
Increased processing power
The power to meaningfully process this data is also
increasing, enabled by:
An increase in availability of greater processing power
“Moore’s Law” states that the speed of processors doubles
every year continues to hold true despite scepticism,
providing more power (for the same price) to process the
data17. Even as Moore’s Law might falter in the future, new
forms of computing such as cloud and quantum computing
promise access to completely new ways of processing data
faster and with more flexibility18.
Increasingly intelligent processes.
Self-learning programs may reduce the time and power
required to process information by carrying out repetitive
processes quickly. Alternatively, such systems may
highlight trends and patterns in data more readily, reducing
the need for detailed human review.
1. Fighting challenges 2. Where we are today
in the digital city

How we
3
How this
approach
creates
2

1
digital
value
innovation
Civil engineers tackle societal challenges

3. Where we need to go
Better
Connectivity

How we
Digital technologies

How this
Increased
Data
approach
Availability
creates
digital
Increased
value
innovation
Processing
Power

Digital technologies provide radical new capabilities

13
The theoretical case for digital technology in civil engineering
What opportunities could digital technology
bring to civil engineers?
Digital technologies are meaningless in isolation. They
add value by facilitating opportunities to better address
challenges across the aforementioned three levels.
In this section, we will consider exactly what these
opportunities are and how they can be applied to the
three levels of challenge.
Evidence from the literature and interviews
highlighted that digital technology presents civil
engineers with two distinct opportunity groups. Firstly,
to work more efficiently, doing what they already do
but faster and cheaper; and secondly, to work more
effectively, adding greater value to their solutions.
14
Efficiency
Opportunity comparison Improved efficiency –the opportunity for civil engineers to
Context do what they already do using less time, cost or material
resources – is a key opportunity provided by digital
technology. Both in theoretical research and practical
experimentation, it is the most thoroughly explored
opportunity to date.
Efficiency has two main incarnations: improving the
efficiency of internal processes, and streamlining
collaborative work.
A civil engineer designs the drainage system for a new development.
Automation
How could digital innovation improve the design’s…
Automated, intelligent processes can allow laborious
week-long calculations and processes to be completed
in a matter of seconds, and with minimal risk of human
error. Although these may require an initial investment to
develop, they can often be scaled up for use on different
projects and easily tweaked for different applications.
For example, when Crossrail digitised its Redline drawing
process using cloud computing and automated reports, the
Efficiency? new method ran at 2.5 times the speed and 40% of the cost
The engineer writes a program to optimise the network to minimise
the amount of materials required.
of the original7.
More streamlined collaboration
In an industry where collaboration has traditionally been a
significant influence on (and often hindrance to) efficiency,
digital technology could present a way of facilitating and
Leak detected: urgent
integrating collaborative processes and saving time. Digital
maintenance required tools such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality could
facilitate remote collaboration, reducing the need for travel,
Effectiveness? and allowing easier involvement of multiple stakeholders at
The engineer also decides to install sensors Drain all stages of a project.
in the network so that maintenance can be Building
predicted and carried out before significant
damage is done to the system. Sensor
The theoretical case for digital technology in civil engineering
In addition, when guided by collaborative frameworks
such as those provided for Building Information
Modelling (BIM), digital tools could facilitate the
involvement of more stakeholders at each stage of the
process. This could potentially aid in ensuring that work is
streamlined and reduce time-consuming re-work in fixing
design clashes19.
Effectiveness
Greater effectiveness is the opportunity for civil engineers
to use digital technologies to add greater value to their
projects. Effectiveness is about achieving an outcome.
This may involve creating more effective civil engineering
outputs. However it may also involve finding ways to
solve challenges with fewer outputs, for example reducing
congestion on a road (an outcome) without building higher-
capacity roads (an output).
Focusing too much on efficient outputs can have
unintended negative outcomes. For example, using
efficiencies to save cost and so as to create a larger, higher
capacity road (an output) may reduce congestion initially,
but may increase car usage over time and generate further
congestion elsewhere (an outcome).
A greater understanding of the problem space.
The three core digital capabilities could provide new ways
for civil engineers to improve their understanding of the
problems they need to solve.
This could be from a number of perspectives, such as:
-- Understanding the social context of the problem,
by gaining greater insight into user behaviour and
stakeholder views and opinions.
-- For example, from 2012 to 2015, mobile data was
used to understand visitor footfall and demographics
in Margate. This provided an improved level of
insight compared to manual surveys, and was used to
inform urban water management and infrastructure
planning20.
-- Understanding the environmental context of the
problem, by gaining greater insight into the physical
constraints of the problem
-- For example, on Crossrail, 250,000 sensors were
used to monitor ground movement patterns around
its tunnels. This information was quickly relayed
to field engineers, improving risk management and
forecasting of soil displacement4.
This greater understanding can then be either used by civil
engineers themselves to improve the effectiveness of their
solutions, or provided to the client as standalone insight,
providing a new valuable service.
For example, in 2014, Arup measured and modelled
pedestrian flows through St. Pancras station in order to
optimise the locations of emergency exits. In addition to
allowing Arup to tailor their design more closely to the
behaviour of its users, the data then provided benefit to the
client in supporting the pricing of retail space within the
station.
Greater integration of infrastructure solutions.
Digital capabilities could allow elements of infrastructure
could have greater integration across:
-- Geographic areas, through the potential to connect
infrastructure in different areas using new connectivity
devices and networks.
-- Infrastructure life cycles, by having greater knowledge
of how the infrastructure will be used over its life cycle
and the ability to automatically adapt the infrastructure
to meet demand.
-- Different sectors and disciplines, by using newly
available data to understand how infrastructure in
different sectors interacts and designing infrastructures
to generate positive synergies.
For example, the Ecological Sequestration Trust is
developing a regional-scale digital interface platform
to allow multiple separate stakeholders to design in an
integrated and collaborative way21.
More digital functionality for solutions
In addition to utilising these new trends and technologies
to improve their work, civil engineers can also integrate
technologies into the solutions they create. This leads to
added functionality, improving the infrastructure’s value to
clients.
This functionality could help improve the main purpose of
the infrastructure (such as by moving more cars per second
down a motorway) or provide a secondary function (such
as also monitoring air quality).
For example, Arup provided Highways England’s Smart
Motorways programme with digital solutions to manage
motorway traffic – helping to reduce congestion, without
the need to build significant additional infrastructure.
15
The theoretical case for digital technology in civil engineering

Efficiency

How can civil engineers leverage

these opportunities to address the Level Example challenge Greater automation More streamlined collaboration

challenges they face? Automating the operation of

The opportunities presented by digital infrastructure can reduce the risks from
Individual infrastructures human error, allowing for smaller safety Less latency in collaboration means
technology are not beneficial in isolation – their factors and greater utilisation of existing ageing infrastructure can be dealt with
value lies in helping civil engineers to address infrastructure. more quickly, reducing downtime and
the challenges they work to solve, at the three the risk of failure.
levels identified in Context: Cities cannot exist Ageing infrastructure Arup’s Australian highways team Crossrail’s red line drawing process
automated the production of over 5,000 facilitates digital drawing procedures,
without the civil engineer. models to replace a 34km stretch of reducing the confusion involved in
The table across shows how each of the road, allowing them to deliver a huge the drawing process and making
amount of detail and transform 2D
opportunities might contribute to addressing significant time and cost savings7.
models to 3D models based on
a challenge at each level, and case studies accurate geometry.
examples of where this has been undertaken.
Being able to accommodate more
The two principal opportunities, applied to
Challenge levels

Automation allows complexity to be stakeholders, more easily, means that

address challenges across the three levels, Infrastructure systems managed without the constant input of interdependencies can be managed
the engineer, reducing risk and allowing
constitutes the basis of how we will assess “How multiple connected systems to be
effectively from multiple points of view.
does this create value?” for digital innovation in managed effectively. During the London 2012 Olympics, the
the framework. Complexity and
Comma Energy Efficiency is developing
London Traffic Control Centre (TCC)
interdependency co-located coordinators from different
smart autonomous control systems for
transport modes, with individual
water supply infrastructure: all control
communication and information
modules are connected to a central
systems, to provide a central point
system and can either be manipulated in
for monitoring and coordinating all
real time or work autonomously23.
transport operations24.

Wider society
Automation can help to optimise the
efficiency of infrastructure operations,
Climate change
helping to reduce its impact on the
environment.
Stakeholders collaborating across
previously significant boundaries
can help to understand the effects
of infrastructure on the environment
across long timescales, distances or
geopolitical boundaries.

16
The theoretical case for digital technology in civil engineering
Level Example challenge Better understanding of problem
Having a greater understanding of asset
conditions can allow engineers to make
Individual infrastructures
better decisions about prioritising the
repair and replacement of infrastructure.
The London Heat Map, developed by the
Ageing infrastructure
Greater London Authority, allows people
to identify opportunities for district heating
projects in London, based on a variety of
factors including the location of supply
plants, and heat density25.
Infrastructure systems A greater understanding of the complexity
Challenge levels
and interdependencies of infrastructure
systems can allow these systems to be
managed more effectively.
Amey’s and Staffordshire Council created
Complexity and interdependency ‘Project Heinken’ in 2016, a smart
roadworks collaboration that aligns
maintenance windows for subterranean
assets from a range of infrastructure firms,
allowing expensive excavations to be
consolidated41.
Having a greater understanding of the
Wider society impact of climate change on infrastructure,
and vice versa, could guide investment
into sustainable infrastructure.
Climate change In Margate, mobile data was used to
improve the understanding of how
water and environmental events (such
as pollution) impact footfall, helping
to “enhance an evidence base for
sustainable infrastructure”20.
Effectiveness
Better integration of solutions More digital functionality
Integrating infrastructures in an effective
Introducing digital functionality to an ageing
way can result in positive outcomes for
infrastructure asset could allow its owner
individual infrastructures – effectively
a greater understanding of its condition,
distributing demand can mean reduced
and to respond quickly to changes in its
load placed on an existing, ageing
condition, reducing downtime.
piece of infrastructure.
Integrating infrastructure systems means
that their complexity can be managed
more effectively, as information can be Digital functionality could allow asset owners
transferred between systems in order and operators to better understand the
to allow infrastructures to adapt to interactions of their infrastructure systems,
meet demand and changes in external enabling the prioritisation of investments.
conditions. In collaboration with Laing O’Rourke,
Severfield-Watson Structures placed
SAS Green + Schneider Electric created
an integrated system to manage its RFID tags on the steel beams created
for Manchester City Football Club’s
car share scheme, at the same time as
Etihad Stadium. Awareness of upstream
managing the electricity supply to SAS’s
delays allowed for adjustments to project
head offices, using an algorithm to ensure management40.
that power distribution matched
demand24.
Better synergies between infrastructures
in order to minimise impact, and more
Engineers can design digital systems to
holistic design can create more resilient/
allow cities to respond quickly and effectively
effective infrastructure in the wake of
to the effects of climate change.
natural disasters
The Rio Operations Control Centre uses an
In Rotterdam, software is used to move
algorithm to predict how much rain will fall
storm surge barriers to protect against
in different areas – and sends out warnings
flooding, without restricting ship traffic.
to each department in the city so they can
Smart dikes then use sensors to feed
prepare for potential floods27.
information back to a control/crisis
centre26.
17
 1. Fighting challenges 2. Where we are today
in the digital city

Effectiveness
3
How we How this
approach creates

Efficiency
2

1
digital value
innovation
Civil engineers tackle societal challenges

3. Where we need to go

Effectiveness
Better
Connectivity

How we How this

Digital technologies

Increased
Data
Availability
approach creates

Efficiency
Increased
digital value
Processing
Power
innovation
Digital technologies provide radical new capabilities

18
Section 2

Where we are today

19
The reality on the ground
Three challenges to radical change
How has civil engineering approached these opportunities?
Literature presents a strong case that civil engineers are
not currently making the most of the opportunities digital
innovation presents. A report by McKinsey identified the
‘construction sector’ as being the least digitised in Europe4
– an issue which is tied closely to its historically low
productivity and fragmented ways of working7.
We explored the reality on the ground through the
interviews undertaken.
Our study led us to 11 key observations of the current state
of digital in civil engineering.
These observations connect to three key challenges gaining
more value from digital capabilities in civil engineering:
-- A perception that digital innovation carries a high level
of risk
-- A perception that digital innovation is limited in the
value it can provide to civil engineers
-- A poor understanding of the role of the civil engineer in
digital innovation; both in terms of the profession itself
and of specific individuals.
Overall, these observations constitute the framework’s
‘How we approach digital innovation’ for civil engineering
today.
The rest of this section details these three challenges.
20
Risk averse culture
Perception of
high risk Legal, security and
ethics concerns
Challenge: Perception of high risk
Uncertainty around the wider implications of digital
innovation was seen to result in a perception that digital
innovation carries a high level of risk. Companies do not
want to expose themselves to potential negative issues.
For example, collecting infrastructure on how citizens
interact with a road network without being sure of the
legal requirements. Combined with the risk-averse nature
of the civil engineering profession, this perception forms a
significant challenge to implementing digital technology.
Risk averse culture
There is an overall culture of risk aversion in the
profession, and in the built environment sector in
general28. Public sector projects and organisations were
described as being particularly risk-averse and less open
to innovation29; however, interviews with civil engineers
indicated there are exceptions.
Interviews also highlighted that this risk aversion is not
limited to only civil engineers themselves, but also other
engineers, clients, and other professionals working with
the built environment. This has a compounding effect on
a project basis and the overall direction of travel.
Legal, security and ethics concerns
There are uncertainties about the wider implications of
digital innovation, specifically from legal, security, and
ethical perspectives, and a perception that these could be
significant. Participants were concerned about their right
to collect data, the possible public reaction to its use and
the threat of cyber attack leaking sensitive information.
This was often described as due in part to the lack of
standardisation of and around digital technology in the
construction industry33.
The reality on the ground
CAPEX focus
Focus on BIM
Perception of
limited value
Benefit uncertainty
Focus on efficiency
Challenge: Perception of limited value
Civil engineers currently perceive the value in digital
innovation to be limited.
There is a strong focus on efficiency improvements
in civil engineering, typified by a strong focus on BIM.
The profession was seen to fixate with particular
value types, such as capital costs, and to emphasise
evolutionary improvements to such ends. There was
a lack of clarity around any other potential benefits in
particular the effectiveness benefits discussed in section
3.1.1).
During the course of this study, many professional
events focused on exploring the possibility of digital
innovation in the built environment took place in the
civil engineering community in the UK. However, when
interviewed individually, civil engineers presented a
consistent perception of limited digital innovation
value was seen to exist across organisations, sectors
and career levels. Participants argued this scepticism
was not unique to them, but shared also among
architects, town planners, and other built environment
stakeholders.
Focus on CAPEX
When considering digital technologies and their benefits,
there is a focus on capital expenditure (CAPEX) rather
than operational expenditure (OPEX) or even total
expenditure (TOTEX). This was seen most clearly through
the prevalence of CAPEX-based business models in the
industry, which disincentives, for example, reflecting on in-
use data to reduce OPEX costs7.
Focus on BIM
There is an overwhelming focus on BIM in digital
innovation within civil engineering. By this report’s
segmentation, BIM is an efficiency opportunity.
BIM has enjoyed the greatest level of analysis and
guidance development for civil engineers. Significant
efforts have been made to standardise and encourage
take-up of BIM, most recently the mandate of Level 2
BIM on all public sector projects, and the release of the
national BIM Level 3 strategy19.
In interviews, civil engineers often regarded BIM as
‘business as usual’, in stark comparison to the “novelty
value” of other digital technologies such as sensors.
However, in some areas, BIM was described as having
slow – or more specifically, “patchy” – take-up31, with
some civil engineering leadership pointing out that private
sector clients are still often unable to realise tangible
benefits from its use.
“BIM has been well publicised, and clients therefore
take a lot of interest in it. However, many contractors
are not yet well versed.”
Associate Director, Civil Engineering Consultancy
Benefit uncertainty
Participants spoke of lack of clarity around the potential
benefits of digital innovation, particularly that beyond
efficiency opportunities.
This was apparent in interviews, where there was a
significant difference in opinion between different civil
engineers. Participants vehemently disagreed on efficiency
versus effectiveness, and incremental improvements
versus radical change.
Civil engineers confessed that implementing digital
technologies was often seen as an “add-on”. The
greatest value was in the novelty appeal to clients, rather
than in any quantifiable benefits – even for efficiency
opportunities.
Implementations of digital innovations were described
as isolated and ad-hoc, rather than part of a structured
approach. This prevents consistent uptake and as a result,
the benefits are rarely visible to a wider audience, and so
the underlying concepts never scaled32.
Focus on efficiency
Efficiency opportunities are the clear focus of digital
innovation in civil engineering – both in discourse and
practice. These were moderately well understood by
the average interviewee. In comparison, effectiveness
opportunities were scarcely understood. It was often
volunteered that under the existing business models,
the value of more effective design is only as a market
differentiator than anything quantifiable (which are more
clearly provided by efficiency improvements). A relative
lack of tangibility around effectiveness opportunities also
drives disinterest.
21
The reality on the ground
Lack of targeted
guidance
Lack of framework
Poor for innovation
understanding
of role Lack of training
Poor inter-system
compatibility
There is currently significant uncertainty around how
civil engineers should drive digital innovation. A lack of
guidance, frameworks and training for digital innovation all
contribute. Poor interoperability of early digital innovations
further exacerbates. This uncertainty applies to engineering
companies not only at an industry level, but also individual
civil engineers on a day-to-day basis.
Civil engineers admitted fault. They have a ‘responsibility’
to define their role and push the interpretation in the
industry – but have not done so.
This task is complicated by confusion regarding the role of
digital innovation across the wider industry. Civil engineers
argued other professionals (e.g. planners, architects and
software developers) also had a poor understanding of
digital innovation. Civil engineers want to define their
role in relation to others but struggle. Ambiguous data
management is a common consequence; mid-project
clarifications lead to poor interoperability and therefore
delays.
Poor understanding of the civil engineer’s role in a more
digital world drives confusion during individual digital
implementations, and a lack of solidarity for profession-
wide digital change.
22
Lack of targeted guidance
Literature highlights a lack of guidance targeted at civil
engineers specifically. The vast majority of guidance on
digital innovation in built environment is either general, or
aimed at other professionals.
Interviewees stated a need for the civil engineer’s role to
change, but identified a significant lack of understanding
in what this change could or should look like. Specific
detail on variation for specific career stages, sectors or
types of organisation was absent.
With the exception of technical skills such as coding,
literature scarcely identifies knowledge, skills or behaviours
needed for civil engineers to succeed in whatever the new
roles may bring. Civil engineers were left uncertain about
their personal development.
“There has been no thought as to the required skill set
of future engineers”
Director, Infrastructure Service Provider
Lack of frameworks for innovation
There are very few frameworks for digital innovation in
civil engineering. On a given project, civil engineers felt
presented with little information on how they approach
digital innovation, either in isolation or with others.
The construction sector is not investing significantly
in research and development – crucial for developing
digital innovation good practice – spending only 1% of
its turnover on R&D. This is less than a third of that in
the automotive and aerospace industries, which have
undergone revolutionary change in their use of new digital
technology29. There is a powerful exception to this –
and that is BIM. However as examined later, while BIM
receives praise for its prevalence, it receives criticism for its
curtailment of creativity.
Lack of training
Interviews highlighted a lack of training on how to
implement digital technologies in different ways or how
to identify those that produce the most value in a given
situation.
Many civil engineers, particularly those in midcareer
project management roles, felt that there was insufficient
investment of time and resources in developing the
knowledge, skills and behaviours necessary. Senior staff
were often uncertain what skills were needed at the top.
Junior staff did not feel empowered to influence training
practices ‘bottom-up’.
A further nuance was expressed in getting skills to the
correct depth rather than ‘blanket approaches’. Midcareer
staff want to be able to audit digital innovation, but not
necessarily code models from scratch.
“There is very little time to develop digital skills –
particularly on smaller projects with tight budget
constraints”
Senior Engineer, Civil Engineering Consultancy
Poor inter-system compatibility
There is poor interoperability between different disciplines,
sectors, and organisations in the built environment. The
literature highlighted the current fragmented and solid
nature of the industry7,30.
This extends to digital activities. In interviews, civil
engineers highlighted numerous problems with
collaborative work when the interfaces between
disciplines were poor – for example mismatching software
packages or data types.
“We need to join up the use of digital over different
industries and disciplines”
Director, Civil Engineering Contractor
1. Fighting challenges 2. Where we are today
in the digital city

Effectiveness
3
How this
2
Perception of
Poor
Perception of
creates

Efficiency
understanding

value
limited value high risk
of role
1

The profession is unable to embrace all opportunities

Civil engineers tackle societal challenges

3. Where we need to go

Effectiveness
Better

How this
Connectivity

How we
Digital technologies

Increased
Data
Availability
approach creates

Efficiency
digital value
Increased

innovation
Processing
Power

Digital technologies provide radical new capabilities

23
How digital innovation creates value – today

Modest progress
Engineer’s Individual Infrastructure Wider
The three challenges can be seen to have a profound effect activity infrastructure systems society “There’s frequently
on how the civil engineering profession considers digital
innovation.
an assumption
Collectively, the challenges steer the profession to an
that digital means
implementation of digital innovation that is limited to: improving efficiency
-- Individual instances of infrastructure and less Automate flood volume
calculations
Lower cost to develop – doing things faster
-- commonly, infrastructure systems or for less. People
-- Almost exclusively efficiency-type opportunities tend to ignore the
-- A consideration of benefits over the short term
notion of digital
Where this is successful, it creates meaningful value for enabling things to
civil engineers. Evidence has been observed of notable cost
savings on projects. For certain mechanisms, these have be done differently.”
even had a tangible impact at an industry level, as seen Director, Civil Engineering Consultancy
with BIM.
Business as usual – digital capability enabling an efficiency opportunity for a individual infrastructure
However, it is a stretch to call this value transformative.
When benefits at a level of Wider Society are considered,
it is difficult to argue economic growth, climate change Civil engineers interviewed presented a clear consensus The importance of world views to digital innovation is also
or citizen happiness have been notably moved by civil that the perceived benefits of using digital technology were clear.
engineering’s use of digital innovation to date. currently limited to improving efficiencies and so as to The status quo has a powerful influence over the
improve profits by current business models. profession’s collective mind. Over time, perception of
The possibility of infrastructure becoming more effective, digital innovation possibilities has become deeply anchored
“The civil engineering or considering impacts beyond the project in question are in what is currently practiced. In essence, stakeholders
rarely considered. In fairness, other engineers highlighted perceive that this is the full extent of what is possible. A
profession has yet to consider that the connection between these levels is not always reinforcing loop maintains the status quo.
digital innovation beyond clear, and is typically absent from the written scope of the Although new approaches to digital innovation were not
civil engineer’s work.
simply ‘faster and cheaper.’” Overall, these observations constitute the framework’s
readily imaginable, many interviewees had strong, often
emotive concerns for the profession in the face of digital
Reader, Department of Civil Engineering, UK University ‘How this creates value’, with respect to digital innovation innovation taking place around them. Four main threats
today. were identified.

24
How digital innovation creates value – today
Competitive threats
A fear of new competition was common,
particularly from major technology companies
attempting to enter the market. Some suspected
this would be slow and stealthy. Others suggested
a sudden ‘uber style’ disruption could hit the
industry through smaller start-ups.
“Big engineering companies are not
very agile; we are likely to see new
small-scale competitors who keep up
with the pace of digital technology.”
Director, Civil Engineering Consultancy
Director, Civil Engineering Consultancy
Shrinking staff force
A smaller staff force might be necessary if the
fixation with efficiency opportunities continues
and alternative valuable uses of time are not
identified. Some Civil engineers feared for their
future livelihoods.
“We need to avoid a future where fewer
and fewer people are needed.”
BIM Manager, Civil Engineering Consultancy
Comoditisation
Both new competitors and the efficiency focus
were associated with a fear of increasing
commoditisation in the industry. Participants
suggested this would lower price points for
services, lower client appreciation of the
importance of creativity in design and decrease
job satisfaction for civil engineers.
“Engineers need to have their research
radars switched on – so they are a part
of new digital trends, before those trends Greater
become their competition, and they are understanding
of the problem
Effectiveness
left turning the wheel on what remains.”
Director, Architecture Practice Greater
integration
Shrinking influence of solutions
Across interviews, there was a sentiment – More digital
functionality
sometimes explicit, but more often implied – that
all of these factors would combine to lower the
influence of the civil engineering profession in
society. This included influence over politics;
over other professions such as architecture; Greater
Efficiency
and with respect to their standing in the eyes Automation
The surviving zone – at present the
of society as a whole. Putting their own careers opportunities presented by digital
More innovation are both practiced and
aside, civil engineers feared for a society where streamlined appreciated narrowly.
those with the knowledge to solve societal collaboration
challenges were regulated from the decision-
making table.
In summary, most of the potential of digital
innovation is not only rarely practiced, it is
scarcely perceived to exist.
This misses great positive value in and of itself,
but has serious negative consequences when
appreciated in the wider civil engineering market
and those innovating around it.
“We are told radical change is coming, but we still do
things as we always have. For us, so far, ‘smart cities’
is‘everything is different, but nothing has changed.’”
CEO, Infrastructure Service Provider
25
 1. Fighting challenges
2. Where we are today
in the digital city

Effectiveness
3

Poor

Efficiency
2 Perception of
Perception of
understanding
limited value high risk
of role
1

The profession is unable to embrace all opportunities The profession exists in the surviving zone

Civil engineers tackle societal challenges

3. Where we need to go More streamlined collaboration

Effectiveness
Better
Connectivity

How we How this

Digital technologies

Increased
Data
Availability
approach creates

Efficiency
Increased
digital value
Processing
Power
innovation
Digital technologies provide radical new capabilities

26
Section 2 – Conclusion: Surviving in a smart city age

Today, digital innovation in the civil engineering

profession is a story of modest progress.
Civil engineering has achieved commendable incremental improvements focused on
improving the efficiencies of outputs. However, regardless of the enthusiasm with which
these are advanced going forward, it seems probable that continuing the ‘faster and
cheaper’ philosophy we have observed will at best result in diminishing returns, at worst
distract from the possibility of more radical and more productive change.
Many elements are absent in civil engineering. There exists no shared vision of what ‘better’
innovation may look like, nor why this is strategically important. Engineers are without
specific learning guidance; companies lack effective frameworks; and the profession is left
naïve as to how to commercialise digital innovation’s full potential.
Threats to the profession are growing on the horizon. Business models are ageing. New
types of competition presents itself as more innovative and more agile. In parallel, citizen
expectations of infrastructure continue to grow as a result of their own digital experiences.
Fear of a sudden, über-scale disruption is brewing, but feels too distant to catalyse change.
There is no evidence to suggest civil engineers will vanish in the future, but there are
indications here that the number of professionals, remit of role, and share of market
may all diminish.

On its current course, the civil engineering may at best aspire to

survive in a smart city age.

27
Section 3

Where we need to go

28
Solving challenges with soft infrastructures
The missing pieces
Civil engineering’s mixed progress with digital innovation
cannot be explained solely by technical shortcomings of the
hard infrastructures. Neither the new digital technologies
nor the pre-existing civil infrastructures are at fault.
Instead, we perceive that the challenges to further uptake
are symptomatic of a lack of definition of three key “soft
infrastructures”. Soft infrastructures are cultural systems
that influence how individuals behave.
We believe that these soft infrastructures are key to
successfully realising benefits from digital capabilities,
crossing the gap of implementation between technologies
and outcomes.
We still believe hard infrastructures, such as new IT
systems and technologies, will also be required for change.
However, we believe these are not currently doing the
profession back. Their exact form will also depend on these
soft infrastructures. The notion of soft infrastructure for
digital innovation is underrepresented in civil engineering
literature. Therefore these are not included in the scope of
our suggested interventions.
The focus of our recommendations is therefore on these
three soft infrastructures, which are as follows:
Commercial practices
-- Harnessing new digital opportunities at new challenge
levels does not automatically benefit the civil engineer.
The profession needs to be able to commercialise these
and to do so before competing industries. New digitally- Commercial
compatible business models should be developed. practices
Governance and process
-- New digital opportunities, delivered in new commercial
models, presents uncertainty. To provide structure and
manage the risks, effective governance and standard
processes will be required. These are well defined
in some areas, such as BIM, but achieving a balance
between structure and creativity remains difficult. Governance
Coherent approaches for most other technologies are and process
lacking.
Human capital
-- In order for these digital innovation processes to
succeed, civil engineers will need to develop the right
sets of knowledge, skills and behaviours. Exactly what
will be required of different civil engineers is currently
unclear and insufficiently tailored. These should be Human
considered from a variety of perspectives, including but capital
not limited to career levels, disciplines, and sectors.
These constitute the “How we approach digital innovation”
in the future. Each soft infrastructure can be linked to
the aforementioned challenges in how civil engineering Soft infrastructures – three areas of cultural
improvement for the civil engineering profession.
approaches digital innovation today.
For each, we will now detail the need for the soft
infrastructure, how the soft infrastructure can be developed,
and who needs to act to bring this to fruition.
29
 1. Fighting challenges 2. Where we are today
in the digital city

Effectiveness
3

Efficiency
2
Poor
Perception of Perception of
understanding
limited value high risk
1 of role

The profession is unable to embrace all opportunities The profession exists in the surviving zone

Civil engineers tackle societal challenges More streamlined collaboration

3. Where we need to go

Effectiveness
Better

How this
Connectivity

?
Digital technologies

Increased
Data Commercial Governance and Human
creates

Efficiency
Availability Practice Process Capital
Does it make
commercial sense?
Are the appropriate
processes and
frameworks in
place?
Do we have the
right knowledge,
skills and
behaviours to
value
Increased deliver?
Processing
Power

Developing soft infrastructure will

Digital technologies provide radical new capabilities empower the profession to respond

30
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice
The need for new business models
Throughout our research, evidence has suggested existing
business models in the civil engineering profession are
not effective at commercialising the full gamut of benefits
digital innovations bring. This in turn limits the motivation
for civil engineers to embrace them.
Five key factors are driving the obsolescence of these
business models, creating a clear need for new models
that are more complimentary to digital innovations.
Conflict of pricing and automation
Interviewees emphasised the popularity of time-based
fees in the profession. Lump sum fees were also described
as common, but were similarly constructed based on the
estimated time cost of providing a service rather than
focusing on the value of an output to a client.
Innovations that deliver automation in the form of staff
time savings are in conflict with this approach. If the civil
engineer sells their time, then minimising a task’s duration
shrinks their income.
Civil engineers of all seniorities expressed concern with
not only this prospect, but also with some proposed
remedies. Suggestions that automation gains could
be ‘hidden’ from the client do not stand up to market
dynamics – one firm is likely to reduce their price because
of the saving, forcing others to follow. Suggestions that
engineers will have more time available for more creative
or innovative exercises was seen as valid in principal,
but convincing clients to maintain fee levels on this
speculation alone was seen as challenging.
“The profession has been largely
shielded to the threat of job losses
through automation – many who would
have been automated have retired,
others have been put to work creating
and monitoring models. This is unlikely
to be the reality going forward.”
Director, Civil Engineering Consultancy
Many sampled held a deep concern that automation – if
continued under current business models – will result
in a significant reduction in staff.
Competitive threats from AI
Our research identified organisations in the technology
sector using digital innovation to rapidly develop design
capabilities that could serve as competitive threats to civil
engineers.
New entrants to the market are gathering large datasets of
civil engineering projects and standards and attempting
to replicate civil engineering procedures. The degree
of accuracy is initially poor until datasets expand and
machine learning algorithms improve. However, such
services do not need to be perfect to have value – and pose
a threat. Order of magnitude estimates can be valuable to
clients early on in the project life cycle.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Although interviewees typically viewed these concepts as
immature and not yet viable players in the market, their
speed of growth and unpredictability – seen in initiatives
such as Google’s Flux – meant they remained a significant
medium to long term threat.
Civil engineers are faced with several possible responses
– replicate this expertise themselves, or find new, less
procedural and more creative ways of adding value that are
difficult for algorithms to replicate. Such new processes
may be difficult to sell in traditional business models that
often rely on the production of standardised deliverables.
A need for new models therefore arises.
Digital assets
Mid and entry-level civil engineers proudly cite new client-
facing software tools – such as dashboards – as a product
of digital innovation within the profession.
There is a recognition that these tools often have
great potential for re-applicability between projects.
Commonality of needs between clients is high, and the
digital nature of deliverables makes them transferable to
different parties at negligible transactional cost – starkly
different to physical assets such as a bridge.
However, the process of commercialising these tools has
challenges. Firstly, clients would likely use these tools
over an extended period. Neither, time-based fees nor lump
sums account for how long clients use the tool nor what
value they take from it. Secondly, if clients are charged
the cost it took to create the tool, the first client would pay
a disproportionally high price; all later users would pay
minor adjustment fees. Thirdly, if the tool is sufficiently
effective, clients may have less need of civil engineers.
New business models are needed to accommodate digital
assets’ unique features.
31
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice
Confidence vs. Risk
Civil engineers expect an increase in the availability of
data associated with the infrastructure they are designing.
This spanned data regarding the need for an infrastructure,
data regarding the use of the infrastructure and data
regarding how the infrastructure may respond to use.
Combined with an expectation for greater processing
power, this is anticipated to provide civil engineers with
more confidence on the best solutions to client problems.
However, it was recognised that this confidence is not
readily commercialisable by current models. Firstly, clients
often present civil engineers with requests for support that
already contain a highly-specified solution, restricting the
ability to propose better performing alternatives. Secondly,
civil engineers rarely receive remuneration for solutions
that perform better than others, and where such incentives
do exist, these are often restricted in scope to the delivery
of an output (e.g. how long a bridge takes to construct) than
the outcome (e.g. how much the bridge reduces congestion).
“There is a tendency for clients –
particularly the public sector – to
bound the solution as much as
possible to reduce risk and increase
comparability of tender.”
Head of Innovation, Infrastructure Service Provider
32
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
The civil engineer is unable to take on more risk as a New digitally-enabled business models
result of this confidence to achieve greater reward – and
Interviewees described a fear of ‘looming disruption’. No
so a need arises for new models with more flexible risk
one of these factors was deemed likely to bankrupt the
arrangements.
profession in the short term. Individuals are aware of the
Supply chain cooperation increasing inadequacy of business models for a future age,
but that the consequences are not yet considered significant
The delivery of major civil engineering infrastructure
enough to warrant action.
relies on extensive and diverse supply chains to deliver
component parts. Discussion with interviewees highlighted
that before new digital technologies can be affixed to civil
infrastructure, a supply chain must be in place that can “New digital business models are not
reliably deliver these. nearly defined enough. Sadly, there
Logistically, this was considered a significant challenge –
a clear and consistent need for a given technology needs
is insufficient movement towards
to be presented to suppliers if a market is to emerge. changing this.”
Suppliers are unlikely to gamble developing capability
or stocks for technologies that appear to have a transient Head of Technology, Infrastructure Service Provider
interest or niche compatibility.
Throughout this project, we have sought inspiration on
More significant challenges were flagged regarding
what new business models more compatible with digital
collaboration along the supply chain as a result of digital
innovations may look like. This draws upon:
innovation. Interactions between buyer and supplier in civil
engineering are often highly transactional – contractually -- Theoretical views proposed by interviewees
isolating specific requirements for each stakeholder, rather -- Demonstrators currently undergoing testing by civil
than collectively working to achieve outcomes. As a result, engineering firms
stakeholders can be reluctant to share data regarding their
actions on a project for fear of litigation – even if this
-- Mature models in implementation in other industries,
which could viably be transferred to civil engineering
knowledge could help mitigate impacts.
We have identified five models that we believe could have
There is a need for new business models that allow the
a significant positive impact on the profession in the future,
supply chain to collaborate more closely, implement digital
three of which we have examined in detail with stakeholders.
innovations and share the benefits.
This section will overview each model, exploring its core
mechanism, its strengths and weaknesses, and where it
may have the greatest suitability in the civil engineering
profession.
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act

Value-Based Fees Value-Based Fees

Also known as “performance based contracting” Overview
Value-Based Fees is a long-standing concept in other
professions where remuneration for a service is based
on the value it adds.
Digital innovation can facilitate this model by an improved
ability to predict performance in advance, cheaper
Digital performance assessment, and more contextualisation
of performance – linking it to wider client outcomes.
A key detail of value-based fees is the definition of
Time or lump sum “Performance” ‘value’. This can vary from the narrow, such as timescales
Share of benefits based on infrastructure’s… of delivery for infrastructure, to the wide, such as the
• Supply of data reducing cost / risk of assessment contribution of a piece of infrastructure to air quality
improvement. Similarly, remuneration can be a set

Increasing risk / reward

• Better data management giving confidence of
connection of outcomes to specific infrastructure …qualities? e.g. maintenance costs
financial bonus, or a direct share of the supposed financial
benefits of the achieved value.
…service? e.g. capacity cars/hour

…societal e.g. congestion/air

contribution? quality/jobs

33
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice
Opportunities
Value-based fees presents the opportunity for civil
engineers to create more innovative, better performing
solutions and be more fairly remunerated for them.
Philosophically, those undertaking the ‘best’ civil
engineering succeed. Digital innovations, particularly those
that support new types of solution or new functionalities,
are more likely to make commercial sense.
In theory, this would also improve procurement processes
that often focus on minimising risk through high
specification. By linking requirements more closely
to the desired outcome, clients can avoid paying out
when solutions do not perform. In situations of public
infrastructure, value-based fees encourage maximising the
infrastructure’s contribution to public good, channelling
civil engineering skills to the betterment of society.
34
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Challenges Application
Value based fees represent a significant commercial change, Value based fees lend themselves to projects with tangible
and present challenges in the form of risks, complexities means of measuring performance and a tangible value
and contradictions to relationship norms. associated with it.
Civil engineers need to absorb a greater level of risk. To Participants suggested clients described as ‘long term
mitigate this, they would need to lever more datasets to perspectives’, ‘fair’, and ‘intelligent’ might be the
understand external variables and increase integration of first to warm to such models. Describing public sector
design internally, ensuring all parts of a design perform. procurement rules as slow to change, the private sector
All parties are subject to the risk of creating incentives appears an easier test bed. The sectors of energy – where
that work to deliver the wrong outcomes. If assessments energy savings are easily monetizable and transport –
metrics are too specific, engineers could ‘game’ the system, where performance is already frequently measured, were
delivering numerically impressive performance that misses, seen as key targets.
or even intensifies the wider problem. Similarly, if clients
are ‘firefighting’, there could be a tendency to request
quick fixes that exacerbate problems
in the long term.
The clients of civil engineers are also unlikely to be
familiar with these models; standard procedures of ‘the
lowest bidder’ and renegotiating contracts midway are at
odds with the principles of value-based fees.
Value based fees are also inherently complex. Whether part
of a solution or not, digital sensing infrastructure is likely
required to assess performance, as well as an independent
assessor to undertake the task.
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act

Civil-infrastructure-as-a-service
Civil Infrastructure-as-a-Service
Overview
While design processes can span multiple years, after the
completion of civil engineering infrastructure, engineers
described their involvement coming to an abrupt end.
• Design for lifecycle performance
• Design to specification • Responsible for maintaining up time
The civil engineer may have significant knowledge on how
• Definitive handover Digital and necessary refurbishment
• Responsibility for operational
to maximise performance and minimise operational costs –
either in design or on-going, but the client instead takes on
effectiveness
responsibility for the infrastructure themselves.
Infrastructure as a Service reverses this, with civil
engineers taking a degree of responsibility of the asset
for its lifetime.
• Ability to monitor remotely
• Ability to install digital technologies that improve Digital sensing technology means that civil engineers are
operational performance able to monitor the state of the infrastructure without costly
Engineer involvement Engineer involvement site visits.
2017 2027 2037 2047 2017 2027 2037 2047

35
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice
Opportunities
Civil infrastructure as a service presents the ability for civil
engineers to monetise sector knowledge by designing for
the lowest lifetime cost and predictively maintaining the
infrastructure throughout its life. This in turn translates to
long-term revenue streams, with a 3-year project having
the potential to be 30 years.
Clients should as a result enjoy better performing
infrastructure with a lower and potentially more predictable
lifetime cost.
36
Challenges
Similar to value-based fees, civil infrastructure as a service
involves the civil engineer taking on more risk. From
the outside, engineers must carefully model the expected
lifespan of the asset, and ensure all design and operation
perspectives are effectively integrated in the solution.
Considerations such as how projects will interface with
other infrastructure and how that may change will be
critical. Although not essential for the model, civil
engineers may be required to invest capital in the project.
Challenges also present themselves in the marketplace.
Civil engineers will need to persuade clients to think in
terms of life cycle costs, rather than exclusively CAPEX
metrics. Contracts will also need to have a degree of
flexibility, to avoid civil engineers being penalised for
unforeseeable societal or technological changes in the long
term. Digital monitoring systems will need to be robust
and valid and clients will need to commit to a degree of
data sharing to support the civil engineers job.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Impact areas
Civil engineers described infrastructure as a service as
sitting best with long-term clients, particularly those whose
assets suffered from high and unpredictable operational
costs and where forms of monitoring may already be in
place. Water utilities, buildings services and toll roads
(where the model is already in use in some geographies)
stood out as key targets.
Partnerships between designers and contractors were
seen as a beneficial step to piloting more instances of
infrastructure as a service. Together, this union of civil
engineering could both understand and demonstrate how
these models may deliver better outcomes for clients.
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act

Data-as-an-Asset
Data as an Asset How to Overview
create value? Civil engineers consistently described data as a highly
valuable resource. However, individuals were sceptical
that this value was being effectively captured by civil
Sell it? engineering organisations. Views were fragmented on the
best mechanism for capturing this value, but participants
were resolute that it should be elevated to a higher position
within civil engineering business models.
Digital
Inform future designs?
Data as-an-Asset raises the collection, management
and exploitation of data from a secondary issue, to
the core determinant of business success. Techniques
Provide strategic
insights to clients?
for commercialising data include selling, reiterative
design improvement, providing strategic insights, or for
identifying better connections between projects – internally
or externally. Many others likely exist.
Exchange with adjacent
• Significant increase in data from sensors and
automated design processes
projects for synergies?

37
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice
Opportunities
The mechanisms harness fundamental characteristics of
data, particularly that it is very cheap to gather, and can
be used for multiple purposes without being degraded.
However, the four mechanisms capture value in distinctly
different ways:
-- Selling data presents the opportunities for new revenue
streams.
-- Reiterative design improvement allows firms to learn
from the strengths and weaknesses of designs based on
real time observations.
-- Over time, data on the context of client problems may
allow engineers to provide advice to clients at a more
strategic level.
-- As data from individual projects grow, civil engineers
may be able to consolidate construction activities with
others or other such synergies.
38
Challenges
In general, all of these mechanisms rely on civil engineers
having effective data gathering and management expertise,
a competency that was questioned by many participants.
Similarly, doubts were raised about the sufficiency
of internal infrastructure, although many cited new
investments in this space.
Ethical, security and legality risks were all raised as
concerns with the mechanisms, particularly where data
leaves the control of a firm, particularly in data selling.
Confusion regarding the ownership of data was described
as a common feature of many projects. While participants
demonstrated confidence that in time clear standards would
be developed, the situation is uncertain in the interim.
Engineers also cited the likelihood of other parties having
superior data in terms of quality and quantity, which
significantly restricts the viability of data sales to scenarios
where only civil engineers have exclusive data access.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Impact areas
Situations where sectors were moving towards an increased
recognition of data as an asset – such as energy – were
seen as useful starting points for civil engineers to develop
general data processing and management expertise.
Projects where civil engineers had longer term
engagements with assets were perceived to be those most
likely to provide the most fruitful data, such as railways or
highways. Projects with clear interdependences were also
highlighted, such as electric vehicle infrastructure, where
transport and energy factors are increasingly interlinked.
Developing ‘data service contracts’ at the start of the
project could help set the ground work for data exploitation
later on in the project, creating bespoke agreements
up front, rather than standardised agreements as an
afterthought.
Two further new business models were identified, but not
extensively explored within this report:
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act

Software-as-a-Service
Software-as-a-Service
Software-as-a-Service represents a transition from bespoke
software development as a product to the centralised
development of software, provided as a service to many
clients simultaneously.

Digital

• Software more commonly made • Creating flexible tools that can be • Single piece of software developed to have
bespoke as an investment on a project customised to different projects applicability to many projects
• Tools becoming more powerful • Licences (e.g. monthly subscription) allow 3rd
parties access to the tool

Digital Incubator / Venturer

Digital Incubator/Venturer
How to
Civil engineering companies discussed the potential for
SME SME create value? exporting or absorbing SMEs that may be able to innovate
with digital technologies faster than the host firm.
Digital Bring in? Spin out?
Valuable contributions
to projects

Revenue from external

Large sales of services
Engineering
Speed of change
• Need for some deep technical digital skills Organisation
• Need for agile teams Increase in value
• Re-applicability of services of equity taken

39
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice
Challenges to business model change
The process of creating new business models in any
industry has been shown to be a complex and difficult
process [34]. Our study has identified several further
factors that exacerbate this for civil engineers:
Difficulty with commercially innovative thinking
Civil engineers described commercial innovation as a skill
that did not come naturally to them culturally.
“We need to start asking the question –
do we need to teach entrepreneurialism
better in a digital age?”
Reader, Department of Civil Engineering, UK University
The traditional business models of civil engineering are
long standing, so few interviewed had prior experience of
experimenting. Engineering education was described as
having only passing reference to commercial skills and
the idea of civil engineers as entrepreneurs was relatively
nascent.
Client inaction
The market for civil engineering services is heavily
influenced by demand. However, participants were of the
strong opinion that clients are unlikely to be requesting
new business models in the short term, and civil engineers
have a duty to show them the benefits.
Practitioners feel that waiting for change to be shaped by
clients alone is unlikely to result in fast change, nor the
most favourable arrangements for civil engineers.
40
“Civil engineers would do well to heed a
cautionary tale from the music industry –
if you do not pre-empt digital and adjust
your business model you will vanish.”
Chief Executive, Technology Innovation Centre
Failure of experiments entrenches norms
Bringing in new business models require significant testing,
refinement and proof of success before they stand a chance
of being mainstream in the profession. Civil engineers
shared anecdotes of commercial innovations that were seen
to have ‘failed’ and so served only to entrench existing
models further. Little consideration appears to be given for
evaluating what could have been improved.
Collective action is uncommon
While individual pilots may lead to pockets of capability
and awareness, business models are unlikely to become
mainstream if civil engineering organisations maintain
isolated efforts. In other industries such as mobile
telecommunications and automotive manufacturer,
‘coopetition’ has been employed, where competing companies
come together to set new standards and change en mass.
“We need to work to grow the pie for
everyone, rather than fighting over
individual pie slices, otherwise Google
will eat it all.”
Research Engineer, Civil Engineering Consultancy
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Some participants suggested that experimenting with
new business models would create valuable intellectual
property that they would wish to keep to themselves. This
may be a logical concern, however coopertition approaches
in other industries have demonstrated that the short term
loss of competitive differentiation can be outweighed by
the shared mutual benefits of collective action.
Bringing about change
There is a clear need for new business models in civil
engineering, yet emerging “digitally-compatible”
solutions are highly speculative, each with their own
challenges. Furthermore, there exists further obstacles that
hinder an already difficult change process. The path to
transformation appears arduous.
“Digital business model change is very
much like changing the fan belt while
the engine is running.”
Chief Executive, Technology Innovation Centre
Fortuitously, many of these new models have
complimentary characteristics – for example, an element
of Value Based Fees is likely to suit an Infrastructure as a
Service arrangement – so the profession need not bet on
the development of any one in particular.
Ultimately, these models can be seen to have the potential
to not only allow civil engineers to commercialise the
benefits of digital innovation, avoid new competitive
threats, but also lead to working practices that deliver
better societal outcomes. There is little sentiment to
suggest that current business models can be adequately
reworked, so commercial decline appears the only other
likely alternative.
Soft infrastructure 1: Commercial practice
Recommendations to the Civil engineering
profession
We believe that the profession has not only a self-interest
but also a societal duty to lead on business model change.
To this end recommended the following actions:
Individual civil engineers
View commercial innovation on a
parity with technical innovation
Civil engineers should value
commercial innovation and technical
innovation equally.
A recognition that technology alone cannot bring
change could take many forms, including: increasing
the value associated with entrepreneurship; develop
an interest in business model disruption in other
industries; practicing a mental exercise of ‘how could
this project be delivered with a different commercial
model?’ for every project undertaken.
Civil engineering organisations
Pilot new business model
innovations with targeted clients
Our study has highlighted possible
new digitally-compatible business
models, and where their suitability may
be greatest. We call on civil engineering organisations
to undertake their own feasibility studies, followed
by targeted experimentation. This will help develop
capability for engineers and awareness for clients.
We recommend engineers start by viewing clients
as partners, rather than customers. This will facilitate
collaborative initiatives such as pilots,
living labs and public private people partnerships.
We encourage projects to have sufficient scale to
show value – to both the profession and clients.
Companies will need to accept that the perfect
model may take several iterations – but these should
not be seen as failures, rather experiments that
yielded valuable learning.
Strive for coopetition to establish new business
model precedents
We propose embracing the concept of coopetition
– rival engineering firms should enter partnerships to
develop new business models collaboratively and
publicly. This could consist of developing shared
thought leadership, approaching clients collectively
or participating in joint ventures. The combined effort
of research and marketing is likely to have a greater
impact than the sum of its parts. The civil engineering
firms need to grow the size of “the pie” for all of the
profession, rather than fighting for a bigger slice
individually.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Institution of civil engineers
Raise business model innovation
as a key theme in the Digital
Transformation agenda
As the neutral party representing
the best interest of the industry, the
ICE is ideally placed to shepherd collaboration on
the sensitive topic of commercial practices. We so
recommend the ICE place more emphasis on the
need for business model innovation as part of the
digital innovation journey.
Possible mechanisms include the creation of a
central depository of business model innovation
examples, encouraging and applauding those who
come forward with examples of their successful and
unsuccessful endeavours.
From this, the ICE could develop standardised
guidance of key questions that need to be asked
as different stages in civil engineering projects,
making the topic of business model innovation more
accessible to a wider group. This could include, but
should not be limited to, the ICE’s existing work on
data standards.
Finally, with access to key policy markets, the ICE
should work to lobby the public sector for business
model change in public sector procurements – a
circumstance civil engineers viewed as facing the
most barriers to implementation.
One lever may be collaborating with academics
to produce independent thought leadership
investigating the quantified connections between
infrastructure and wider societal outcomes.
41
Soft infrastructure 2: Governance and process
The need for new approaches to
governing innovation?
In order to motivate the use of, and realise value from
digital technology, civil engineers need an environment
which encourages innovation. However, it was observed
that the following characteristics of the profession are
currently not provided in this environment:
-- Long project timescales
-- A low risk appetite
-- Uncertainties about the risks, benefits and roles in digital
innovation
Long project timescales are inherent to the often large-
scale, multi-stakeholder nature of civil engineering
projects. This is unlikely to change significantly, even with
improvements in the efficiency of work and collaboration.
Similarly, the risk-averse nature of civil engineering is an
important characteristic of the profession, and exists for
a good reason. Through their work, civil engineers are
responsible for the safety and wellbeing of society, and the
risks of failure can be very significant. It would therefore
be unwise to suggest changing this risk appetite (although
as previously highlighted, new business models can help
to distribute this risk more effectively).
In order to incentivise innovation, the civil engineering
profession therefore needs to focus on reducing uncertainty.
Through both the literature review and the interviews, four
main areas of uncertainty were observed:
42
-- The civil engineer’s role in digital innovation
-- The legal and commercial implications of digital
innovation
-- The security aspects of digital innovation
-- The ethical implications of digital innovation
In order to reduce this uncertainty, and effectively manage
digital innovation, the profession needs to provide more
effective governance of, and processes for dealing with,
each of these issues. This study investigated the potential
of frameworks as a method of accomplishing this, one that
not has been extensively utilised for digital innovation in
civil engineering. There exists the very notable exception
of BIM, but this, we argue, has flaws.
What do we mean by frameworks?
We define frameworks as the principles and guidelines
that govern innovation and implementation of digital
technologies in civil engineering. These can exist in
many forms (and some frameworks take more than one),
including:
-- Guidance documentation
-- Official standards
-- Formalised processes
-- Best practices
-- Legislation
These frameworks can be developed at a number of levels,
from nationwide to an individual basis. However, for the
purposes of this report it is considered that there are three
main levels at which most frameworks are developed in
civil engineering: individual projects and programmes,
civil engineering companies, and industry-wide.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Case study – BIM
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the process
of creating and managing digital information about a
built asset. In 2011, the UK Government Construction
Strategy (GCS) required BIM Level 2 to be implemented
on all centrally procured government projects by 2016.
This specifies that all project and asset information,
documentation and data must be electronic at the design
and construction stages of a project, and is underpinned by
a series of standards and best practice documents produced
by the British Standards Institute (BSI) and Construction
Industry Council (CIC). BIM is arguably the most
widespread implementation of digital technology in civil
engineering – and the UK has been considered a “world
leader” in the area35.
We hypothesise that BIM itself is a set of frameworks
for the use of information on construction projects, as
the standards which define BIM were seen to fulfil the
purpose of a framework as it is defined above, as shown
overleaf. We also hypothesise that the nature of BIM, as a
set of frameworks, is in part what has led to its relatively
widespread use in the UK.
Of the four main areas of uncertainty identified earlier
in this section, the only area not addressed by BIM is
ethics. However, this is likely due to ethical concerns
being considered in the provision of legal, commercial and
security guidance, rather than its own separate standard.
Soft infrastructure 2: Governance and process
Provide legal CIC best practice for
and commercial Professional Indemnity
guidance Insurance using BIM
PAS 1192-5
Specification for security-
Provide guidance minded building information
on security aspects modelling, digital built
environments and smart asset
management
PAS 1192-2/3
Specification for information
Define roles,
management
responsibilities and
procedure BS 1192-4
Method for collaborative
production of information
The purpose of BIM – The development of
frameworks for roles and responsibilities in digital
innovation is likely to be a circular process
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
How can these frameworks reduce
uncertainty while still providing freedom to
innovate?
However, there is an important balance to be struck: to
allow freedom for civil engineers to be innovative on
projects, while also providing enough governance to reduce
uncertainty to within the appetite of the organisation or
project.
Currently, digital innovations in civil engineering are
rarely subject to a standardised method, which often does
not bring the best results. For example, it was highlighted
by senior civil engineers that often automation is done by
individuals, and the tools are not standardised or shared.
This often leads to work being duplicated and multiple,
separate tools being developed for the same issue. The
efficiency value of these tools not being realised, as time
was wasted in redeveloping them, and therefore their use is
discouraged.
However, care must be taken when providing guidance
so as to not be overly prescriptive, as this can limit
freedom to innovate. Anecdotal evidence from workshop
participants indicated that BIM itself is currently perceived
as stifling innovation; one participant described BIM as a
“straitjacket”.
It will be important for those creating these frameworks
– including civil engineers – to ensure that they strike
an appropriate balance to allow for both certainty and
innovation.
43
Soft infrastructure 2: Governance and process The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act

How should these frameworks be developed? The development of frameworks to guide roles and Commercial and legal
responsibilities is likely to be somewhat iterative. Guidance
Roles and responsibilities
is needed from a high level, but the wide variety of projects
worked on by civil engineers means that the initial change “There is a need for a legislative
to role of the engineer is likely to be bottom-up, driven by
“The data we need usually exists in changes on individual projects and programmes.
framework to manage digital
some usable format – problems are The initial change to the civil engineer’s role is likely to technologies. Such frameworks exist
often due to the fact that there is no be somewhat organic, represented by gradual changes in for housing, water, and other sectors,
the roles and responsibilities of the engineer as defined
funding or governance around the in contracts for individual projects or programmes. In so one will need to exist for digital.”
provision or management of data.” particular, as higher-level guidance around commercial Director, Infrastructure Service Provider
and legal aspects is put in place, individual contracts
Senior Engineer, Civil Engineering Consultancy
should place greater emphasis on digital roles, such as Literature and interview evidence highlighted a number
responsibilities for data transfer and data formats. The latter of emerging commercial and legal issues which contribute
was often highlighted by civil engineers as a responsibility to overall uncertainty. Although there was a level of
that is often left unclear in contracts, leading to issues with awareness of the potential impact of these issues, there
unsuitable or incompatible data. was also a perception of there being very little practical
Roles on
projects This change in defined project roles is likely to lead guidance for how to deal with them.
change individual companies to change their skills profiles in These include, but are not limited to: Who has
response. Companies should issue clear training and intellectual property of automated tools?
development requirements for frameworks – this is a
-- There is uncertainty over who owns tools and the
discussed more in the Human Capital soft infrastructure.
analysis they produce. Should this be the developer, or
However, acting in a purely reactive way is likely to put the owner? What if tools are passed between companies
Organisations
change skill civil engineering companies at a disadvantage in guiding or organisations, and edited before being used again?
profiles digital change.
Industrial bodies and professional associations such as
the ICE need to provide more targeted guidance for civil
Industry
engineers as to what their future roles and responsibilities
might be as a result of new business models and available
“We need to significantly improve
provides
guidance technologies. There is also a need to respond to the project- our understanding of ownership and
and company-based changes by guiding the development
of new education requirements for civil engineers in
intellectual property, and how this
schools and universities. applies to digital innovation.”
Normalising frameworks – BIM can act as a framework for
the use of digital technologies on civil engineering projects Director, Infrastructure Service Provider

44
Soft infrastructure 2: Governance and process
Who is accountable for the results of these tools?
-- This is more straightforward with standard automated
tools, but needs to be addressed in more detail as
increasingly intelligent, machine learning automation
becomes more prevalent. As tools are able to develop
themselves over time in ways that may not be visible to
the engineers who initially created them, it may be less
clear who is accountable for its outputs.
Who should own data gathered on a project?
-- This is particularly relevant concerning data gathered
from the public, with recent suggestions that members
of the public should own their own data36,37. In
addition, with new business models revolving around
the monetary value of data, it will be important for
engineers to understand the commercial implications of
data ownership.
Commercial and legal guidance is likely to develop in a
top-down basis, as there is a need for these guidelines to
be consistent across the industry. Historically, the pace
of technological development has been faster than the
speed at which legislation comes into place, resulting in
issues with technology being used inappropriately. The
case of drone technology in the UK is illustrative, where
potentially dangerous use cases appeared before the
technology had been fully regulated38. Industrial bodies and
professional associations should therefore work to develop
and release legal guidance and regulation quickly, in order
to reduce this risk, and ensure that technologies are used
appropriately.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Individual companies and engineers then have a role to At a high, industry-wide level, security and ethics
feed back into the development of this regulation; this considerations are likely to be contained within legal and
should not exclude early career engineers using digital commercial frameworks defining accountability, rather than
technologies on a day-to-day basis, who may be most in their own separate framework. However, the industry
aware of emerging digital innovation. In addition, as has a role to provide some guidance on these issues, not
individual companies develop new digital innovations only to reduce uncertainty in general within the profession,
themselves, they should consider the legal implications of but also in order to allow individual organisations to
these, and do so in conversation with those creating the develop their own guidance. Ethics in particular is a highly
legislation. subjective issue. The civil engineering industry should
foster collective debate, engaging also the end users of
Security and ethics infrastructure, ensuring a spectrum of public views are
Many civil engineers highlighted the implications of considered.
digital technologies with regard to security and ethics –
particularly those pertaining to the availability of more
data, and more sophisticated automation – as an area
for concern. However, different individual projects and
organisations are likely to take different approaches
to security and ethics. For example, a nuclear energy
project is likely to have a much more developed security
requirement than the replacement of a small piece of water
infrastructure.
As digital capabilities present new ethical and security
challenges, civil engineering organisations should dedicate
resources specifically to addressing these – both from an
organisation-wide perspective and on individual projects,
where necessary.
45
Soft infrastructure 2: Governance and process
Recommendations to the civil engineering profession
In order to fully harness the potential of the digital capabilities, it will be imperative for civil engineering
as a profession to maximise the value of its human capital. We believe this change will take shape through
redefining the knowledge, skills and behaviours that civil engineers need to develop in order to succeed.
To this end we recommended the following actions:
Individual civil engineers
Take an active role in providing feedback to,
and maintaining, governance systems
Individual civil engineers have an important role
to play in ensuring that these systems are fit for
purpose; in particular, as those developing them may
not always be working with them on
a daily basis. Individual civil engineers
should be proactive in evaluating
these systems and communicating
with those at a higher level in their
organisations and in the industry, in order to ensure
that the frameworks governing their work do not
become redundant.
In particular, civil engineers should also communicate
effectively where they feel that these frameworks fail
to maintain the balance of facilitating creativity while
reducing uncertainty.
46
Civil engineering organisations
Work with professional institutions
and other stakeholders to
implement governance systems
for digital innovation and
implementation.
In order to develop and implement governance
systems that are fit for purpose, civil engineering
organisations need to work collaboratively, with a
number of other stakeholders. These are likely to
vary depending on the organisation, its activities, and
individual projects, but could include:
-- Other built environment professional institutions,
to adapt industry-wide guidance to meet the
organisation’s needs, and provide feedback on
this guidance.
-- the legal profession, to understand in more detail
the legal implications of digital technology and
how best to manage these.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Institution of Civil Engineers
Provide practical guidance for civil
engineering organisations on how
to deal with uncertainties related
to digital technology.
At a high level, the industry needs to
move further than “thought pieces” around ethical
issues related to digital technology. Professional
institutions and industry regulators need to work
with civil engineers, in addition to other stakeholders
such as the legal profession, to move beyond simply
discussing these issues and actually implementing
practical frameworks for managing new uncertainties.
Assess how digital technology has affected
other industries in the past, and take lessons
learnt into consideration when developing new
frameworks.
The industry should work with professionals
from other industries and sectors that have been
impacted by digital technology, to look at how
success was achieved and what lessons were
learnt. In particular, the industry should look to
others such as the automotive industry where
creativity has thrived at the same time as digital
technology being implemented, and learn from
their examples to ensure that the balance of
certainty and freedom is achieved.
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital
Why do civil engineers need to change their
knowledge, skills and behaviours?
Human capital is the value that individual civil engineers
collectively bring to the organisations they work in. In
this report, we define human capital as consisting of three
components: Knowledge, skills and behaviours. These
comprise the personal attributes civil engineers (or indeed
any other profession) need in order to effectively fulfil their
role in the work they do.
-- Knowledge is what civil engineers need to know.
-- Skills are what civil engineers need to be able to do.
-- Behaviour is how civil engineers need to act.
The evidence showed that digital technology is likely
to – and to some extent, already has – caused the civil
engineer’s role to change. In particular, digital technology
is likely to remove the need for much of the laborious,
repetitive work that has traditionally been a significant
element of the civil engineer’s role. In tandem, as new
opportunities appear around the three digital capabilities,
civil engineers are likely to take on new roles with their
additional capacity.
In order to thrive in these new roles, there will therefore
need to be a significant change to the knowledge, skills
and behaviours of the civil engineer.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
However, the exact nature of this change does not seem to
be well-defined: existing literature on the skills required “I know that digital innovation
for digital innovation rarely refers specifically to “the civil
engineer”, let alone specific career stages or sectors. In is going to happen to me, but I
addition, the exact nature of the skills is often unclear: “soft do not know what my role will
skills” were identified as being increasingly important, but
there was little detail on which soft skills were important involve. Except more BIM.”
for which kinds of engineers7. Graduate Civil Engineer, Civil Engineering Consultancy
On the ground, interviewees appeared lost as to how to
improve their human capital. A lack of clarity and a lack
of specificity were common views surrounding personal
digital development.
What will this change look like for different
career stages?
In this report, we have identified three key “tiers of
engagement” – representing common groupings of
different career stages of civil engineers. These do not
represent every discrete stage of a civil engineer’s career,
as civil engineers in different companies, industries and
projects are unlikely to have the same responsibilities.
Instead, these are designed to identify with as many civil
engineers as possible, in different types of roles, with
different responsibilities, and with different levels of
familiarity with digital technology.
These tiers of engagement are illustrated by three
characters: Anna, Tarek and Claire.
47
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act

Future civil engineer

Anna
Anna is a civil engineer working in a technical role at a built
environment consultancy. She has been working for two years since
leaving university. Anna is a digital native: she has grown up using
digital technology from a young age, and is able to quickly familiarise
herself with new digital technologies.
Anna’s responsibilities include:
-- Automating calculation and design processes: many of which used
to be manual, laborious tasks carried out by her predecessors
-- Processing and interpreting data: taking raw data from a variety of
sources and translating this data into valuable information, either
for internal insights or to external clients and contractors
-- Performing task-level innovation: finding and developing new and
innovative ways to allow herself (and others) to perform tasks more
efficiently and effectively using digital technology

48
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act

Future civil engineer

Tarek
Tarek is a civil engineer working in a mix of technical and project
management roles at a civil engineering contractor. He is at a
mid-career level, having worked in the industry for just under 10
years. Tarek is not a digital native: although he is familiar with digital
technology, he has not grown up using it and as a result does not
have the same level of familiarity as Anna.
Tarek’s responsibilities include:
-- Auditing the automation that junior colleagues like Anna carry out:
checking that this automation is correct, robust, and future-proof
-- Communicating with clients and contractors: working both
internally and externally with clients and contractors, to manage
collaboration using digital tools
-- Taking accountability for the project outcomes: Tarek is responsible
for the outcomes at a project level – in interviews, civil engineers in
project management roles felt that digital innovation sometimes felt
unviable on projects as it presented a risk to the project achieving
its targets of time or cost
-- Performing innovation at a process scale: finding innovative ways
to manage projects and processes such as commercial, design,
and collaboration procedures

49
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act

Future civil engineer

Claire
Claire is a director at a civil engineering consultancy. She trained as
an engineer, worked in a wide variety of roles throughout her career,
including project management, and now acts as a business leader in
her company. Claire is aware of the increasing importance of digital
technologies, but does not use them in her work on a day-to-day
basis.
Claire’s responsibilities include:
-- Identifying future commercial and technological trends: assessing
which of these should be prioritised, how these might affect the
business and the industry on a wider scale
-- Providing the strategic direction of the business: deciding on which
commercial areas, industries, and types of projects to focus on,
and where the best areas of focus for the business are
-- Developing and implementing new digital business models: finding,
adapting and implementing new ways of generating value from the
increasingly digitally-enabled work her company does

50
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital
Anna, Tarek and Claire’s different responsibilities reflect
their need for different sets of knowledge, skills and
behaviours. Some of the key behaviours they will need to
maintain, develop and gain are highlighted as follows:
KNOWLEDGE
Awareness of digital trends Improve
In order for Anna to ensure that the innovation she carries out
is making the most out of the available digital capabilities, she
needs to maintain her awareness of new digital technologies and
trends.
While business leaders such as Claire may be more aware of
high-level digital trends and business models, it will be important
for Anna to understand the specific new technologies which
are emerging, as she is most likely to use these technologies
on a day-to-day basis. Her abilities as a digital native also mean
that she is most likely to quickly pick up on and use these
technologies, and can provide significant value by harnessing
new technologies early on.
Technical & theoretical civil engineering knowledge Maintain
Although Anna may be carrying out fewer manual calculations
and design processes, she needs to understand the underlying
theory in order to automate them. She therefore needs to
maintain her technical and theoretical knowledge of civil
engineering concepts.
This is critical to ensure that the automation is correct, and does
not become a “black box” which she uses without considering
the theory behind.
This is also important to allow Anna to contribute to higher-level,
initial design processes, which require an understanding of basic
technical principles.
SKILLS
Automation Improve
One of Anna’s main responsibilities is to automate processes.
This will require her to have new technical skills, including
coding. Anna is likely to need to know how to code in a variety
of languages, appropriate for different situations and types of
automation.
Data analysis New
Anna is increasingly responsible for turning raw data into
valuable information and insights. In order to do this, she needs
to understand how to manipulate data, recognise patterns and
trends, and manage and organise data effectively.
Digital/Non-digital “translation” New
In order to allow others to check and validate her automated
tools, and in order for others to understand insights from
her data analysis, Anna will need to be able to communicate
effectively with those who are not digital natives.
She will need to know how to communicate complex concepts
to people – who may be her immediate supervisors and
colleagues – who do not have the same ingrained understanding
of digital technology that she does. This will be critical to ensure
her tools can be validated and her insights are trusted.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
BEHAVIOURS
Creativity Improve
Part of Anna’s role is using her “digital native” understanding to
come up with innovative ways of using the digital capabilities to
improve her work, such as automating design processes, adding
functionality or using data in new ways to gain new insights.
Anna needs to be creative in order to perform this task-level
innovation. In addition to knowing about what digital technologies
are available, Anna needs to be creative and imaginative in
coming up with new ways of using the technologies.
An attitude of collaboration Improve
Anna needs to ensure that her work is collaborative for three key
reasons.
Firstly, to ensure that the innovation she carries out is not siloed,
and the benefits and knowledge that come from it are shared
with a broad range of colleagues.
Secondly, through interaction Anna’s tools can be suitable for
others to use and understand, so they are future-proof.
Thirdly, Anna needs to work with others to ensure that the
benefits of her automation and data interpretation are clear; to
ensure that there is no ‘reinventing of the wheel’, and to ensure
insights from data analysis are reflected upon on future projects.
51
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital
KNOWLEDGE
Client drivers Improve
In order to ensure that his clients (and contractors) see the value
of using digital technologies on their projects, Tarek needs to
ensure that he understands their motivations. This is likely to
change, particularly in the advent of newer digitally-enabled
business models.
Changes in policy, government and economic climate may affect
the motivations of his clients, so Tarek should maintain an up-to-
date knowledge of wider trends.
Technical & theoretical civil engineering knowledge Maintain
Tarek is likely to be auditing, and utilising, the tools created
by digital natives like Anna. Tarek will need to maintain his
knowledge of theoretical civil engineering concepts, so that he
can ensure that automated tools are being done right.
In addition, Tarek needs to maintain this knowledge so that he
can sense-check designs and continue to perform “back-of-the-
envelope” calculations in situations where a quick estimate is
required.
52
SKILLS
Selling digital Improve
In his role as a manager, Tarek often collaborates with
external clients and contractors. While he may have a good
understanding of the benefits of using digital technologies on
a project (whether for project management purposes or to add
value to a solution), this may not be as clear to his clients and
contractors.
Tarek needs to be able to effectively communicate the
opportunities that digital technologies present, and match them
with the drivers of his clients and contractors.
Digital quality assurance New
Although Tarek may not be carrying out automation himself, he
will be responsible for ensuring that these new automated tools
are correct, suitable, and future-proof.
This may not be as simple as checking through a calculation,
and therefore Tarek will need to develop a new set of skills in
order to do this, as he will be responsible for the outputs of these
tools. This may involve elements of coding, code structuring, and
data analysis techniques, to allow him to understand the work of
digital natives like Anna.
Core design skills Maintain
Digital project management tools are likely to free up more time
for Tarek to spend on the creative design aspects of projects,
which currently cannot be automated. Therefore, Tarek needs
to maintain his core abilities in design, as this is likely to be an
area where a great deal of “human value” can be added to his
solutions.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
BEHAVIOURS
Coordinating Improve
One of the issues highlighted by staff in manager roles was that
automation is often uncoordinated with the wider project, and so
as such does not produce a significant benefit.
Tarek has a role to integrate automation activities into project
management, ensuring the engineers he manages perform their
roles in a coordinated way. This includes putting automation
tasks on the critical path, not duplicating data or re-automating
tools from previous projects and ensuring that tools are
understandable by others.
Focusing on outcomes Improve
Although Tarek is likely to be focused on meeting targets, what
these targets are needs to change. This will be facilitated to
some extent by new, value-based business models described
in Commercial Practice, but also requires a behavioural change
from managers like Tarek.
Particularly when selling the value of digital technology to clients,
Tarek will need to focus on potential effectiveness outcomes,
rather than traditional efficiency savings in cost or time, as this is
likely where significant untapped value lies.
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital
KNOWLEDGE
Future business models Improve
In order to provide strategic direction for her company, Claire
needs to remain up-to-date with new and emerging digital
business models within the industries she works. In addition,
Claire should know about business models in other industries
such as software development (and others less associated with
civil engineering), as these may become more relevant to civil
engineering in future.
While not all of these might be directly relevant to her work,
she will need to maintain an understanding of these in
order to identify future competitive threats and to effectively
commercialise the opportunities the opportunities the digital
capabilities present.
Competitive threats Maintain
As new business models emerge based around software and
infrastructure, it is likely that civil engineers will face new types of
competitors from new industries.
In order to ensure that her business remains competitive, Claire
needs to maintain and constantly update her understanding of
these potential competitive threats. This includes not only other
civil engineering companies, but also newer competitors in other
industries such as software development.
SKILLS
Balancing “Annas” and “Tareks” Improve
The need to encourage innovation among digital natives (such as
Anna) is likely to come into conflict with the need for managers
(such as Tarek) to maintain structure on projects and reduce
commercial risk.
Claire therefore needs to be able to manage a balance between
these two streams, by providing young engineers like Anna
with sufficient room and budget for creativity, while at the same
time ensuring that this does not have a negative impact on the
outcomes of projects, for which Tarek takes responsibility.
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
BEHAVIOURS
Taking responsibility for risk Improve
Civil engineers will need to quickly take advantage of new
digital technologies in order to remain competitive. Although
governance and process can help to reduce the risks of
implementing digital technology, civil engineers may not have
the time to wait for these to be developed perfectly.
As the business leader, Claire needs to be willing to take
ownership of these new risks, particularly at a business level.
This will be necessary to avoid mid-level managers such as
Tarek feeling that they are overly responsible for the risks of
digital implementations, as this could stifle innovation by younger
engineers such as Anna.
Humility Improve
As Claire may have worked for most of her career in non-digital
environments, it may be that not all of the expertise she has
gained is relevant to emerging digital technologies, business
models, and ways of working. In particular, she needs to respect
that they will grow and develop in paths that look unlike hers.
Claire therefore needs to be humble and receptive to ideas from
younger, more digitally-native engineers. This is crucial in order to
allow the business to respect digital natives contribution to digital
innovation.
53
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital
Is there a need for new roles in civil
engineering?
“The failure to address the potential
loss of civil engineering jobs, and what
new kinds of jobs will exist in future,
is a fundamental blindside in the
educational system.”
Director, Infrastructure Service Provider
Both literature and interview evidence highlighted
new knowledge skills and behaviours (KSB) that civil
engineers need to develop, including those in the above
matrices. However, in interviews there was incongruity to
which civil engineers believed they would take on more
digital-related work (such as programming and software
development) or whether this should be left to specialised
members of staff.
Many civil engineers interviewed highlighted that they felt
a pile-on of skills requirements; they had been told what
new KSB they needed to develop (rather than solicited
for their own views), but there was no mention of which
KSB would become less relevant. There was a perception
observed that many engineers felt it was inappropriate
to try and up-skill all engineers in the same digital
competencies. There was also a perceived need to consider
which KSB would become redundant in the future, to
“make room” for new, digital-related KSB.
54
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Interviewees highlighted the civil engineer cannot be
everything, and we do not suggest technical knowledge
will become less important in the future profession – a
balance is crucial.
The industry needs to consider how, as the role profile
of the civil engineer changes, some existing KSB will
become irrelevant. Similar shifts have happened before:
for example, manual engineering drawing techniques
have become comparatively (although not completely)
redundant since the advent of Computer Aided Design
(CAD) software in the 1980s.
Very few KSB are likely to become completely irrelevant.
For example many interviewees cautioned against
removing the need for young engineers to understand
fundamental civil engineering theory, in order to prevent
automated tools becoming “black boxes” that are used
but not understood. However, it will be important for
industry leaders to understand that civil engineers cannot
develop infinite competence in every knowledge, skill and
behaviour, and some will need to be prioritised over others.
Civil engineers are well positioned to become integrators
of skills in the delivery of digitally-enabled solutions.
As such, there is a need for the industry to consider new
types of job in civil engineering – perhaps an automation-
focused engineer, or data analysis-focused engineer –
‘T-shaped’ individuals with a mix of digital, engineering
or commercial skills. Rather than trying to up-skill all
engineers in the same digital competencies, this would lead
to more diversity of roles within the profession, allowing
each civil engineer to focus on one aspect of digital
innovation in civil engineering.
Rather than existing in a separate silo of “digital
engineering”, these roles could slot in to existing
engineering teams, ensuring that digital capabilities are
integrated with technical engineering knowledge.
Soft infrastructure 3: Human capital
Recommendations to the civil engineering
profession
To develop and implement governance frameworks that
are fit for purpose, input is necessary from all levels and
all sources of civil engineering. Although the industry as a
whole, as represented by professional institutions such as
the ICE, is likely to have a very significant role, as we have
seen, others cannot be neglected if sustainable change is to
be achieved.
To this end we recommended the following actions:
Individual civil engineers
Build awareness of emerging digital trends and
their link to wider societal benefits
Civil engineers need to maintain their
own understanding of digital trends
to ensure that the uptake of digital
technology is not purely top-down.
However, an understanding is not
enough – individuals need to continuously consider
how these may affect their role. By understanding
how technologies link to societal outcomes,
engineers can have confidence in promoting new
uses, and new human capital that is required.
Proactively develop personal human capital
Civil engineers need to then be proactive in
changing their own knowledge, skills and
behaviours. This may be enabled by guidance from
their organisation, but as no two civil engineers will
have exactly the same responsibilities, individuals
should take an active role in assessing how they
can maximise the value of their own human capital.
Civil engineering organisations
Consider whether there is a need
for new, digital-based roles to
be integrated with existing civil
engineering teams
Civil engineering organisations need
to consider how to integrate digital-based roles
into their existing functions, and how they should
develop their human capital to enable this. Not
all organisations will take the same approach,
as some might have more of a need to integrate
than others, and new business models are likely
to affect how human capital is distributed in an
organisation.
This understanding should then be fed back to the
individual engineers, to guide them in driving their
own development.
Consider the best mechanisms to enable the
changes in human capital
Organisations should also consider in more detail
the best mechanisms of enabling this change
in human capital. This is likely to depend on a
number of factors, including: the specific type of
knowledge, skill or behaviour; the organisational
structure; the profile of the individual engineers;
and the training capability of the organisation itself.
Some of the potential mechanisms for this change
might include:
• Integrating learning with practical, project-
based activities
• Completing formal training courses
• Partnerships with educational institutions
The need
How it can be
delivered
Who needs
to act
Institution of Civil Engineers
Consider the appropriate
changes in human capital in
different sectors and types
of organisations, and provide
targeted guidance for these.
We have begun to assess how human capital
might need to change at different career levels
for civil engineers. However, the required change
is unlikely to be uniform across different types
of organisations, and across the many sectors
civil engineers work in. The ICE should work with
engineers to provide targeted guidance for each.
Support educational institutions in balancing
traditional theory and digital skills development.
“Black boxes” need to be avoided. The civil
engineering profession should consider how
curricula will allow future engineers to develop the
digital-related skills they need to succeed, without
losing a core understanding of engineering theory.
Consider ‘continuous chartership’
In other professions, such as medicine and
accounting, chartership and accreditation involves
a degree of lifelong learning. Civil engineers
need competencies that fit fast-moving digital
technologies and the ability to manage staff,
projects and businesses in more a digital age. The
ICE should consider chartership reviews at key
career stages. This is not an additional examination
of ability, but a means of ensuring individuals are
guided to be most effective in changing times and
are able to communicate this on their CV to others.
55
How digital innovation creates value – tomorrow

How digital innovation creates value – Engineer’s Individual Infrastructure Wider

tomorrow activity infrastructure systems society

Ultimately, civil engineers should aspire to achieve wider

societal benefits through their work.
For civil engineers – and so society – to fully harness the
value digital innovation presents, civil engineering needs to Lower risk of human Lower risk of flood
expand its consideration to: error/inaccuracy damage to water
infrastructure Lower risk of flood
• Challenge levels of Infrastructure Systems and Wider
damage to water
Society Automate flood volume infrastructure Increased resilience of
calculations local area to flooding
• Effectiveness opportunities as well as Efficiency Lower risk of flood
damage to energy
• A consideration of benefits in the long term as well as infrastructure
the short. Efficiency opportunities
Overall, these predictions constitute the framework’s ‘How More time spent
More suitably placed
Reduced impact
Lower impact on local having impact at the levels
deciding placement of on local housing
this creates value’, with respect to digital innovation in a flood storage flood storage development community of Infrastructure Systems
preferable future. and Wider Society

It is important to clarify that this is not a recommendation

to abandon efficiency opportunities. The impact of Engineer’s
activity
efficiency can be significant, but it needs to also be
considered at the additional levels of infrastructure systems
and wider society – seen across, top. The connection
is important. Having clear objectives to outcomes at
infrastructure system and wider societal levels will help to
direct to the most meaningful efficiencies. Greater understanding
of localised potential
impacts of climate
change
“Civil Engineers do not build bridges
Utilise digital sensors to
or bore tunnels for their own
measure water levels in
local rivers over longer
entertainment. We exist because we time frame
deliver certain societal outcomes.” Provide Augmented
Reality experience to
view potential flood
Tim Broyd, President of Institution of Civil Engineers
Concluding remarks, Shaping a Digital Nation 2017 storage locations
Individual Infrastructure Wider
infrastructure systems society
Lower risk of flood
damage to water
infrastructure Lower risk of flood
damage to highways
Overall increased
infrastructure
resilience of local area
Lower risk of flood
to flooding
damage to energy
infrastructure
Effectiveness opportunities
Greater community having impact at the levels
awareness of flooding of Infrastructure Systems
and Wider Society

56
How digital innovation creates value – tomorrow

Starting with expanding how efficiency opportunities
are understood was described as by many engineers in
interviews as “the next step” in realising benefits from
digital technologies.
“We need to have a better understanding of
whether digital is actually bringing tangible
benefits to projects – and what more is possible.”
Director, Civil Engineering Consultancy
Ultimately however, through this study we have seen that
Either approach must be careful to appreciate longer
timelines. The benefits that digital technology may be
most significant in the long term. Effectiveness benefits in
particularly will often not materialise until after the project
itself has been completed.
Greater
understanding
of the problem
We believe, empowered through the new soft
infrastructures explored in this section, civil engineering
can access new world of digital innovation: one with
more variety, more impact and a closer association with
the societal challenges they were founded to solve.

Effectiveness
the opportunities for increased effectiveness are likely to
be both more numerous, more significant in the degree Greater
they bring benefit and the most unexploited at present. integration
of solutions
Civil engineers should investigate the potential of using
digital technologies to make their outcomes more effective. More digital
This would be a step-change compared to approach to functionality The thriving zone –
digital innovation in civil engineering today. empowered by new soft
infrastructure, civil engineering
“It’s about having sight of the outcomes, and can embrace digital innovation
of all theoretical opportunities
how we apply digital technology to achieve across all challenge levels.

those outcomes.” Greater

Efficiency

Automation
Programme Manager, City Council

This will require consideration of outcomes and benefits More

beyond a single organisation or project, and may require streamlined
collaboration
new methods of measuring value beyond traditional return
on investment. These new measures are likely to require
collaborative development, to account for the complexity
and subjectivity that is encountered. This is likely to
require an element of creative and divergent thinking.
“We also need to take a holistic, blank canvas
view of how we use these technologies.”
Programme Manager, City Council

57
 1. Fighting challenges
2. Where we are today
in the digital city

Effectiveness
3

2
Poor

Efficiency
Perception of Perception of
understanding
limited value high risk
1 of role

The profession is unable to embrace all opportunities The profession exists in the surviving zone

Civil engineers tackle societal challenges

More streamlined collaboration

3. Where we need to go

Effectiveness
Better
Connectivity

?
Digital technologies

Increased
Data Commercial Governance and Human
Availability Practice Process Capital

Efficiency
Does it make Are the appropriate Do we have the
commercial sense? processes and right knowledge,
frameworks in skills and behaviours
place? to deliver?
Increased
Processing
Power

Developing soft infrastructure will

Digital technologies provide radical new capabilities empower the profession to respond The profession expands to the thriving zone

58
 Section 3 – Conclusion: thriving in a smart city age
We believe there is an alternative path forward
for civil engineers.
Digital innovation clearly demonstrates great potential to the civil
engineering profession; possible benefits manifest themselves across
two opportunity types and spanning 3 challenge levels.
In reality, injecting hard infrastructure alone does not deliver this.
Just as we have suggested that digital innovation should not be
simply undertaking existing processes faster and cheaper, we do not
think that civil engineering can resolve existing difficulties simply by
investing more heavily in the innovation approach used to date.
Currently, Civil engineering captures only a small fraction of digital
innovation’s potential, ignoring the benefits of effectiveness, the
concept of societal outcomes or long-term perspectives. The
barriers around improving are not technical, but focus around soft
infrastructure. Three stand out to us as powerful enablers of change-
commercial practices; governance and process; and human capital.
Civil engineering needs to take a bolder, more proactive role in
shaping its future if it is to succeed in a smart city age. The profession
needs to come together to achieve digital solidarity. Civil engineers
should transition from a view of isolated infrastructure outputs to
industry-wide societal outcomes. This is essential to maintaining
competitiveness and purpose in the future’s markets; this is essential
for addressing the societal challenges the profession was founded out
to achieve.
Civil engineering may have a reputation for being slow to change.
However, we have seen little to suggest this has to remain the case.
Despite the future facing nature of this report, it is important to reflect
that the civil engineering profession has demonstrated the ability to
produce bursts of innovation historically.
In the ‘golden age of civil engineering’, Brunel created new business
models through ownership of his own infrastructure; Locke lobbied
for new frameworks around designing and delivering railway tunnels;
and Baker demonstrated new ways of teaching civil engineering
principles through practical demonstrations of the suspension bridge.
We do not propose Brunel would have created a better BIM, but
the prioritisation of soft infrastructure had a demonstrable effect on
the ability to implement technological innovations emerging from the
industrial revolution.
History aside, the profession is running out of time to change.
Societal challenges are exacerbating, competition is approaching,
and digital innovation in wider society is inevitable. At the ICE’s
Shaping a Digital World 2017, 91% of participants said the ‘Digital
Revolution’ had already started.
These changes are substantial, require the support of others on the
journey, and intentionally address areas that the profession admit are
long standing difficulties. However, while digital innovation may be at
odds with the profession’s current culture, it is highly complementary
to its purpose.
If engineers can rise to this challenge, we believe
the pursuit of our recommendations will result in a
civil engineering profession that can thrive – both
today and long in to a coming, smart city age.
59
Summary of recommendations

Through our study, we make the case that digital innovation in the civil
engineering profession is currently restricted by a lack of three key soft
infrastructures. We make targeted recommendations to develop these,
summarised below, to steer the profession on to a preferable future.

Stakeholder

Soft infrastructure
Individual civil engineers Civil engineering organisations Institution of Civil Engineers

• Pilot new business model

innovations with targeted clients • Raise business model innovation
Commercial • View commercial innovation on a
as a key theme in the Digital
Practices parity with technical innovation • Strive for coopetition to establish Transformation agenda
new business model precedents

• Consider the balances of skills in • Consider the appropriate changes

the company, and whether there is in human capital in different sectors
• Build awareness of emerging
a need for new, digital-based roles and types of organisations, and
digital trends and their link to wider
to be integrated with existing civil provide targeted guidance for these.
societal benefits
engineering departments.
Human Capital • Work with educational institutions
• Be proactive in developing their own
• Consider the best mechanisms to consider the balance between
human capital to fulfil new roles.
to enable the changes in human theoretical teaching and digital skills
capital. development.
• Consider “Continuous Chartership”

• Provide practical guidance for civil

engineering organisations on how
• Work with professional institutions to deal with uncertainties related to
• Take an active role in providing and other stakeholders to digital technology.
Governance
feedback to, and maintaining, implement governance systems • Assess how digital technology
and Process
governance systems for digital innovation and has affected other industries in the
implementation. past, and take lessons learnt into
consideration when developing new
frameworks.

60
Authors

Authorship team With thanks to

Lottie MacNair Phil Harrison Neil Carhart Catherine Wenger
Peter Cooper Luke Cooper Graham Herries Tim Chapman
Ann Cousins Sarah Niven Luke Loveridge Ian Gardner
Theo Tryfonas Henrietta Ridgeon Henry Chan Lynne Goulding
Dan James Jayne Evans Matthew Evans Cian O’Donnchadha
Wendy Tipper Dave Hunt Tim Stonor Tim Gammons
Philippa Ivens Amit Dutta Jeremy Watson Lucy Anderson
Sam Stacy Ellie Cosgrave Emily Bowden-Eyre
Graphic design Louise Ellis Dan Byles James Rickerby
Cerys Wilcox Rick Robinson Amanda Clack
Eddie Ion Helen Charlick Chris Gage
Matt Cox

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About us
Arup is an independent firm of designers, planners,
engineers, consultants and technical specialists working
across every aspect of today’s built environment. Together
we help clients solve their most complex challenges,
turning exciting ideas into tangible reality as we strive to
find a better way to shape a better world.
Established in 1946, Arup has over 12,000 employees
based in more than 92 offices across 40 countries, working
on up to 10,000 projects at any one time. Its unique
structure, with the firm held in trust on behalf of our
employees, gives us complete independence.
We live in a digital world that continues to evolve at
an astonishing pace. The ever-changing digital built
environment presents new opportunities to enhance the
way we live and work.
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Bristol is one of the most popular and successful
universities in the UK and was ranked within the top
50 universities in the world in the QS World University
Rankings 2018.
We aim to bring together the best minds in individual
fields, and encourage researchers from different disciplines
and institutions to work together to find lasting solutions to
society’s pressing problems.
The University of Bristol conducts world-leading research
in one of the top Civil Engineering departments in the
UK. In particular, we are a founding partner in the UK
Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities
(UKCRIC) which will extract greater value from our
infrastructure and cities, whilst simultaneously improving
their sustainability and resilience, and improving the
wellbeing of our citizens.
The University was one of the first to offer a course in
smart cities, and regularly publishes in this field from an
interdisciplinary perspective.
With over 91,000 members worldwide, ICE supports civil
engineers and technicians throughout their careers.
We award professional qualifications that are the industry
standard, lead the debates around infrastructure and the
built environment and provide an unmatched level of
training, knowledge and thinking.
One of our key themes is Digital Transformation, exploring
how the industry can embrace and understand new digital
technologies for the good of all.
2018 marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of
the Institution of Civil Engineers.To celebrate ICE is
running a year of events and activities that show how civil
engineering has for over 200 years transformed the way we
live.
As civil engineers we need to do more to help explain
why our work is important to society and how what we
do everyday helps the modern world work. We support
research such as this report that explores how civil
engineers can continue to deliver for society in the face of
new technological trends.
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