Research
The future of infrastructure management is one where all asset decisions are made consistently, transparently and in alignment with stakeholders wishes. The research of the Infrastructure Management Group (IMG) is focused on helping to realize this vision.
In 2040,
- Infrastructure managers will be able to look back on a period in which the IMG created the methodologies used in the next generation of IM tools for railway networks, road networks, water distribution networks, sewage networks, and combined municipal networks.
- These methodologies will be coupled with models enabling unprecedented levels of technological detail for management decision-making without losing the essential overall picture, and with systematic coupling of decisions to the service being provided by the networks.
- They will exploit the latest technologies in digitalization, e.g. GIS, BIM, and the latest developments in applied mathematics, e.g. OR models, deep neural networks, Bayesian belief networks, and advanced search algorithms.
The integration of these tools into infrastructure management organisations will be facilitated through
- the definition and standardization of the infrastructure management process, from setting goals to determining optimal monitoring and intervention plans and evaluating the performance of infrastructure management organisations, and
- automation of parts of the process where beneficial.
The tools will improve infrastructure management decision making from general planning for entire networks to detailed planning for specific projects.