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Almost one billion people around the world don't have safe access to critical resources like health care, education, or employment due to an impassable river. Tackling this challenge through last mile infrastructure investments, Bridges to Prosperity has positively impacted the lives of over one million people in 22 countries. President and CEO Avery Bang shared her story at the Global Infrastructure Initiative Summit.
Climate-related risks are on the rise, and our critical infrastructure is underprepared. Both public and private infrastructure owners should pursue three actions immediately to shore up our assets.
In an era of rising customer demands, the infrastructure industry needs to support new solutions, reshape capital markets, and take a long-term term approach to asset development.
To promote wider adoption of document and process standardization in the infrastructure industry, public- and private-sector organizations should foster greater collaboration during the early stages of project development.
To thrive in changing industries, capital projects and infrastructure owners, contractors, and operators must acknowledge the importance of culture, build forward-looking leadership teams, and embrace diversity and inclusion.
Technology and data can help cities absorb future growth and weather any shocks that come their way.
A shortage of affordable housing is taking a toll in every geography and on every segment of society. Several strategies can help governments free up supply of land, resources, and productivity.
As the digital world becomes increasingly connected, it is no longer possible for infrastructure owners and operators to remain agnostic in the face of evolving cyber threats. Here’s what they can do to build an integrated cyber defense.
In the effort to tackle the backlog of infrastructure maintenance in the United States, five steps can help prioritize projects to not only meet the greatest needs but also build resilience.
As the costs of energy-storage systems continue to fall, engineering and construction companies will need to improve their operations to stay competitive.
The country’s long-term vision, use of innovative technologies, and stakeholder engagement efforts have been critical to its success.
Larsen & Toubro CEO SN Subrahmanyan sheds light on how he’s seen digital technologies, particularly sensors, evolve the major projects industry.
By mitigating key risks of investing in major infrastructure projects in emerging markets, banks, governments, and international financial institutions can close the funding gap in developing Asia.
Through history, from the Great Wall of China to today’s transport and energy infrastructure, major projects have set themselves apart—but what are the keys to success with leading the very largest projects?
What elements lay the groundwork for “smart infrastructure,” and how can the public sector drive them?
Leaders don’t want their projects to be in a turnaround situation, but that often happens. Here are some tactics for resolving problems quickly.
In an era fraught with change, senior partner Robert Lewis and partner Jose Luis Blanco spoke with Jacobs chairman and CEO Steve Demetriou about how E&C companies can set themselves up for success.
Technology is disrupting construction on multiple fronts. What are the consequences for infrastructure-investment managers?
Full implementation of integrated project delivery (IPD) or other forms of alliance contracting isn’t for everyone. But everyone can and should implement collaborative contracting practices today to improve project outcomes.
By understanding the full suite of potential BIM benefits and hiring the right people to oversee project-wide implementation, engineering and construction players can better leverage this nearly ubiquitous tool in major projects.
Owners and contractors can share “integrated project delivery” benefits on any project—including digital workflows and increased visibility—through a connected data environment.
With digital solutions poised to disrupt capital projects, companies must overcome their long-standing reluctance to apply these tools. Here’s how.
Engineering and construction is behind the curve in implementing artificial intelligence solutions. Based on extensive research, we survey applications and algorithms to help bridge the technology gap.
As construction moves into the cloud, here’s what industry leaders must do to lay the groundwork for change.
Asset owners are lagging other industries in data analytics. Now’s the time to get going.
Stakeholders serious about garnering support for infrastructure projects can turn to technology to tell the story and highlight value.
Has the construction industry been thinking about capital project delivery in the wrong way?
Utilities have found it hard to scale their digital pilots up to full digital-transformation programs. Adopting digital ways of working, adding talent, and modernizing IT will speed their efforts to reinvent themselves as digital enterprises.
How home sharing is reshaping cities and travel—and the many opportunities for continued innovation.
India’s smart-city program offers a road map for cities working to prepare for mass urbanization with limited funds.
To prepare cities for the future, we need to develop and deploy the services that will power them. It will take political courage, foresight, and coordination.
Moscow addressed its road and public transit congestion problems and developed one of the world’s smartest and most-used public transportation systems. Here’s how.
Plans are afoot to transform this Shanghai district into a world-class innovation hub. Here’s how leaders hope to overcome challenges in an emerging city and bring their vision to life.
Water scarcity is a problem worldwide—but improved water-supply networks are starting to make a dent in the problem.
For Latin America’s cities to remain competitive, they must understand their citizens’ experiences and needs—and design policies accordingly.
In the age of the smart city, leaders must adapt their resilience strategy to match their evolving risk profile—otherwise they risk building a smarter but more fragile city.
The global real estate market is changing. Standardization, prefabrication, and smart technology are gaining traction as rising populations confront the need for affordable housing and livable, sustainable cities. Senior partner Subbu Narayanswamy discussed these evolutions and more at GII 2017 with leaders from Barcelona Housing Systems, Arup, and the Centre for Liveable Cities.
When it comes to infrastructure and capital projects, managing risks and incentives correctly can be a major enabler for opening up new funding streams and creating bankable project pipelines. McKinsey senior partner Roberto Fantoni sat down with leaders from Macquarie, Arup, HSBC Singapore, and MTR Corporation at GII 2017 to discuss the challenges at stake and the opportunities to overcome them.
Construction projects have traditionally been founded on risk, not collaboration—a root cause of the sector’s low productivity. At the 2017 GII Summit, McKinsey partner Michael Della Rocca joined leaders from Atkins, Bentley Systems, and King Abdullah Economic City to discuss how relational contracting and shared incentives can create better outcomes for infrastructure and capital projects.
Once at the forefront of innovation, construction now lags behind in the adoption of new technologies. But the industry is at a tipping point. We spoke with executives from Atkins, Siemens, and RIB Software at GII 2017 about how they’re embracing the disruptive potential of digitization.
How can airports incorporate design and customer experience strategies to craft positive end-user journeys? Executives from McKinsey, JFK International, Orlando International Airport, and CCR USA weigh in on how airports can center customer experience.
Despite—or because of—low rates, service is bad and shippers are angry. The port-and-shipping sector must and can improve, not only for shippers, but also for the lines and ports themselves.
The new world of transport will demand different skills, capabilities, and culture.
Self-driving vehicles, ride-hailing services, and other technologies are transforming urban mobility. To capture the benefits of the shift, cities will need sound infrastructure plans and investments.
The journey to a ticket-free transit system—and the path ahead.
How electrification is helping Sweden meet its environmental sustainability goals.
Transportation will be dramatically different in ten years. To adapt, public entities and stakeholders must act today.
Proponents of the high-speed technology envision an end-to-end revolution in transportation.
Connectivity could dramatically change the commute of the future.
Shanghai-based WinSun is pioneering 3-D printing as a construction process. With as few as three employees overseeing the process, commercially viable houses are being built in under one week, using materials from construction and industrial waste. Chairman and CEO Ma Yihe explores how large-scale 3-D printing could transform the industry with respect to design, cost, and time.
McKinsey research explores the underlying reasons for the construction industry’s productivity challenges, identifying the root causes and seven actions that could create a step-change in construction productivity. With $1.6 trillion at stake, where do we start?
In the United States, governments are increasingly turning to public-private partnerships (P3s) to implement public infrastructure works. Here's why the benefits of P3 project delivery, not just financing, will continue to shift the market in this direction.
To manage costs and schedules more effectively, a four-pronged strategy can identify and limit variability in process execution.
When major mining projects face trouble, leaders often find it hard to determine how or when to intervene. Six key strategies can help get projects back on track.
There's a monster that eats projects: scope creep. To keep the creep at bay, organizations need discipline, collaboration, and a relentless focus on real user needs.
Why understanding the client's view of value is critical for effective project outcomes.
McKinsey research finds seven levers can fix construction's productivity problem, but they require a new approach from all players. We heard from industry leaders about which barriers to change are most likely to fall first.
Construction lags behind other industries in its ability to manage complex projects, but two new approaches will help close the gap.
Mired by under-digitization and fragmentation, construction must find a new way to build.
Major capital projects are habitually beset by overruns and delays, but three solutions offer a path out of entrenched dysfunction and to increased profitability.
City infrastructure projects are extraordinarily complex—but they can also be an avenue for new economic growth and digital disruption. GII spoke with the mayors of Bristol, Seattle, and Syracuse about how new approaches to financing, big data, and technology are making their cities more accessible and efficient. From predictive analytics for water mains to integrated spatial plans for housing and transportation, here’s how cities are exploring newfound potential.
Today’s airports must evolve to meet growing demand, new technologies, updated security requirements, funding pressures and rising customer expectations. These forces will grow stronger, as will the complexity of projects and the public’s desire for transparency into performance. McKinsey leaders joined executives from some of North America’s busiest and largest airports to discuss major issues facing the sector today.
Today’s airports must evolve to meet growing demand, new technologies, updated security requirements, funding pressures and rising customer expectations. These forces will grow stronger, as will the complexity of projects and the public’s desire for transparency into performance. McKinsey leaders joined executives from some of North America’s busiest and largest airports to discuss major issues facing the sector today.
Karl Kuchel of Macquarie Infrastructure Partners believes the United States could become a much bigger market.
The market for solar power is growing faster than ever, but profitability has been lagging. The keys to improvement are better capital and operational efficiency.
Financing costs are higher but the results are worth it.
America’s approach to planning, financing, building and maintaining public infrastructure is fragmented and inefficient. Here is how to improve it.
Singapore shows how an effective housing program can promote social and political stability.
The key is to ask, and answer, the right questions.
How and why Europe’s largest airport plans to manage a major expansion.
BP’s Starlee Sykes discusses the future of deepwater development.
California needs policies that cultivate long-term economic growth and offset decades of unsustainable, economically inefficient urban sprawl. In this session, policymakers and thought leaders discuss what can be done to meet the need for higher-density, lower-cost housing near job centers.
Principal Sangeeth Ram presents the main ways government and the private sector can address the global affordable housing challenge.
Since 2012, the Global Infrastructure Initiative (GII) has convened industry leaders to identify ways to improve the delivery of new projects and get more out of existing assets. GII’s Innovation Site Visits expose a select group of global leaders to some of the most exciting advances in infrastructure from around the world. Here’s how it works.
As the global real-estate market changes, developers need to focus more on the customer experience.
Real-estate developers should accept that business as they have known it is changing. By adopting new construction technologies, they can improve delivery and affordability.
Careful planning and an eye on the future can help the cities that host them.
America’s biggest state needs to build 3.5 million homes by 2025. Here are some approaches that can help.
The traditional shopping mall is under threat. Here is how to meet the needs of digital customers.
Improved rail connectivity could transform development opportunities—and the entire economy—in the United Kingdom.
Institutional investors have been cautious when it comes to real estate. There is evidence, however, that the terms of engagement are changing.
China Vanke executive Zhang Xu describes how his real-estate company has met the challenges of overseas expansion.
How one Asian developer is using planning and technology to make cities work for people.
Engineering and construction firms suffer from low margins and relatively low productivity. Here is how to do better.
The best projects provide, connect, and produce sustainable outcomes.
An interview with Jacqueline Hinman.
Geopolitical futurist Parag Khanna foresees a world in which megacities, supply chains and connective technologies redraw the map away from states and borders.
McKinsey's Jonathan Woetzel talks about how cities are engines of productivity by enhancing the number and frequency of interactions.
Michael Berkowitz, President of 100 Resilient Cities, talks about planning for future sustainability.
Jay Walder, CEO of Motivate, talks about the influence of technology and infrastructure innovations for the cities of the future.
Understanding an infrastructure asset’s unique characteristics can extend its life span—and save money.
By working together, cities can help solve global problems.
How consumers and technology are redefining how people get around.
There are signs that America’s city dwellers are beginning to change the way they get around. Here is how city leaders can plan ahead.
China is leading the effort to create the world’s largest economic platform.
To build a city from scratch, create a solid economic foundation.
How governments can encourage private-sector infrastructure investment.
Every weekday, roughly 560,000 people - nearly the population of Portland, OR - travel between the East Bay and San Francisco making the trans-bay crossing the Bay Area's most important transportation link by connecting millions of people to their jobs and lives on either side of the bay.
Senior executives from Bechtel and AECOM discuss their companies' adoption of disruptive technologies.
What can other cities learn from Hong Kong’s approach to transit?
Three experts give their views on attracting private capital to public infrastructure efforts.
When natural disasters strike, governments step up. Here’s how they can improve the odds of a successful long-term recovery.
A former finance minister makes the case for openness and discusses “de-risking.”
Most big infrastructure projects run late and over budget. Here’s how to do better.
Bringing the consumer experience back into the infrastructure discussion.
The construction industry has historically been slow to pursue innovation, but Crossrail's Innovate 18 is setting out to change that.
Diverse stakeholders, complex projects, and straitened budgets: a survey of global infrastructure leaders defines the challenges to the industry—and how to address them.
Each year, the world spends $9 trillion dollars on infrastructure. Unfortunately, up to 40% is misspent due to bottlenecks, limited innovation, and market failures. The 2015 McKinsey & Company Global Infrastructure Initiative will convene the world’s most senior leaders in infrastructure from across the value chain for a focused discussion that explores how innovation and technology can disrupt and improve infrastructure delivery.
On September 8th, approximately 30 infrastructure leaders from around South Africa convened for the GII Johannesburg Roundtable. The topic was Boosting infrastructure productivity to secure long-term growth in South Africa, drawing from the recently released MGI Report, South Africa’s big five: Bold ideas to unleash inclusive growth.
Building big infrastructure projects is always risky, but there are ways to improve the odds of a smooth landing.
A synopsis of the Global Infrastructure Initiative Philadelphia Roundtable, focusing on the airport passenger experience, airport and terminal privatization, and what US airports can do to accelerate redevelopment.
A synopsis of the Global Infrastructure Initiative London Roundtable, focusing on how transport leaders can successfully navigate digital transformation and capitalize on the opportunities, while managing the threats from new disruptive businesses.
Nicklas Garemo and Martin Hjerpe address how increasing infrastructure productivity can help save $1 trillion globally.
Carl-Stefan Neumann presents how big data and digitization can help improve a city’s infrastructure.
MIT’s Carlo Ratti discusses how technology can enable cities to understand how people use infrastructures, to better meet the transportation needs of their citizens.
What makes a great city? Jonathan Woetzel explains that when it comes to cities, greatness is a pursuit, a pursuit of a better versions of themselves.
The need for speed in delivering progress.
The public appreciates the creation of great infrastructure—but the process is difficult.
How traffic, energy, water, and security issues will shape the future.
Self-driving cars are not just about a hands-free driving experience. Their emergence points to an urban transformation that will change the way people navigate, access information, and interact with one another.
Digitization in infrastructure networks could improve forecasting, promote reliability, and increase efficiency.
How small changes could make a big difference.
Going after quick wins helped city leaders create momentum for continuing improvement.
Principal Sangeeth Ram presents the main ways government and the private sector can address the global affordable housing challenge.
Infrastructure productivity can and should be much better. Here’s how to start improving.
Privatizing government assets is just one way to improve fiscal health or invest in new infrastructure. To create value for the public, all options should be considered.
US infrastructure is aging, while the population is growing. To improve the transportation system, argues the secretary of transportation, the United States needs more funding and less red tape.
Spending money, not raising it, is the biggest problem when it comes to financing infrastructure.
Olympian Wolfgang Maennig argues that it’s time to reconsider ambitions for infrastructure when it comes to mega-events.
Consulting stakeholders before digging makes for better, cheaper projects.
A synopsis of the Global Infrastructure Initiative New York Roundtable, examining some of the key challenges, opportunities, and real potential solutions to increase the pipeline of bankable projects in North America.
Effective urban leaders focus on doing three things well.
Megaprojects always face challenges, but looking only at cost and timing may not be the only way to judge their success.
Infrastructure is about much more than cement, says the former US secretary of state and chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group.
In some of the most promising markets, supply of and demand for reliable energy has outpaced infrastructure. For discerning investors, the opportunity to fund energy infrastructure is significant.
More sustainable financing, higher quality in urban projects, and new markets to soak up construction overcapacity will determine how the country writes the next chapter of its remarkable story.
To bring the benefits of urban life to hundreds of millions of new residents in city clusters, infrastructure development and financing must be innovative, sustainable, and high quality.
Even the best planning can’t always stave off an infrastructure failure when a major disruption hits. But building in resilience can help infrastructure withstand shocks or fail safely.
The secret to hitting a moving target is to aim slightly ahead of its trajectory. Stakeholders in infrastructure design, construction, and management face a similar challenge in working to develop cities capable of sustaining us tomorrow.
For institutional investors and government agencies, greenfield infrastructure projects are ripe with opportunity. By structuring them as public–private partnerships, both parties have better chance of meeting their individual goals.
A synopsis of the Global Infrastructure Initiative Beijing Roundtable, an engaging discussion on how to take China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategy forward.
Matching up infrastructure projects and institutional investors is difficult. Better knowledge of how infrastructure assets will behave and new ways to monitor performance can help.
Infrastructure leaders who are looking to win public support for new projects can learn from industries that understand their customers.
Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, partner at the Abraaj Group, presents at 2014's Global Infrastructure Initiative.
Rio de Janeiro's mayor, Eduardo Paes, presents at 2014's Global Infrastructure Initiative.
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