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Making the most of infrastructure for the Midlands
The West Midlands is on the cusp of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform our connectivity and infrastructure. Work starts next year on HS2, slashing the time it will take to travel from London to the region to less than an hour. That brings enormous economic opportunities – but also the challenge of making the most...
What the public thinks about infrastructure
Key to the success of the UK’s first National Infrastructure Assessment is for the Commission to look beyond the views of the academics and assorted experts to understand what the public thinks about the big issues we’re thinking about. Running public consultations is one way of doing this (and we’ve just launched our third as...
Meeting the infrastructure challenges in the UK and Australia
Australia and the United Kingdom’s infrastructure sectors are rightly regarded as among the best in the world. As both a UK and Australian citizen, I have seen first-hand the enormous benefits that have come from past reforms to the selection, procurement and regulation of infrastructure assets, and the creation of sophisticated and mature infrastructure markets...
Reflecting on two years of the National Infrastructure Commission
Two years ago today the creation of the National Infrastructure Commission was announced. As we prepare for the launch of our interim National Infrastructure Assessment – the country’s first – it’s important to remember how much we’ve achieved in just two years. Our first report on Smart Power focused on the potential of more flexible...
The need to tackle the three Cs
The Victorians led the world in infrastructure with the creation of railways, paved roads and trams. The engineers and planners of the post-war era built motorways, airports and millions of new homes. And in recent years we’ve seen such successes as Manchester’s tram network, Canary Wharf, the transformation of Birmingham New Street and the infrastructure supporting...
Supporting cyclists in the Growth Corridor
Oxford, Cambridge and Milton Keynes are some of Britain’s fastest-growing, most productive places – and a key focus for the Commission. They could be Britain’s Silicon Valley. But they are, quite literally, running out of road. Unless we can find an answer to these cities’ often severe traffic congestion, their and our growth plans are...
Celebrating the success of offshore wind
Two years ago, the cost of offshore wind stood at £114.50 per Megawatt hour – now, the industry is close to being subsidy-free. It’s a remarkable success thanks in no small part to consistent policy from successive governments, which has enabled the industry to develop at scale. But there’s more to be done if this...
Setting the stage for the Greatest Show on Earth
Five years ago, the eyes of the world turned to our Capital as we hosted the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It clearly required an army of talented individuals – those on the track, in the pool and on the courts and not least the thousands of people who volunteered their time as dedicated Games...
Harnessing smart power
The National Infrastructure Commission has two pivotal roles: to provide independent and evidence-based advice to Government on the best way to meet the country’s infrastructure needs; and to ensure that when those recommendations are accepted, they are implemented and delivered. Publication of the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan represented a major milestone in the Government’s...
Driving innovation in infrastructure through artificial intelligence
Whether City Mapper or Google Maps; Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, artificial intelligence is fast becoming an integral part of people’s everyday lives. The challenge over the coming years will be to exploit every possible opportunity that this new technology presents, and to keep up with the rapid pace of innovation and change to ensure...
Judging the Wolfson Economics Prize
It’s a question that has been exercising policymakers for 50 years: how do you deliver an effective, efficient, fair and sustainable system of paying for road use? It’s also increasingly pertinent: we face falling fuel duties, rapid growth in electric vehicles (which pay neither Vehicle Excise Duty nor fuel duty), and increasing deployment of telematics...
Cambridge Conference: how data can help determine our future infrastructure needs
As the NIC prepares the country’s first-ever National Infrastructure Assessment, data will play a central role. But data is not only crucial in enabling us to predict our future needs; it is also playing an increasingly central role in how we manage and maintain our infrastructure systems to get the best out of them, and...
Supporting a competitive Growth Corridor
From Cambridge in the East to Oxford in the West, the Growth Corridor represents a world-class concentration of talent – whether on globally-renowned university campuses or in the flourishing science and technology industries. Collectively the area is one of the most economically successful in the country, and by 2050 could help generate as many as...
Notes from the Big Apple, and lessons for London as a world city
Earlier this month, as part of a broader fact-finding trip to the east coast of the United States, Lord Adonis and I had the pleasure of meeting the President and members of the board of New York’s Regional Plan Association, to hear how their work is informing and challenging the city’s approach to the infrastructure...
Lord Adonis introductory blog
Infrastructure shares a fate with so many of life’s essentials – if it works well we barely notice it, if it fails it dominates our existence. The networks and systems that keep this country going – from telecommunications to roads and railways, and the very electricity that powers our homes and businesses – are absolutely...