The Future of Infrastructure
- Overview
Civil engineering conducts cutting-edge research in important and growing fields that meet society's needs for well-designed and well-operated buildings, energy, transport and water systems. These critical systems must be reliable and resilient in the face of hazards such as earthquakes and floods. Extensive efforts are required to adapt civilian infrastructure to withstand adverse changes in weather and climate.
Civil engineering meets the needs of a growing and increasingly urbanizing world population that requires sustainable improvements in living standards.
- The Future of Infrastructure
Much of the world around us is formed around key pieces of infrastructure. Many see it as a testament to who we are as a society and part of the cultural foundation we need to guide us into the future.
Overall, infrastructure represents a long-term social investment that will propel us along the path to a more efficient and better-functioning society. Usually it goes on for a while.
But infrastructure comes in many forms, and as we build complex networks of pipes, wires, roads, bridges, tunnels, buildings and waterways, we become so focused on the here and now that we rarely consider whether there is a better way method.
Almost every piece of infrastructure creates jobs, revenue streams and investment opportunities, as well as new laws, regulations and industry standards.
The longer the infrastructure is in place, the greater the resistance to replacing it. Like an old tree, the root system that feeds it grows gigantic.
That said, infrastructure lifecycles are getting shorter and the teams driving disruptive technologies are getting more sophisticated.
Infrastructure projects represent huge paydays for a few, and disruptors are determined to make it theirs.
- Examples of The Future of Infrastructure
Following are ten examples of how our core infrastructure will change, and what that means for the countries and businesses at the heart of this revolution.
- Driverless cars and driverless highways
- Tube network
- Atmospheric water harvesters
- Micro college
- Space-based power stations
- Drone Delivery Networks
- Mass energy storages
- Global language archive
- Global genealogy Project
- Trillion Sensor Infrastructure
[More to come ...]
