| | SEPTEMBER 20208CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONThe new normal must be better than the oldThe world is changing around us on a daily basis, and many share the view that after the immediate health crisis is over, the world of infrastructure will not go back to precisely the way it was before. The pressure for change had been building for some time, driven by the need to deliver enhanced social, economic and environmental outcomes in the face of constrained resources and carbon reduction. The enablers are the abundance of data and the digital transformation that can convert that data into value.The current shock has led to a breakthrough moment for digital. Organisations that have had plans for digital transformation, moving through their management systems for years have suddenly faced the need to rearrange themselves in weeks. Individuals who may have been slow to change their behaviours have had to adopt new ways of working rapidly. Never has it been more important for business leaders to put digital at the heart of their enterprise.The role of the CIO itself is also changing. Organisations need to focus quickly on how to convert data into value, both for themselves and for their customers. New roles are being created, such as Chief Data Officer or Chief Digital Officer.Still, for success, digital transformation must be embraced across the entire C-suite with a clear strategy and shared vision. Six steps to successFor an infrastructure owner or operator, or a city authority, the path to realising the true value of information can be set out in six steps:1. Understand the challenges and frame the immediate problems that the organisation is facing in pursuit of its goals.2. Articulate the additional information that would deliver improved decision-making in solving those problems.3. Determine what data sets are available now, both from within the organisation and elsewhere that could be connected to provide that additional information4. Adopt an open, secure, scalable platform that can connect diverse data sets and provide the basis for integrated solutions.5. Combine experienced practitioners in the relevant domain with digital expertise to create insightful analytics and present the information to the decision-makers.6. Measure the impact of the decisions and generate data that can be fed back into the system for continuous improvement and machine learning.Enterprise Digital TransformationIn order to deliver on those six steps, organisations must change to become information-centric. This implies a fully integrated and collaborative way of working both across internal departmental boundaries and with supply chain partners. A new balance must be found between human and machine working together, using automation to liberate people to do what they do best across design, construction and operational stages of the lifecycle.A methodology must be adopted to make a full assessment of where the organisation is currently in terms of maturity in the transition to smart infrastructure, to identify priority areas for improvement, and to measure progress systematically.Leading examples in UAEMany of the leading organisations in the UAE have started on this journey. Leading thinking relating to BIM has evolved into a wider understanding of the concept of digital twins with a live two-way connection between physical assets and their digital equivalent.THE FUTURE IS CONNECTEDBy Richard Shennan, Group Digital Business Development Director, Mott MacDonald
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