Image credit: David Gutierrez (CC BY 2.0)

The role of smart information and communication technology (ICT) in the design and planning of infrastructure will be investigated in a new inquiry by the Australian Parliament’s Infrastructure and Communications Committee.

The inquiry will explore the smart ICT’s capacity to vastly improve the design and planning of new infrastructure and the use of existing infrastructure by allowing for the mapping and modelling of proposed and existing infrastructure. It is expected by the committee to have profound implications for planning, development, management and maintenance of infrastructure, with significant productivity benefits for governments and the community.

In particular, the inquiry will aim to:

• Identify innovative technology for the mapping, modelling, design and operation of infrastructure.
• Identify the new capabilities smart ICT will provide.
• Examine the productivity benefits of smart ICT.
• Investigate harmonising data formats and creating nationally consistent arrangements for data storage and access.
• Identify international best practice in the use of smart ICT in the design and planning of infrastructure.
• Consider the use of smart ICT in related fields, such as disaster planning and remediation.
• Consider means, including legislative and administrative action, by which government can promote this technology to increase economic productivity.

Committee Chairman Jane Prentice (Ryan, Qld) said the committee believes that smart ICT will revolutionise the planning and design of infrastructure.

“As part of its recent inquiry into infrastructure planning and procurement, the Committee took evidence on technological advances in survey and imaging techniques which have the capacity to significantly increase the speed and accuracy of data collection for the mapping and modelling of infrastructure, making it much more efficient and cost effective, with huge benefits to the community as a whole.”

The committee is inviting interested persons and organisations to make submissions to the inquiry addressing the above terms of reference. Submissions close on Friday 10 July 2015.

For further information on the inquiry, including how to prepare a submission, visit the Infrastructure and Communications Committee website.