Deep Dive on Data and Information for Critical Infrastructure Management and Maintenance

This report examines the role of data and information in managing and maintaining critical infrastructure in the UK. It focuses on four sectors with large networks of physical assets: energy, transport, water, and communications. A report from an earlier study into Critical Infrastructure Management & Maintenance for Safety, highlighted the need for a deep dive on the role of data and information, posing four questions that were addressed during this research.

The UK’s critical national infrastructure (CNI) sectors share common challenges such as ageing assets, safety concerns, and a skilled workforce shortage. While each sector has its own history and terminology, there are sufficient commonalities to develop transferrable approaches for data collection and analysis, with opportunities for innovation existing across the asset lifecycle. 

This report reviews physical commonalities, and highlights the importance of data and records, both analogue and digital, in asset management. Here, we identify key areas that must be tackled to realise the vision of a truly data-augmented management of critical national infrastructure and present a roadmap outlining the actions required to address these.