Innovation Series to brainstorm on approaches for timely delivery of infrastructural projects

The fourth edition of the Innovation Series will discuss innovative approaches that advance timely delivery of projects, organisers have revealed.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday, Walter Wafula, the Business unit head at brainchild BCW, the organisers of the innovation series said because of the recurrent delays in infrastructure project completion, there is need to brainstorm on how to do away with it.

“This edition of Innovation Series will convene key and influential players in Uganda’s infrastructure sector, to deliberate on innovation techniques and trends in project planning, and development to foster faster delivery of roads, internet and power to the last mile,”Wafula said.

Citing a World Bank study, he noted that recurrent delays in infrastructure project completion cost both government and the citizens over shs2.8 trillion (Us$800m) in national income and productive work time, per annum.

“Apart from Isimba Hydropower dam, we have seen various road and power infrastructure projects whose completion has stalled not only because of land compensation issues but also the fact that many contractors are not leveraging the power of innovation to fast-track the delivery of these projects. Therefore, Innovation Series, provides a perfect platform to showcase and discuss new and cost-effective ways of delivering infrastructure in Uganda.”

According to the Emerging Trends in Infrastructure report of 2019 by global auditing firm KPMG three quarters of innovative leaders in the global infrastructure development sector, acknowledge that they are ahead of their competitors because, they lead in adopting new operational technologies like drones, virtual reality, augmented reality, smart sensors, machine learning and artificial intelligence, in project planning, management and development.

The findings of the report which was released in February 2019 were based on a survey among 223 engineering and construction companies and project owners from a variety of industries.

In line with this thinking, some of the key focus areas to be discussed during the fourth edition of  the Innovation Series include; new and cost-effective models of delivering roads and bridges, alternative infrastructure financing options  for project contractors, investible cities infrastructure projects for venture capital and equity investments, and next-generation infrastructure development requirements and preparedness, among others.

Uganda is currently pursuing a number of infrastructure projects across the transport, energy and information communication technology.

In an effort to improve the national transport network, government this financial year, 2019/20, allocated over shs6.4 trillion to the works and transport sector while shs3.1 trillion was allocated to energy and ICT infrastructure to promote economic growth and transformation.

This year’s Innovation Series will be held on October 31 at the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala under the theme, “Fast-tracking infrastructure project completion through innovation."