New research highlights need for infrastructure transparency in high-income countries
The world’s global infrastructure needs continue to grow, and recent estimates forecast that $94 trillion is required globally by 2040 to deliver essential infrastructure and further economic prospects and opportunities for citizens. Whilst a key concern for governments, meeting this need is not always easy due to sector complexity, the multiple stakeholders involved and conflicting interests.
Key to overcoming these challenges is the need to strengthen infrastructure governance. CoST — the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST) offers a cutting-edge approach to do so. The approach is not a panacea but offers a new direction to improve infrastructure delivery and outcomes, resting principally on furthering openness, data disclosure and analysis, and innovations in the scrutiny and oversight of infrastructure investment. Some governments both at the national and subnational level are on the right track to embrace these areas, but examples abound of continued challenges expressed in major project delays, cost overruns and projects that are scaled back significantly from their original scope such as the Buenos Aires metro system, Edinburgh Tram project and the UK’s Crossrail. Such examples call for a new way of doing business.
In its publication released today, Infrastructure Governance in High-Income Countries CoST uses case studies from Argentina, Lithuania, Scotland and additional research from the UK and Denmark to delve into common project issues and show how they can be resolved to deliver better quality infrastructure, on time and to budget.
Our research identifies four key areas to be addressed across the countries.
1. Data disclosure on infrastructure projects is relatively high, however, disclosure is largely fragmented and difficult to locate, often spread across agencies, sites and formats, and thus hard to use.
2. Infrastructure planning and delivery has largely been based on a sectoral approach, one lacking a comprehensive, long-term, strategic vision from across government to improve prioritisation, attract finance and get better value for money.
3. Levels of stakeholder engagement is broadly limited to information sharing and consultation. Despite efforts to include the views of citizens, their ability to influence and discuss policy options in a meaningful manner is limited. This can result in poorer quality decision-making, increased risk and missed opportunities which could be seen from improving trust between stakeholders.
4. Major challenges persist in delivering projects to time and budget, with indications that procuring entities sometimes accept unrealistic projects based on keen prices and aggressive schedules which ultimately do not materialise. Furthermore, an absence of monitoring and reporting of such situations reduces the incentive for improvement.
The CoST solution: A robust means to address the issues
An initiative like CoST with a comprehensive approach can help, with its core features of disclosure, assurance, multi-stakeholder working, and social accountability providing an effective means of rectifying fundamental sectoral issues. In the instance of the four issue areas above, CoST features can provide direct solutions — put simply — to a need to increase sophisticated data disclosure, stakeholder engagement, civic participation and scrutiny and oversight.
Furthermore, the comparative advantage of these features is heightened when they are applied together as the four points below demonstrate.
1. Moving to more sophisticated data disclosure
To enhance more routine and sophisticated data disclosure, governments could look to the CoST disclosure feature and the application of the internationally recognised Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard (OC4IDS) . The OC4IDS requires important infrastructure data points to be routinely disclosed across the infrastructure project cycle in a standardised format. It promotes increased data centralisation and digitalisation through online platforms which eliminates data fragmentation and makes data available in ‘real time’. Doing so gives citizens far better access to information and facilitates meaningful engagement.
2. Highlighting the key issues to put them in the past
Neatly complementing systemic disclosure, the CoST feature of assurance helps to rectify common critical issues such as time and cost overruns. Our research found that oversight institutions often lacked the resources to conduct frequent audits of major infrastructure projects. Whilst not an audit, CoST assurance provides regular, independent reviews of disclosed data which could help fill this gap in a cost-effective manner.
3. Adding a layer of external scrutiny
Once disclosure and assurance are applied, social accountability can bring about evidenced-based discussions on infrastructure policy and add scrutiny. For example, social accountability actors such as the media can use the press to command public attention on parliamentary committees and politicians to respond to issues arising from the assurance process. Other actors such as civil society can use their experience to enrich discussion.
4. Deepening participation
The CoST multi-stakeholder working feature could be adapted and applied to build credibility, legitimacy and trust between stakeholders from different sectors, namely government, private sector and civil society and foster more responsible engagement in infrastructure planning and delivery.
No better time for CoST
CoST is at a key stage in its journey as its impact deepens worldwide. Whilst this impact has largely been seen in the developing and emerging economies in which we operate there is no reason why high-income countries cannot experience the same. Evidently low- middle- and high-income countries continue to be burdened by common issues in infrastructure delivery, underlining that there is no better time for CoST in all of them.
Issues will not necessarily be resolved overnight, but CoST changes business as usual, joins the dots and avoids unhelpful silos. In each country, the flexible model of CoST which allows its approach to be adapted to the situation on the ground will be key to do this. We are confident that if adopted by more high-income contexts, they would experience a rapid and necessary increase in infrastructure transparency, meaningful stakeholder engagement and heightened accountability, ultimately leading to better value for money and improved infrastructure outcomes.
