Digital technology for social value

Our Value Toolkit Integrated Project Lead, Ellie Jenkins, took part in the Centre for Innovation Management Research’s first Debate in Public Policy of the year ‘How can digital technology be used to maximise the social value delivered through major infrastructure projects?’

For better or worse, digital technology has infiltrated almost every aspect of modern living. Governments and businesses have access to unprecedented amounts of data on what citizens need and want. When it comes to major infrastructure projects that impact large numbers of people, could digital technology help to achieve more positive outcomes for society?

In this CIMR Debate in Public Policy, a panel of industry and social value experts discussed the role of digital technology in the Transforming Infrastructure Performance: Roadmap to 2030, which links societal outcomes with value-based infrastructure policy.

Commenting on the dramatic change in the role of digital in the built environment, Ellie Jenkins highlighted technology’s potential to “hear from unheard voices and make our design and planning process more accessible and inclusive”. She noted that digital technologies allow developers to create a thread between investment decisions and the actual outcomes to ensure continuous improvement.

Ellie cautioned against viewing digital as a silver bullet: the implementation of digital technologies has practical and ethical challenges and further dialogue is needed to address them.

“Digital tools have a critical role in creating more value for our investments. From early stakeholder engagement to creating a thread between our decisions and measuring performance, digital tools can optimise outcomes.”

You can read a full summary and recording of the CIMR debate here.