{"id":163960,"date":"2026-07-21T15:35:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=163960"},"modified":"2026-07-21T15:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:35:26","slug":"worlds-infrastructure-gap-is-not-funding-problem-its-digital-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/digital-construction-news\/worlds-infrastructure-gap-is-not-funding-problem-its-digital-one\/163960\/","title":{"rendered":"The world\u2019s infrastructure gap is not a funding problem. It\u2019s a digital one"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no shortage of global demand for infrastructure; what is missing is the digital capability to turn that ambition into real-world value, writes Parth Tikiwala, head of public sector strategy, build & construct division at Nemetschek Group<\/a><\/h2>\n

Governments are not short of ambition when it comes to infrastructure. The United States is executing $1.2 trillion in federal authorisation through the IIJA and CHIPS Act. Germany has committed \u20ac500bn through its new Special Infrastructure Fund. India\u2019s National Infrastructure Pipeline targets $1.4tn in delivery by 2030. The capital is committed. The programs are in motion.<\/p>\n

What is not yet in place \u2013 in any of these markets \u2013 is the digital continuity required to turn that investment into delivered public value. McKinsey\u2019s research on large infrastructure programmes puts the average cost overrun at 80% and the average schedule delay at 20 months. The World Bank traces the majority of that waste to a single, consistent cause: fragmentation of digital information across the project lifecycle. Planning does not connect to design.<\/p>\n

Design does not hand off cleanly to construction. Construction data rarely reaches operations. Governments absorb the cost of that disconnection at every phase transition and have been doing so for decades.<\/p>\n

Governments have solved the funding problem. They have not solved the delivery problem. Every major infrastructure economy is sitting on the same digital deficit of fragmented systems, broken handoffs and preventable loss. Software solutions like the Nemetschek portfolio are addressing those challenges.<\/p>\n

Three markets setting the global template<\/h3>\n

The US, Germany and India are not simply the largest infrastructure investment markets of this cycle. They are writing the rules that every other market will follow.<\/p>\n

In the United States, IIJA execution flows through 50 states and thousands of contractor relationships that demand coordination and audit integrity at a scale no siloed digital system can sustain.<\/p>\n

In Germany, federal and L\u00e4nder programmes are actively codifying digital delivery standards – DIN, VDI, ISO 19650 – into procurement tender language right now.<\/p>\n

In India, the National Infrastructure Pipeline is coordinating multi-ministry, multi-state execution at a speed and scale that demands open, modular digital systems with no precedent in the market.<\/p>\n

The procurement frameworks established in these three markets in 2026 will be referenced by procurement authorities across Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America for the decade ahead. The OECD identifies digital delivery governance as one of the top three infrastructure policy priorities across member states through 2030.<\/p>\n

What the evidence shows<\/h3>\n

The research on integrated digital delivery is unambiguous:<\/p>\n