skip to content

Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction

Transforming infrastructure through smarter information
 

CSIC Director Jennifer Schooling was a member of the Steering Group selected to develop a strategic and collaborative document focusing on the zero-carbon challenge and change agenda of the construction industry.

Titled ‘Our Vision for the built environment’, and published by the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), the Vision features contributions from more than 75 industry leaders and is endorsed by 35 cross-industry bodies spanning the UK’s built environment sector. The Vision outlines the UK’s commitment to foster a built environment that enables people, societies and nature to flourish, providing a boost for the economy and enabling sustainable growth for future generations.

Dr Jennifer Schooling, CSIC Director, said: “I was delighted to be involved in the Steering Group to develop this incisive and collaborative industry manifesto. I believe this Vision sets out an important direction for those who build and manage the built environment. It makes achieving better outcomes for people and the planet the focus of the existing built environment and its future development.”

Knowledge transfer between academia and industry not only strengthens economic development but also provides the tools and technology to make this future vision a reality, addressing current challenges from the climate crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic. This Vision is aligned to the UK Government’s ambition to encourage innovation and inclusion so people and nature are at the heart of how we design, build, operate and use our existing built environment.

Mark Enzer, CSIC Steering Group and CDBB Director, said, “Our contribution to making the Vision a reality is rooted in our mission to enable new and emerging technologies, data and analytics to enhance the natural and built environment, thereby driving up commercial competitiveness and productivity, as well as citizen quality of life and well-being.”             

Our built systems are resource- and energy-hungry, and wasteful, vulnerable to environmental, social and economic pressures, at risk of security breaches and system-wide shocks. They must become sustainable, secure and resilient.

Decisions have long-term consequences. The Vision recognises the urgent need to get more from the buildings, infrastructure and natural resources, making judicious use of new digital ways of working, striving for efficient information management and an integrated approach, therefore managing the built environment as ‘a system of systems’.

 

Latest news

CSIC Research Talk: “Distributed monitoring and structural interpretation of ageing masonry arch railway bridges” by Dr Sam Cocking

9 April 2024

In a recent CSIC research talk, titled “Distributed monitoring and structural interpretation of ageing masonry arch railway bridges”, Dr Sam Cocking, ( Research Associate at CSIC ), highlighted the urgent need for maintaining and optimising the use of existing railway infrastructure, with a particular focus on masonry arch...

Beyond data acquisition: new CSIC director Dr. Brian Sheil shares insights.

9 April 2024

Last February Dr. Brian Sheil, Laing O’Rourke Associate Professor in Construction Engineering, stepped into the role of director at the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC). As he assumes this prestigious position, Dr. Sheil reflects on the pivotal role of deriving actionable insights from data obtained...

CSIC Twitter