Linking data to value: 5 priorities from the ICG's data and digital benchmarking report

Asset owners have significantly increased their use of data and digital tools over the past three years, research by the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) has found.

But turning that investment into better decisions and improved infrastructure outcomes remains a challenge, according to the 2026 ICG Data and Digital Benchmarking Survey Report.

The first of its kind for two years, the survey polled 331 respondents, including infrastructure clients and their suppliers. It reveals improvements across all the “data and digital maturity” categories it assessed.

There have been particularly strong gains in three – “people and culture”, “organisation and governance” and “responsibility and resilience” – since 2023.

The importance of the human factor

I chair the ICG’s Data and Digital Task Group, which commissions the survey. One of the most encouraging findings to me is the sector’s growing recognition that digital transformations are fundamentally about people.

For instance, there has been an increase in the proportion of respondents agreeing that their needs are considered when digital decisions are made.

Most now see data and digital tools adding genuine value in their daily work.

Organisations are also becoming better at identifying skills gaps and providing support for capability development.

But the prevalence of digital jargon remains a concern, with many respondents still finding it hard to understand.

This highlights the need for organisations to communicate more clearly when they are adopting new systems.

A shortfall in funding

The survey indicates increasing confidence in the sector’s strategic approach to digital transformation.

For instance, organisations are getting better at managing digital programmes and working with their suppliers. They’re also becoming clearer about whether these programmes are resulting in the desired benefits or not.

But underinvestment is a persistent problem. Funding for digital initiatives is generally still limited, creating a gap between ambition and achievement.

As a result, many organisations remain focused on incremental gains rather than transformative improvements.

Dubious data quality

Progress in the “information and data” category has been modest. Despite improvements in governance, trust in data remains fragile.

Many organisations still struggle with poor-quality data. They often can’t obtain the information they need when they need it, or in a usable format.

This reduces their ability to make informed decisions.

Most organisations rely on descriptive and diagnostic analytics. They tend to use the data produced by these systems to explain what has happened rather than to predict outcomes.

This suggests that they aren’t making the most of AI, advanced analytics and intelligent decision-support systems.

Organisations have greater access to digital tools and are increasingly exploring emerging technologies. But, for many of them, data remains fragmented across several systems, creating duplication and making it harder to establish a single source of truth.

Although common data environments (CDEs) have become well established in the sector, many organisations are still using them as information stores rather than tools to support decision-making.

The use of digital twins is increasing, but many organisations remain uncertain about how to apply these systems effectively or don’t yet trust them to support operational decisions.

Small pockets of good practice

The survey’s findings in the “process and operations” category highlight perhaps the clearest example of the sector’s digital challenge.

Good practice exists, but it is often confined to isolated projects, teams or functions.

Data and digital requirements are still not consistently prioritised at the start of projects, while only modest improvements in effectiveness are evident in areas such as handovers, asset management and cross-organisational collaboration.

It’s clear that digital ways of working have yet to become a routine part of how organisations plan, deliver and operate infrastructure.

The survey also highlights a growing need to make greater use of automation. While many organisations are successfully automating individual tasks, relatively few are applying it on a larger scale.

As workload, cost and delivery pressures continue to increase, isolated automation projects are unlikely to deliver the productivity gains the sector needs.

Greater value is likely to come from automating a few complex, time-consuming processes that span several teams and organisations.

Five digital priorities

The survey report identifies the following priorities for the sector.

1. Align data and digital initiatives with what matters most, including collaboration, positive infrastructure outcomes and lasting socioeconomic value.
2. Put data and digital capabilities on a par with health and safety, productivity and carbon management.
3. “Raise the intelligence ambition” to unlock value from safe, shared and scalable data.
4. Transform common data environments and digital twins into decision-making platforms rather than mere visualisations or data stores.
5. Design automation to streamline organisation-wide investment, operations and delivery.

The overall message is clear: the infrastructure sector’s future success will not be defined by adopting more technology.

It will be determined by the sector’s ability to establish consistent operating models, create trusted data, make better decisions and achieve measurable positive outcomes.

The sector’s progress towards digital maturity depends on moving beyond digital adoption and delivering digital value.