Enabling Better Infrastructure programme

global, global

Year

2019-2025

Duration

6 years

Cost

Location

global

Project achievements

Economy boosted

Reduces the cost of delivering infrastructure

Environment benefitted

Supports global sustainability goals

What is the Enabling Better Infrastructure (EBI) programme?

The EBI programme helps governments around the world to identify and deliver on their country’s infrastructure needs so that their people and the planet can thrive.

In doing so, it helps ensure that current and future populations have access to clean water, electricity, transport, internet and more.

To offer governments this support, EBI brings together independent specialists with a wide range of expertise on how to plan and prioritise infrastructure.

From government officials to private sector professionals, like civil engineers, and non-government representatives, like UN bodies, they each bring a valuable view to the table.

It guides countries through specific infrastructure challenges that they face as a nation, moving past uncertainty to come up with a bespoke strategy to address their issues.

The programme helps governments to build a process to identify infrastructure projects that would best meet their needs, and that are worth investing resources in.

The EBI guidance is composed of:

Eight principles to help governments plan infrastructure
A three-step process so governments can build their own infrastructure strategy
A gap assessment tool to help countries figure out where their infrastructure planning could improve

Following EBI guidance can help countries achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Benefits of strategic infrastructure planning

A country’s resources are limited. EBI helps governments identify how to best use their budgets to deliver the infrastructure that people need to live safe, healthy and productive lives.

Did you know …

The EBI programme collaborated with the UN Environment Partnership (UNEP) to host a session exploring the policy tools governments can use to improve infrastructure strategies.
The EBI programme works directly with international governments wanting to strengthen how they do strategic infrastructure planning – for example, the New Zealand government.
Regular EBI Live sessions bring together government officials that are interested in strengthening their strategic infrastructure planning, including how similar challenges can be addressed.

Eight guiding principles

EBI’s eight guiding principles set out all the factors that governments need to consider during the strategic planning process.

There were 12 principles, but as learning from applying the programme in real life developed, they were reduced to eight.

They are:

Create a clear vision: understanding the economic, social, and environmental outcomes a government would like to achieve for their country.
Use the UN SDGs as a framework to plan and deliver infrastructure: using the SDGs to ensure that infrastructure delivers a wide range of social and environmental outcomes, including equity and inclusivity.
Look at a wide range of infrastructure options: considering the country's specific needs to find the best options to meet them, which could require little to no new construction.
Scope ahead to drive success: looking forward to identify and prevent potential challenges, be it across finance, technical capacity or delivery.
Refine cost-benefit analysis: when comparing project options, assess their cost and the benefits that they’ll bring across the environment and society.
Use affordability to ruthlessly prioritse projects: understanding what governments can afford to do can help to pick which projects to focus on and use limited resources efficiently.
Establish relationships for long-term change: working closely with the private sector, academia, and other stakeholders can help ensure that projects and programmes are stable regardless of political changes.
Set up structures to support the meaningful use of data: using data can help governments assess needs and monitor the state of infrastructure, but there must be processes in place to ensure data is used safely and efficiently.

Learn more about the principles

Building an infrastructure strategy

The EBI programme has developed a three-step process to guide countries through creating their own infrastructure strategy.

Step one: set objectives

This includes identifying the country’s needs, their specific circumstances and what support they might need.

For example, when Curaçao, a Caribbean island, used the National Infrastructure Systems Model (NISMOD) to define its infrastructure needs across energy, water and solid waste management.

Step two: assess needs

In this step, countries must assess the performance of their existing infrastructure to identify any gaps and consider a wide variety of options on how to fill them.

They must also take into account any existing local and regional strategies.

For example, the Netherlands used a Multi-Year Programme for Infrastructure, Spatial Planning and Transport (MIRT) to collaborate between national and regional governments and meet both of their needs.

Step three: develop a strategy

When it comes to developing a strategy, countries need to:

define how they will approach it at a national level
assess costs and benefits
consider how to pay for the infrastructure needed
take into account what capacity and skills are needed
outline milestones and data needed to identify success
identify any risks

Once the strategy is developed, the government should seek to get feedback on it from relevant parties and then embed it across departments, agencies and bodies.

For example, Australia used a regional and international Infrastructures Bodies (I-Bodies) forum to embed strategic planning across various departments and agencies.

The EBI programme also features a tool to help governments compare themselves against best practice benchmarks in infrastructure planning.

Check it out

The history of EBI

The EBI programme is all about global collaboration, so it’s no surprise that it was born out of the need for shared insights.

The ICE had been speaking to government officials from around the world, and it identified that many countries were facing similar problems when it came to infrastructure planning.

Due to its ability to bring people together, the ICE saw an opportunity to convene expert minds and help countries address these challenges.

The first version of the EBI guidance was released in 2019, but the programme has continued to grow and learn from the countries it helps.

As such, the guidance has since been updated in January 2024.

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