Thursday 15 November 2012 | IET London: Savoy Place
Keep up to speed
Hashtag: #IETmountbatten
Attendance certificates
Certificates of attendance are available to delegates of this lecture. Attendees can request a certificate which they may use as evidence for their CPD records. If you would like a certificate please ask at the registration desk when registering and you will be able to pick up the certificate after the lecture.
Register today
About the lecture
‘Modernising Britain’s Victorian Infrastructure – an Engineering Opportunity’
The national systems that provide us with vital services – water, energy, transport, waste management and information services – are in need of urgent modernisation if the UK is to make best use of the latest technological innovations and remain economically competitive and a desirable place to live and work.
In the UK, we expect our infrastructure to work all the time and to be commercially, socially and environmentally acceptable. A lot of it was built in the Victorian era so to ensure it works in the future we need to redesign and modernise it.
The services and systems are mostly operated by private sector organisations, not necessarily UK-owned, but a few are still in public sector control. Since the start of privatisation in the early 1980s, there has been little coordination of how we as a nation modernise infrastructure. We run the risk that the prevailing short-term thinking will deter design for future adaptability and resilience. So we have to ask ourselves whether the existing regimes for governance and regulation can deliver the coherence that is essential for successful modernisation.
If we are to exploit innovations in technology, such as new materials, better diagnostic sensors and data exploitation we also need new systemic ways of thinking about infrastructure. Over the past 30 years a revolution in information and communications technologies (ICT) has had a considerable impact on most aspects of modern life but as yet little on the provision of national infrastructure.
These challenges and opportunities, relevant to all engineering disciplines but particularly the ICT engineers, must be addressed and exploited if we are to keep our place as a leading developed nation.
Event timings
18:00 - Registration and refreshments
18:30 - Presentation of the Mountbatten Medal followed by Lecture
20:00 - Drinks reception
21:00 - Close
See also
- About the speaker: Professor Brian Collins
