Mott MacDonald has been appointed to help the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) promote the use of BIM in the delivery of new infrastructure in developing countries.
The global consultancy firm will be the delivery partner for the FCO Building Information Modelling Pathfinder Programme, as part of the Global Infrastructure Programme backed by the cross-government Prosperity Fund.
The Prosperity Fund (PF) is a key component of the UK’s Official Development Assistance strategy. The fund aims to remove barriers to economic growth and promote sustainable development needed to reduce poverty in partner countries. The Fund’s focus is on middle-income countries where around 60% of the world’s poor live and where 60% of global growth will come by 2030.
There is a strong link between infrastructure development and increased prosperity, particularly benefiting the poorest in society, including supporting gender equality and inclusion.
The PF also seeks to improve trade links between partner countries and the rest of the world, including the UK.
The Global Infrastructure Programme helps the partner countries adopt and adapt the UK’s leading infrastructure methodologies for business case development, project planning and digital construction (BIM).
The programme is a cross-government initiative of the FCO, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) with the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), working with selected partner countries across Latin America, Asia and Africa. It delivers expertise and capacity building for government policy officials and national infrastructure clients.
Over the next three years Mott MacDonald’s global team, led by its Smart Infrastructure business, will provide BIM technical and sector expertise across three pathfinder countries – Indonesia, Vietnam and Colombia and in capacity build countries (including Brazil, Mexico, Peru and South Africa).
Effective infrastructure, such as better hospitals, schools and transport networks, is essential to supporting a good quality of life and provides the basis for businesses and economies to grow and be prosperous. Encouraging a BIM way of working will lead to better buildings and infrastructure by facilitating better project development, procurement, finance, design, delivery and operation of public building and infrastructure projects – in turn leading to a social and economic benefit in partner countries.
Adam Matthews, head of international for CDBB, said: “CDBB is delighted to be working with Mott MacDonald as our consultant to support the ambitious goal of the Prosperity Global Infrastructure Programme. It aims to deliver prosperity benefits to our partner countries, improving infrastructure delivery by introducing digital technology (Building Information Modelling) and at the same time opening new commercial opportunities for UK and international businesses.”
Andrew Moulds, lead programme manager for Mott MacDonald, said: “We are proud to have been appointed as the Delivery Partner to this prestigious programme, and we look forward to working with FCO and CDBB.”
Peter Turner, head of the Prosperity Fund Global Infrastructure Programme team at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said: “I’m delighted that we will be working with Mott MacDonald on the programme, using their BIM capabilities to enhance delivery of our objectives.”
Image: Aerial view of the new Semanggi road intersection in Jakarta, Indonesia (Paulus Rusyanto/Dreamstime.com)
