Next-generation infrastructures are needed to cope with multifaceted demands of our rapidly evolving world. Technological progress, societal needs, and sustainability goals all need to be accommodated. Future infrastructures must integrate a variety of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), renewable energy systems, and smart materials to create more efficient and interconnected networks. The networks need to be designed so that they can accommodate to meet the rising connectivity demands while also supporting environmental sustainability. However, their development is loaded with challenges.

Infrastructure operators play a crucial role in balancing the diverse and often competing demands and requirements for infrastructures and their services. The complexity of the task highlights the importance of strategic decision-making in infrastructure design, as these decisions can significantly shape societal outcomes. With the increase in urbanization, next-generation infrastructures are expected to optimize transportation, facilitate the creation of smart cities, and enhance the overall quality of life. Additionally, they must ensure resilience against disasters and cybersecurity threats. Furthermore, investments in these infrastructures can boost global competitiveness, attract innovation, and drive economic growth. Nevertheless, addressing the needs of a technologically advanced and interconnected world requires a careful consideration of societal impacts and a balanced approach to sustainability, efficiency, and resilience.

Infrastructure encompasses essential systems including physical constructs like roads, bridges, and utilities, as well as intricate socio-technical networks such as telecommunications grids. Infrastructure sectors were traditionally managed in relative isolation. However, the evolving landscape of societal needs, environmental dynamics, and technological advancements demand increased recognition of the interconnected nature of current day infrastructures, as assets increasingly influence each other. Recognizing these interdependencies is crucial for effective design and management of future infrastructures under a variety of conditions which include crises and infrastructure failures. Failures in one infrastructure can cascade to others. Asset managers who operate independently with their own specific way of working, must increasingly work closely together to design and operate these interconnected systems. This collaborative approach is essential for designing and managing the next generation of infrastructures to ensure their stabile and resilient performance...
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Purpose: Societies depend on interconnected infrastructures that are becoming more complex over the years. Multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills are essential to develop modern infrastructures, requiring close collaboration of various infrastructure owners. To effectively manage and improve inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) in infrastructure construction projects, collaboration status should be assessed continually. This study identifies the assessment criteria, forming the foundation of a tool for assessing the status of IOC in interconnected infrastructure projects.Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature study and in-depth semi-structured interviews with practitioners in interconnected infrastructure construction projects in the Netherlands are performed to identify the criteria for assessing the status of IOC in infrastructure construction projects, based on which an assessment tool is developed.Findings: The identified assessment criteria through the literature and the practitioner’s perspectives results in the designing and development of a collaboration assessment tool. The assessment tool consists of 12 criteria and 36 sub-criteria from three different categories of collaborative capacity: individual, relational, and organizational.Originality/value: The assessment tool enables practitioners to monitor the status of IOC between infrastructure owners and assists them in making informed decisions to enhance collaboration. The assessment tool provides the opportunity to assess and analyze the status of collaboration based on three categories (i.e., individual, relational, and organizational). ... Read more

This study aims to identify which factors affect inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) in interconnected infrastructure projects to enable practitioners to establish a collaborative environment at the project level. This specific form of inter-organizational collaboration (IOC) is characterized as “horizontal” and has received limited attention in the literature. To this end, a systematic literature review and Q-methodology were conducted. The Q-methodology involves practitioners from various infrastructure organizations in the Netherlands gaining insights into their perspectives on IOC in interconnected infrastructure projects. The study identifies two perspectives: a “holistic, goal-oriented” perspective that recognizes various dimensions of IOC and a more “people-oriented” perspective that emphasizes the value of individual factors for IOC. The findings suggest that multiple perspectives on collaboration exist among practitioners, potentially affecting collaboration in interconnected infrastructure projects. Awareness of the need to manage practitioners’ perspectives, and addressing and discussing these differences, can stimulate inter-organizational collaboration and contribute to improved project performance. ... Read more

A close collaboration between infrastructure owners is crucial to address challenges in the design and execution of next-generation infrastructure projects for sustainable development. Managing and sharing data among parties involved in infrastructure projects, particularly the data required at the early stages of a project to design and develop an interconnected infrastructure project, appear to play a critical role in inter-organizational collaboration (IOC), but are often overlooked. In the present work, the status of collaboration and data sharing between infrastructure owners in inter-organizational infrastructure projects is studied to enhance our understanding of the relationship between collaboration and data sharing in horizontal IOCs. Explorative semi-structured interviews with practitioners were conducted at organizational and project levels in the infrastructure sectors in The Netherlands. The outcomes revealed that the theoretical benefits of IOC are not realized in practice and that managing and sharing data between infrastructure owners in inter-organizational projects (IOP) face many challenges. The findings suggest that collaboration and data sharing are interrelated in horizontal IOCs and are deemed crucial for the execution of IOPs. The findings of the present study demonstrate the importance of the bilateral relationship between effective collaboration and data sharing and provide an enhanced insight into horizontal forms of IOC and practices of next-generation infrastructure development. ... Read more

Societal challenges such as climate change and inefficiency of energysystems more and more crave for a sustainable environment. Research proved thatrestructuring energy systems into more sustainable forms, called “Energy Transition”, has faced challenges. How to deal with these challenges requires the cocreation between various actors with multiple disciplines, expertise, and perspectivesfrom different organizations. The research question to be answered here is whetherco-creation helps the interaction between different actors in an inter-organizationalproject for the sake of better project results. By doing case study research in theNetherlands, an example of co-creation project in its front-end phase was investigatedregarding the interaction among different actors involved in the project. The researchrevealed that in the case of a co-creation project the multiple actors collaborate acrossorganizational boundaries in order to unite. This leads to a better solution-findingapproach. Openness, trust and respect are valued more in co-creation. Moreover,the project team is better integrated to work towards a shared interest which aresocial benefits. The co-creation facilitated the data-sharing among the key actorsin the project which traditionally is influenced highly by the mother-organizations’culture. Further research will investigate the transition in organizations to supportthe co-creation approach. ... Read more