As the EV Future barrels into the passenger vehicle market, it is transforming the global battery industry toward large scale, commercial manufacturing operations that are supported by emerging regionalized supply chains. Global sales of 6.6 million Electric Vehicles in 2021 consumed over 280 GWh of Lithium-Ion Battery Cells valued at almost 30 B USD. This is double the EV Battery market of 2020. In this episode we consider the transition to EV from the perspective of multiple stakeholders: Car manufacturers Utility providers Battery manufactures (and the supply chain) Government Consumers (w ..read more

Areas of discussion Market capacity Fuel pricing Labour shortages Ongoing market restrictions Importance of confidence Impact of low economic growth Resilience of the low cost carriers Resources https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6652962252913729536 ..read more

The Endeavour Programme has developed an artificial intelligence technology that can be applied to improve the performance of major projects. Key takeaways: Throughout history, the construction industry has rapidly adopted ‘mechanical’ technology, but the management and design of projects is still dominated by humans using programmes such as excel, primavera and autocade An AI machine is like a mechanical mind. It uses billions of data points to predict the probable time and cost outcome of a project in ways that humans simply cannot do By gaining a greater understanding of this probable outc ..read more

Clare is an award-winning environmental expert and sustainability strategist. Key takeaways Although widely used, sustainability is a jargonistic word which is not immediately self-explanatory.  ‘Wellbeing’ (social, indigenous, economic and environmental) is a term people can more closely relate to, measure and understand If the key project evaluation tools are economic (GDP contribution/IRR), the infrastructure delivered will prioritise these requirements (at the expense of broader long-term wellbeing) Government is responsible for setting the strategic wellbeing framework for large sca ..read more

Key takeaways: A Portfolio is the totality of an Organisation’s investment required to achieve its strategic objectives. An Organisation can have one or multiple Portfolio’s depending on its business model. A Program is a temporary organisation structure created to coordinate, direct and oversee the implementation of a number of related Projects. Program’s deliver outcomes and benefits related to and aligned with an Organisation’s strategic objectives. A Project is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business outputs according to a specified business case. Projects can be stand ..read more

Richard is the Global Head of Infrastructure at KPMG where he leads a team of nearly 3,000 people.  Richard is an authority within the infrastructure industry. Key takeaways: Infrastructure drives quality of life – society functions on the strength of its infrastructure Covid, and the rising societal awareness of climate change, is releasing the ability of Governments to be more radical than ever before Governments and the industry are facing three key challenges: How to prioritise investment How to leverage technology to improve delivery How to increase the long-term skills and resilie ..read more

Following the publication of “Know your options” Frank joined us to discuss what level of private sector participation a government can and should have in delivering long-term infrastructure projects. Key takeaways Although ‘Traditional’ models are compared to PPP, all models involve some level of private sector participation. This begs the question: What is the right level of participation for a specific project? To find the ‘optimal’ approach, Government must first agree and rank its objectives for a project. Common objectives often include the desire to transfer risk but deliver at the low ..read more

Following his excellent article ‘A 10 Point Public-Private Partnership Plan for National Economic Recovery in the USA’ (link in comments) David joined us to discuss the state of the infrastructure in the USA and how the acceleration of PPP programs can provide a solution. Key takeaways: For decades, investment into new build infrastructure, or maintenance of existing infrastructure, has been deferred. This policy has created a modern-day infrastructure crisis in the US The level of investment now required is substantial, even within the context of the US economy Unless projects cross state bo ..read more

In this episode, we are joined by the team from Conexig to take an in-depth look at the infrastructure market in Latin America.   Key takeaways Covid has significantly impacted economies across the region – with GDP expected to fall by 10% in 2020  Across the region basic infrastructure is not fully developed. Although this creates a strong pipeline of opportunity, there are several sizable barriers preventing infrastructure delivery Politics dominates the infrastructure market with major international projects (such as Mexico International Airport which was in construction) being c ..read more

This is the podcast version of our recent videocast https://youtu.be/EDnCJWurQIs Key conclusions We do not know where the bottom of the market is. However, we have seen upward curves in the US (Domestic) market, Europe (pre-lockdown), Mexico, Russia, and China.  Private aviation is also performing strongly Consistency of Government policy in relation to travel bans, quarantine & pre-departure testing, and the economic recovery are all key to restarting the industry 2021 will be a turbulent year but we can expect to see: More airline failures Further staff reductions if conditions d ..read more