Electronics companies will be hoping to benefit from infrastructure investments announced by the UK government.
Chancellor George Osborne announced £5bn of spending on infrastructure projects such as roads, railways and broadband networks.
This included a £100m investment in broadband coverage in London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
The plans to invest in the UK’s broadband communications network were welcomed by engineering body, the IET.
“It’s a step in the right direction to catch-up with the capacity in other countries such as Korea, Singapore and Japan,” said Naomi Climer, IET v-p.
The government also announced an updated National Infrastructure Plan, which brings together more than 500 individual projects covering energy, transport, communications and water.
This is an important boost to the UK’s energy infrastructure, according to the IET.
“With an aging energy infrastructure and an urgent need to change the way we generate and use energy, the publication of the National Infrastructure Plan comes at a crucial time,” said John Scott of the IET Energy Policy Panel.
Scott welcomed the focus on interdependence of infrastructure systems, be warned that this had to be considered at the design stage to maximise the opportunities for smart infrastructure.
“Our future energy infrastructure has to be designed as a system of systems, requiring joined-up thinking across different sectors,” said Scott.
“Crucially, it needs a new engineering approach to address the uncertainties of the future, which will include a more statistical design and new skills across disciplines,” added Scott.
The IET, as part of the Engineering the Future alliance, contributed insight towards the development of the National Infrastructure Plan. This is referenced on page 93.
www.theiet.org