The recent release of Infrastructure NSW’s Digitalisation and Data Policy provides a long-awaited nudge towards standardising the way we digitally plan, deliver, and manage state significant projects across their lifecycle.
With more than $118 billion of investment in the pipeline, the Policy recognises that productivity gains will not come from robust, yet disparate, organisational silos alone – but from how all government bodies across NSW capture, connect, and use the data generated on their projects to achieve best practice and value for money outcomes.
Among the 13 mandatory actions, those from Principle 2 stand out as the most trying, yet transformative for the state’s agencies:
- Action 2.1 Agencies shall develop, document, and maintain data and information requirements to enable infrastructure digitalisation outcomes.
- Action 2.2 Agencies shall establish an Infrastructure Common Data Model to inform the development and operation of an Agency Common Data Environment.
- Action 2.3 Agencies shall establish Data Standards to ensure a unified approach to information and data management across the infrastructure asset lifecycle and for all relevant disciplines.
Why are these important? Because without consistent, reliable data management processes, digital capabilities like Building Information Modelling (BIM), digital twins, and AI risk becoming isolated silos rather than project-wide enablers of smarter decision-making.
At WT, we’ve seen first-hand the power of structured, standardised data in unlocking value:
- Smarter procurement: Our work shows that when BIM requirements are clearly defined in tendering, agencies gain better cost visibility, reduce risk of overruns, and assemble teams capable of delivering on all data requirements.
- Risk management: Standardised asset and project data enables agencies to identify, track, and mitigate risks earlier, whether they relate to design, cost, safety or the programme, from construction through to operations.
- Facilities management and lifecycle value: When accurate, consistent data flows from design into operations, owners gain the insight to move from reactive to predictive maintenance, extending the life of their assets, reducing operational costs, and achieving sustainability targets.
Data standards also create a “common language” across project delivery disciplines – cost, scheduling, geospatial capture, carbon, and maintenance. This ensures that whether you’re an engineer, a quantity surveyor, or an asset manager, the data you generate can be leveraged by others and you’re all working from the same, trusted information set every time.
Of course, setting standards is only part of the challenge. Agencies will need to embed requirements into contracts, enforce them through governance, guide stakeholders through sector-specific nuances, and align with international best practice (such as ISO 19650). This upfront investment in capability, consistency and standardisation will generate direct returns in the form of improved efficiency, trusted programs, and stronger outcomes for the community.
The Policy is clear: project data must be treated as an asset in its own right. Principle 2 (and the wider Policy) provides the framework to achieve this, but success will require sustained collaboration between government, industry, and advisors.
At WT, we welcome this Policy and look forward to supporting our clients over the next 18 months with establishing the standards, processes, and insights needed to turn their data into lasting infrastructure value.
