Infrastructure investing has gone from the back to the front burner in the past year, with the rise of multibillion-dollar mega-funds and a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan offered by the Trump administration. One of the planks of that plan is a streamlining process that aims to cut project approvals by six to eight years, a goal that has been long sought by infrastructure practitioners.

According to CG-LA Infrastructure’s Global Strategic 100 Infrastructure Projects report, the lack of productivity in the creation of projects is one of the most, if not the most, significant impediments to global infrastructure project creation.

“There is plenty of money, but where are the projects?” CG-LA asks in its report. “There are a number of key weaknesses here: the time it takes to generate permits and approvals; the general weakness and lack of funding in public sectors around the world; and the lack of funds available for bankable, first-class feasibility studies.”

Should the Trump administration’s effort to streamline the approval process for projects be made law, that would solve a lot of the problem in the United States, which is part of the top project market — North America — in CG-LA’s Global Strategic 100 report.

To create its project list, CG-LA sends a survey to its database of industry participants, solicits project nominations for consideration, and then follows up with outreach and discussion with groups of project and business development executives. The firm couples these activities with a review of publicly available information to determine the top 100 projects. These projects also are relatively large, regional and some global, projects that are significant and are expected to move forward into development during the next 18 months.

Streamlining the approval and permitting process in the United States is not the only prospect for increasing the volume and pace of project development, however; technology innovations also are expected to drive efficiencies that will help investors’ return on investment. CG-LA notes the pace of technology development and adoption is increasing rapidly, especially in the four areas highlighted below:

• Driverless vehicles: Estimates suggest that shipments will increase from 64,000 in 2018 to nearly 600,000 in 2025.
• Drones: The largest share of the nearly $150 billion per year drone business comes from capital projects and infrastructure, at more than $50 billion.
• 3D printing: Growing at 25 percent per year, the market will be worth more than $50 billion by 2025.
• Augmented reality: Arguably the most transformative new technology, AR puts control in the hands of users.

A lot of focus has been put on infrastructure investing during the past year, and if the market and policymakers can agree on a plan that makes it easier to develop, build and invest in infrastructure, particularly in the United States, we could see the renaissance that many have been anticipating for at least the past decade.

Drew Campbell is senior editor of Institutional Investing in Infrastructure.