From Framework to Enterprise: Modelling the Future of Infrastructure Projects

The historical, transactional operating model for infrastructure has proved itself, time and again, to be inadequate. The way that projects have been awarded, organised and delivered is far removed from anything that could hope to deliver the productivity, value and quality demanded from modern infrastructure networks.

Highways England’s Delivery Integration Partnership (DIP) framework is an important step forward towards achieving greater value and performance from infrastructure investments. It provides a model that will drive quality and delivery improvements and help all partners to shape their organisation and ways of working to encourage more innovation and collaboration.

For Osborne, involvement in the DIP framework is helping us to accelerate a journey we were already on. Our goal is to achieve excellence in health and safety, programme delivery and customer experience (both for our customers and for those of asset owners and operators). We are pursuing these goals through more strategic and collaborative relationships with our customers, supply chain partners and other stakeholders.

The Enterprise Delivery Model Redefines Relationships

Implementing the enterprise model, with the key integrator role this calls for, is the foundation for transforming how projects are delivered. Being the project integrator is something Osborne is used to doing and this experience is proving invaluable as we seek to adopt the enterprise model from the outset of the DIP framework.

As an integrator, it’s our role to bring together investors, infrastructure owners, advisers and suppliers to improve outcomes, efficiency and productivity.

Towards Project 13

Osborne is fully committed to delivering the vision encapsulated by Project 13. This calls for long-term relationships between owners, investors, integrators, advisers and suppliers. All of these partners must be commercially incentivised to deliver better outcomes for users from infrastructure investment. This is all part of our cultural journey and feels entirely natural to us.

The DIP is an important step towards achieving the Project 13 vision. Both the DIP and Project 13 have the enterprise model at their core; one leads naturally to the other. By fully embracing the objectives of the DIP, organisations will accelerate the cultural maturity needed for Project 13 to become the standard for how all infrastructure improvements are delivered.

There is every reason to be optimistic that the industry is turning a corner, and that the goals of increased quality, productivity and safety are within reach.

You can find out more about our Highways Infrastructure projects here.