Infrastructure - time to think smart

Predictably, last week's Institute of Welsh Affairs conference on infrastructure started off with the big stuff - the M4 relief road, the South Wales Metro, Wylfa B and, of course, the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.

There was a palpable frustration at the start of the day at the slow speed of progress on each of these projects. For some in the room, hopes appeared to be pinned on the soon-to-be-established National Infrastructure Commission for Wales, which might knock heads together and get things moving.

We could easily have spent the day agonising over and finger-pointing as to why the big projects have yet to get off the ground. Thank goodness, we didn't.

Instead, by the afternoon, at Building The Future: The Changing Landscape, there was a much more positive focus on smaller scale, localised interventions and initiatives that could truly transform communities in every part of Wales.

This came about when the conversation switched to putting sustainability into practice and, in particular, the challenges around raising the energy efficiency of our housing stock.

What got the room excited was the recognition that here's an infrastructure challenge that so evidently chimes with the goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act - tackling poverty, climate change and health inequality all at once. Just look at what the research carried out by the Welsh Government into Warm Homes Nest shows about the positive impact on health from improving energy efficiency in Welsh homes:

The research found GP events for respiratory illness fell by almost 4% for those who had benefited from Nest improvements, while these rose by almost 10% in the control group over the same period. A similar pattern was found in relation to asthma events, with a 6.5% decrease in the recipient group and a 12.5% increase in the control group for the same period. 

Fortunately, we don't need to wait for any further action from ministers in Whitehall or Cardiff Bay to get going on this agenda. We're getting on with this already in Wales. Rightly, there was plenty of excitement among those at the conference about the homes to be built in Neath next year by Pobl, using technology developed in Swansea.

Of course, it doesn't just stop with houses. The energy revolution which is being triggered by better data and new technology, including sensors and storage, has huge potential for all buildings. Which is why Centrica will be at Smart Energy Wales this week to showcase what we're doing on distributed energy, with a focus on business.

Already delivering across the public estate and boosting private sector productivity, there's a snapshot of what this can look like in this infographic:

If you look at what the National Infrastructure Commission has already been doing in England , you'll see the importance it is attaching to these new technologies and the role they can play.

Given the enthusiasm for the new world of smart at last week's conference and the interest in this week's event, a National Infrastructure Commission for Wales getting us to think smarter still can only be a good thing.