There is no shortage of global demand for infrastructure; what is missing is the digital capability to turn that ambition into real-world value, writes Parth Tikiwala, head of public sector strategy, build & construct division at Nemetschek Group
Governments are not short of ambition when it comes to infrastructure. The United States is executing $1.2 trillion in federal authorisation through the IIJA and CHIPS Act. Germany has committed €500bn through its new Special Infrastructure Fund. India’s National Infrastructure Pipeline targets $1.4tn in delivery by 2030. The capital is committed. The programs are in motion.
What is not yet in place – in any of these markets – is the digital continuity required to turn that investment into delivered public value. McKinsey’s research on large infrastructure programmes puts the average cost overrun at 80% and the average schedule delay at 20 months. The World Bank traces the majority of that waste to a single, consistent cause: fragmentation of digital information across the project lifecycle. Planning does not connect to design.
Design does not hand off cleanly to construction. Construction data rarely reaches operations. Governments absorb the cost of that disconnection at every phase transition and have been doing so for decades.
Governments have solved the funding problem. They have not solved the delivery problem. Every major infrastructure economy is sitting on the same digital deficit of fragmented systems, broken handoffs and preventable loss. Software solutions like the Nemetschek portfolio are addressing those challenges.
Three markets setting the global template
The US, Germany and India are not simply the largest infrastructure investment markets of this cycle. They are writing the rules that every other market will follow.
In the United States, IIJA execution flows through 50 states and thousands of contractor relationships that demand coordination and audit integrity at a scale no siloed digital system can sustain.
In Germany, federal and Länder programmes are actively codifying digital delivery standards – DIN, VDI, ISO 19650 – into procurement tender language right now.
In India, the National Infrastructure Pipeline is coordinating multi-ministry, multi-state execution at a speed and scale that demands open, modular digital systems with no precedent in the market.
The procurement frameworks established in these three markets in 2026 will be referenced by procurement authorities across Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America for the decade ahead. The OECD identifies digital delivery governance as one of the top three infrastructure policy priorities across member states through 2030.
What the evidence shows
The research on integrated digital delivery is unambiguous:
- 25–30% faster delivery on infrastructure programmes using integrated BIM-to-operations workflows versus siloed approaches. (European BIM Task Group/EU Commission).
- 35–40% reduction in rework costs on projects using automated model checking and coordinated digital review. (Dodge Data & Analytics).
- 7–10 year platform entrenchment – the digital standards set at programme initiation govern delivery for a decade (Gartner).
These outcomes are not achieved by replacing existing systems. They are achieved by connecting them — maintaining open interoperability, preserving contractor choice, and ensuring data generated at every phase remains usable at every subsequent phase.
“Design does not hand off cleanly to construction. Construction data rarely reaches operations. Governments absorb the cost of that disconnection at every phase transition and have been doing so for decades.”
The Nemetschek difference: Open, not monolithic
The most common failure mode in public sector digital transformation is attempting to solve a connectivity problem with a monopoly solution. Nemetschek’s approach is the opposite.
Across ALLPLAN Civil, NEVARIS, Bluebeam, Solibri, dTwin and SiteDocs, Nemetschek covers the full AECO lifecycle from parametric design and cost control through compliance validation, field collaboration and long-term asset operations. Each brand is best-in-class in its phase. Together, they form a connected platform that no single competitor can match in depth or breadth.
Why 2026 is the decision point
Gartner’s research on government platform adoption confirms what practitioners already know: the digital delivery standards set at programme initiation become entrenched for 7–10 years. The procurement frameworks being written in federal ministries and state agencies across the US, Germany and India right now will govern infrastructure digitalisation through the mid-2030s.
The infrastructure being built today is what the next generation inherits. The digital systems governing its delivery will determine whether that inheritance is one of cost overruns and eroded public trust or of accountability and performance.
*Please note, this is a commercial profile.
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