In 2024, we turned over the pen — or, rather, the keyboard — to Bentley Systems executives and other insightful voices to tell us about the future of infrastructure engineering. They discussed how AI will change the sector, why we need resilient infrastructure to adapt to climate change, and other pressing topics.
Here are five of our favorite discussions:
“The future of infrastructure engineering is open,” said Bentley Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Cumins during his keynote at the 2024 Year in Infrastructure conference.Bentley Systems is all-in on keeping data flowing freely in infrastructure. Nicholas Cumins has been championing this “openness” since he became CEO of Bentley, the leading infrastructure engineering software company. “A road, a bridge or a dam might be in operation for 50 years or more, undergoing repairs, upgrades and expansions,” Cumins writes. “By ensuring that our systems remain open, we allow organizations to adopt new technologies and innovations while still being able to access and build on historical data.”
Cumins, who was named CEO last summer, notes that openness is not just about connecting different software: “It is about structuring and organizing data so that it can be queried, analyzed and reused across multiple platforms.” For example, many infrastructure assets generate gigabytes of data every day. But only a small fraction—10% or less—is ever analyzed.
And despite the urgent need for resilient infrastructure, Cumins says there aren’t enough engineers to meet the demand. “Backlogs are growing, and projects are stacking up.” Open data can help engineers by enabling collaboration and AI, and unblocking bottlenecks.
Bentley continues to expand the boundaries of openness through its partnership with Google. The collaboration brings together Google’s unmatched geospatial data and Bentley’s industry-leading infrastructure engineering software to create an open ecosystem that allows organizations to access the tools, data and insights they need, whenever they need them.
A wind turbine showing generation output and additional weather and performance statistics.Speaking of openness, Bentley acquired 3D geospatial company Cesium in September, bringing together leading open platforms and developer communities for the built and natural environment. The partnership supports the notion that openness is key to fostering innovation in a data-centric, cloud-based environment.
“This deal is about more than just capabilities,” writes Julien Moute, Bentley’s chief technology officer. “It’s about Bentley’s long-standing commitment to an open ecosystem and our long-term vision for serving the needs of infrastructure professionals.”
The Bridge of Lions is a double-leaf bascule bridge that spans the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Augustine, Florida.Bentley executives joined U.S. congressional members and other policy and industry experts in Washington, D.C., last year for a strategic summit hosted by Microsoft called Navigating the Future of AI and Transportation.
“We believe AI is the defining technology of our time, and it’s fundamental to figure out how best to harness the power of AI and work with government and stakeholders to figure out the right governance regime for AI,” said Gerry Petrella, general manager for U.S. public policy at Microsoft.
From optimizing road safety to reducing traffic congestion, AI is being applied to real-world transportation infrastructure challenges like intersection safety, bridge maintenance and smoother traffic flow. David Lieberman, senior director for U.S. government relations at Bentley, shared how digital twins are making cities more efficient and reducing costs.
Aerial view of Asheville with widespread flooding and submerged buildings.Writer Jay Moye has lived in Asheville, North Carolina, for nearly 20 years. In September, Hurricane Helene ripped through the mountain town with catastrophic rain and wind. We invited Moye, a regular contributor to Bentley’s blog, to reflect on how his experience in the aftermath of the storm shaped his perspective on the need for reliable infrastructure.
“I write often in these pages about the future of infrastructure. But Helene taught me what it means to live without it,” he writes. “I learned first-hand why we need resilient roads, bridges, water networks, power grids and other critical systems to handle what Mother Nature throws at us.”
Digital twin: St. Peter’s Basilica interior rendering.Infrastructure digital twins have many applications, including in Vatican City. Saint Peter’s Basilica is one of the world’s most important architectural and religious structures. Its digital twin was constructed from more than three terabytes of survey-collected data that captures the 500-year-old structure with millimeter precision. The 3D model will provide valuable information about the 23,000-square-meter cathedral’s structural health and ultimately include IoT sensor data for ongoing monitoring.
Italferr, the Italian engineering firm that created the Basilica’s digital twin, set the high bar for monitoring the world’s most precious cultural, historical and religious sites. “It’s a model of how cutting-edge innovation, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, has great value today and moving forward in a sacred building that’s more than half a millennium old,” writes Aude Camus, Bentley’s senior product marketing manager of iTwin Capture.
This year, the Vatican will host the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. An estimated 35 million people are expected to flock to the Eternal City for the event, according to the Catholic News Agency, which describes a jubilee as “a special holy year of grace and pilgrimage in the Catholic Church.” Catholics who cannot make the pilgrimage may be able to visit Saint Peter’s Basilica thanks to the digital twin, which offers the closest experience to being there.
