Digitisation is at the heart of social infrastructure procurement

Keeping pace with technological change can generate significant benefits for the project and procurement teams charged with delivering social infrastructure to communities and societies.

The judicious use of specialised tools and technologies supercharges efficiency, mitigates project risk and maximises the return communities receive on funds dedicated to the construction of schools, hospitals and other public facilities.

Conversely, procurement teams that fail to keep pace with technological change are likely to be exposing their processes and projects to unnecessary and avoidable risk on multiple fronts.

There’s growing acceptance that a shift needs to occur and for many teams it’s already begun: some 54% of global social infrastructure procurement professionals say their procurement processes are either fully (8%) or mostly (46%) automated.

These findings are contained in Procure’s Social Infrastructure Outlook 2025 Report , developed in partnership with Infralogic, which incorporates survey responses and insights from 150 infrastructure leaders from around the globe.

Unpacking the benefits of automation

Procuring a major social infrastructure project typically involves an extended series of prescribed processes and tasks, many of them labor intensive and repetitive.

This is where automation can have a vital impact. From simplifying the bid evaluation process to completing compliance checks, there’s no shortage of opportunities to eliminate manual processes and deploy human resources more effectively.

Templated workflows and instant data retrieval can enable teams to prioritise high value work over necessary but highly repetitive tasks which require little human oversight.

Hence, platforms that harness the power of AI to automate tasks such as document redaction, workflow management and data analysis are finding favor with procurement leaders. So are solutions that simplify the question-and-answer process and make it possible for sensitive, critical information to be disseminated and stored securely.

Deploying a secure, online data repository, for example, can make it easy to track and manage the vast volumes of data a major social infrastructure project typically generates. Using it as a single source of truth such as a centralised hub where all plans and paperwork related to the procurement process are captured and stored enables the procurement team to maintain accountability. It also creates a clear audit trail taxpayers are entitled to expect when large sums of public money are expended with external suppliers.

Banking time and cost savings

Adopting best of breed procurement technology can also accelerate the progress of projects – by months and even years in some instances – and save governments and local authorities serious sums in the process.

David Hurrell, Associate Director at Infrastructure NSWmakes a convincing case for change.

“Digital tools are transformative,” he says. “They streamline processes, reduce inefficiencies, and enhance transparency. AI, for instance, can analyse data, identify trends, and improve processes. It enables procurement teams to focus on strategic decision making rather than manual repetitive tasks. Tools like these are essential for making procurement more efficient and effective.”

Leaders and laggards in the automation sphere

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the level of automation adoption varies considerably across the globe. In the EMEA region, proponents of the practice are preaching to the choir: more than 80% of procurement professionals there say their processes are somewhere between half and fully automated, while 10% claim to have reached end-to-end automation status.

The latter figure is higher than in any other region, bar the Americas – and by a considerable margin. In Asia Pacific, by contrast, just 4% of teams say they’re fully automated, while 8% remain mired at the other end of the adoption curve, fully reliant on manual methodologies and processes.

Audrey Bailly, Business Development Director ANZ, Ansarada says it’s heartening to see procurement teams moving in the right direction, albeit slowly in some jurisdictions.

“Everyone has different processes and systems in place,” she says. “They’ve made big progress over the years in efforts to digitalise those processes with electronic tendering platforms and automated contract management systems but there’s still a long way to go.”

Looking ahead to a digital future

There’s a good chance we’ll see the pace of adoption increase dramatically in the next two to three years as procurement teams move away, en masse, from legacy practices and processes.

Forecasters and futurists believe this rush to the new is at the heart of what’s been dubbed the Exponential Age, which is an emerging period in which ultra-high speed technological transformation will be the order of the day.

What might that mean in practice for the social infrastructure sector? Almost two thirds of survey respondents expect big data and analytics to have a much greater impact on the way projects are delivered and managed over the next decade.

Meanwhile, cutting edge technologies will increasingly be incorporated into the physical assets which procurement teams are charged with delivering. Some 67% of transaction advisories pointed to the transformative potential of Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

Sensor arrays in IoT-enabled buildings can, for example, be used to optimise energy efficiency, detect emerging maintenance issues before they cause significant damage, and reduce water waste.

They can also contribute to a smarter, safer construction process and to the increased longevity of physical assets. IoT structural sensors can be deployed to monitor structures and advanced machine learning algorithms used to process the data they collect. This vital intelligence may be harnessed to schedule preventative maintenance and alert engineers to material fatigue before failures occur.

Marrying AI-powered automation and on-the-ground expertise

While technology can drive efficiency and accountability throughout the planning, procurement and project management processes, and contribute to the creation of smarter, longer lasting structures, ultimately, it’s human beings who will continue to determine the success, or otherwise, of social infrastructure initiatives.

Reassuring skilled professionals that they won’t bd automated out of their roles can help make the adoption process less fraught.

“Operationally, there’s some resistance due to concerns about job security,” David Hurrel, Associate Director, Infrastructure NSW notes. “Overcoming this requires demonstrating how these tools enhance outcomes, improve workflows, and support rather than replace team members.”