Across sectors and continents, the ability to deliver major projects on time, on budget, and with measurable public value is under threat. From aerospace and infrastructure to energy and climate programmes, the delivery crisis is no longer anecdotal – it’s systemic. This paper synthesises three powerful perspectives from Jared Isaacman’s ( @rookisaacman ), Alexander Budzier’s (University of Oxford ), and The Economist ’s critique of America’s fragmented construction industry.

We are entering a decisive chapter in how societies imagine, deliver, and govern critical infrastructure systems. One where the stakes are higher, the systems more complex, and the consequences of failure harder to absorb. And yet – too often – we still govern projects as if they were linear, siloed, and one-dimensional.

Surprisingly few projects are genuinely aligned to deliver their intended outcomes. It’s time for a new level of systems-thinking project governance.

We are entering a decisive chapter in how societies imagine, deliver, and govern critical infrastructure systems. One where the stakes are higher, the systems more complex, and the consequences of failure harder to absorb. And yet – too often – we still govern projects as if they were linear, siloed, and one-dimensional.

Surprisingly few projects are genuinely aligned to deliver their intended outcomes. It’s time for a new level of systems-thinking project governance.

Canada and the UK stand at the forefront of transforming infrastructure
performance – not by coincidence, but by design. Both nations have embedded
outcome-focused governance across national policy, institutional frameworks, and
delivery practice.

This paper discusses the Infrastructure for Good Barometer – developed by the Economist Impact – which ranked Canada first and the UK second globally for advancing infrastructure that delivers societal, environmental, and economic value.

As infrastructure delivery enters a new era of complexity, scrutiny, and social responsibility, the limitations of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting frameworks are becoming increasingly apparent.

While ESG successfully elevated the conversation around sustainability and ethical investment, its translation into governed outcomes remains inconsistent and often superficial.

This paper introduces Socio-Technical Outcome Assurance (OA) – a nextgeneration paradigm that advances ESG by embedding stakeholder requirements, lifecycle traceability, and asset system transparency into the DNA of infrastructure creation and operational excellence.

Most infrastructure failures don’t happen because people weren’t working hard – they happen because no one entity was leading with the outcome in mind.

It’s time for a new governance paradigm to deliver project outcomes in alignment with expectations at the outset.