18 Jan Digitalization leads to innovative infrastructure
Austria is at the forefront of transportion and construction infrastructure development
Austria is a European leader in infrastructure investment. “We intend to invest €13.9 billion into the development of the railway, for example, and we have €1 billion reserved to decarbonize local transport,” says Norbert Hofer, Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology. In addition, the agency responsible for the main road network, ASFINAG, is working on various construction projects, says CEO Klaus Schierhackl. All these investments are utilizing innovation for a transforming world. “Things are changing really quickly,” says Hofer; “This particularly holds true for autonomous driving, drones, the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain.”
Austrian companies are at the forefront of some of these changes. “We are at the edge of technology, at the edge of solutions and are very strong in the market segments we serve,” says Georg Kapsch, CEO of Kapsch, one of Austria’s most successful technology groups with about 100 subsidiaries and offices around the world; “Anyone who knows about road-tolling and connected-road technologies knows Kapsch because we are driving the market. The same applies to railway communication systems and, in some countries, information technology and IoT solutions.” Kapsch believes that the development of autonomous cars is a big growth opportunity for his group: “We provide infrastructure as well as in-car devices, and platforms to manage and optimize traffic flow, safety and security. Kapsch has always been an active disruptor—we are well prepared for a future of smart transportation.”
Another Austrian business, Wienerberger, is shaping the future of smart construction. The innovative building materials company is active in over 30 countries and is the world’s largest producer of bricks, as well as being a leader in piping and paving materials, among other things. “More than 25 percent of our turnover comes from innovative products,” says CEO Heimo Scheuch and Wienerberger is also an enthusiastic adopter of digitalization, from customer-centric databases, to automated factories and logistics systems. Now it is moving to the next stage, he says: “When a house is built, it’s not only built with our bricks but also with our pipes for water and electricity. You can use our data on these different materials to run the house very efficiently. He speaks for many in Austria when he adds, “Future development and sustainability play a very important role for us.”