Explores how power systems must adapt to rapid electrification, AI-driven demand and industrial growth while remaining affordable, reliable and decarbonised.
Discussion focus: grid expansion and interconnection bottlenecks • storage and flexibility • clean firm power • utilities, regulation and market reform • industrial and digital demand

Positions water infrastructure as a strategic platform for economic development and resilience, while bringing universal access, public health and emerging-economy needs more explicitly into the conversation.
Discussion focus: water scarcity and climate variability • universal access and sanitation • industrial and urban water demand • reuse and efficiency • governance and investment

Focuses on the practical barriers that prevent resilient infrastructure from scaling and the mechanisms that can turn resilience needs into bankable, implementable projects.
Discussion focus: financing and blended finance • risk allocation and insurance • procurement and regulation • climate data and analytics • institutional capacity

Looks beyond today's compliance and risk-management approaches to the technologies, materials, digital solutions and business models that could make resilience a mature innovation ecosystem by 2035.
Discussion focus: advanced materials • digital and climate solutions • new delivery models • innovation ecosystems • who captures value in a mature resilience market

Can the need to protect critical infrastructure be turned into a competitive advantage in the context of technological sovereignty and in the age of artificial intelligence?
With this question in mind, the session will explore how data centre, telecommunications, energy and other essential service operators can pursue a dual strategy: not only working towards socially beneficial frontier AI models or incorporating AI into their own processes, but also contributing to secure industrial innovation through joint investment in open models and distributed systems.
The discussion will examine the practical requirements for realising these ambitions, considering issues such as globally interconnected value chains, the full AI stack, open-weight models, the differing needs of modelling, inference and agentic AI, and the current state of regulation.
In addition, in the context of the proposed revision of the EU Cybersecurity Act, the session will examine the different European and Chinese approaches to securing critical infrastructure supply chains, and how these translate into different rules and accountability mechanisms. The challenge, especially for Europe, is to achieve a sufficient level of technological sovereignty to translate it into operational capabilities, new capacity for innovation and a viable business model, while maintaining sufficient confidence in the management of infrastructure, even in times of crisis.
Discussion focus: cyber resilience of critical infrastructure • technological sovereignty • open-weight models and risks • industrial partnerships and market opportunities • trusted suppliers and the regulatory approaches of the EU and China • distributed innovation

Shifts the measure of infrastructure success from what is built to the economic activity it unlocks. The session examines jobs, local supply chains, tourism, regeneration and housing as channels through which infrastructure can create lasting local value rather than a temporary construction-spending effect.
Discussion focus: local economic development • job creation • tourism • local content and SMEs • housing and labour mobility • procurement choices • measuring long-term local value

What does it mean to build a meaningful career in engineering at a time when technology, climate change and societal expectations are transforming the infrastructure sector?
Bringing together four engineers with distinct professional journeys, this conversation explores the many ways a new generation is redefining the profession and its impact on society.
From pioneering AI-powered infrastructure monitoring and developing smarter, more sustainable construction technologies to championing environmental responsibility and advancing leadership in the water sector, the speakers illustrate how engineering can open doors to entrepreneurship, innovation, advocacy and institutional leadership.

Through their personal experiences, successes and challenges, the discussion will examine the skills, ambitions and choices shaping the next generation of infrastructure professionals, inspiring young engineers to explore new career pathways and take an active role in building a more sustainable, resilient and technologically advanced future.

Treats passenger mobility and urban logistics as one connected transition. Electrification, platform coordination and new vehicle categories are changing both people and goods movement; the session asks how cities should absorb, regulate, finance and connect these shifts rather than examining each technology or company in isolation.
Discussion focus: last-mile logistics • fleet electrification • ride-hailing and delivery platforms • advanced air mobility • public transport • regional connectivity • public/private risk sharing

Treats passenger mobility and urban logistics as one connected transition. Electrification, platform coordination and new vehicle categories are changing both people and goods movement; the session asks how cities should absorb, regulate, finance and connect these shifts rather than examining each technology or company in isolation.
Discussion focus: last-mile logistics • fleet electrification • ride-hailing and delivery platforms • advanced air mobility • public transport • regional connectivity • public/private risk sharing

Explores how generative AI, robotics, digital twins, advanced sensing and data-driven engineering are already changing infrastructure design, construction and operations, and what may become possible next. The discussion will Focus on supporting the new collaborative delivery models required by advance technologies resulting in improvements in productivity, safety, circularity and decarbonisation, while also considering workforce impacts, skills, trust, regulation, data ownership and accountability.
Discussion focus: generative AI • robotics and automation • digital twins • advanced sensing • computational design • productivity and safety • circularity and resource efficiency • future skills and professional roles

Addresses the persistent gap between infrastructure needs and investable projects, focusing on how to mobilise capital at scale and remove financial, legal and institutional barriers.
Discussion focus: capital mobilisation • project preparation • regulatory and legal constraints • public-private collaboration • risk-adjusted returns

Fireside Chat | Prof. Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli & Prof. Gioele Zardini

A conversation across generations on how technological breakthroughs reshape entire industries, what made the semiconductor revolution possible, and what lessons it offers as AI brings infrastructure and engineering to another transformative moment.

Focuses on what is required to make infrastructure in emerging markets and developing economies genuinely bankable and attractive to long-term capital.
Discussion focus: DFIs, MDBs and ECAs • project preparation • risk perception versus actual risk • local institutional investors • blended finance

Looks at the delivery structures that can make major infrastructure programmes more investable and executable, including progressive delivery, PPPs and improved risk allocation.
Discussion focus: PPP structures • progressive delivery • procurement • enterprise development and origination • risk allocation

Examines how the definition of infrastructure as an asset class is changing as digital, energy-transition and new-economy assets enter portfolios and investors take a more active role in operational transformation.
Discussion focus: new infrastructure sectors • portfolio transformation • regulation • debt and equity markets • risk-return expectations