Public Infrastructure Investment and Asset Governance
Digital tools for smarter public investment and asset management.
Supported By:
WHY
Why PIM-PAM?
Digitalization can transform public infrastructure investment and asset management by enabling smarter investment decisions and leveraging relevant, real-time data collection to enhance services and improve fiscal sustainability associated with infrastructure, property, and land owned and operated by national and sub-national governments, as well as State-Owned Enterprises.
With digital technology tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Earth Observation (EO) satellite data, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, and various types of Artificial Intelligence (AI) analytics, governments can optimize asset lifecycles, reduce costs, and enhance service delivery. Enhanced transparency and data-driven strategic planning and investments also foster accountability and resilience, especially crucial for land, property, and infrastructure exposed to climate, environmental, and urban development pressures.
WHAT
Digital tools for smarter public investment and asset management
The use of digital technologies is both a catalyst and a litmus test for effective public infrastructure and asset management. Tools such as big data analytics, visualizations, and AI not only enhance planning, monitoring, and maintenance but also demonstrate a government’s commitment to evidence-based decision-making and long-term value creation. Where such tools are adopted, they signal an institutional will to modernize, enhance transparency, and maximize the performance of public investment flows and asset stocks, turning technology from a technical upgrade into a governance benchmark.
To better assist client countries, the World Bank is working to show how end-user-friendly online tools can rapidly enhance insights for smarter public investment and asset management across client countries. These tools are designed to promote a learning-by-doing journey from awareness to application and adoption across public sectors.
8 Must-Have Dimensions for Project Delivery
Guidance
Broad strategic guidance to guide sector-level decision makers and preliminary screening to ensure that project concepts meet minimum criteria of consistency with the government’s strategic objectives.
Appraisal
A regulated set of project preparation steps: prefeasibility and feasibility studies, including preliminary design; environmental and social impact assessments that must be completed before a project can be approved for funding.
Independent Review
Review by the finance ministry, a planning ministry, or an independent agency to counter optimism bias—overestimation of demand and underestimation of costs.
Selection
Final decision on project selection and budgeting using a well-managed budget process.
Implementation
Scrutiny for implementation realism, including organizational arrangements, procurement planning, and a timetable; adequate monitoring systems and systems for managing total project costs.
Adjustment
Flexibility to allow changes in the disbursement profile—including discontinuation of nonperforming projects.
Operation
Processes to ensure that a new facility is ready for operation and that the intended services can be delivered on a sustainable basis.
Evaluation
A systematic review of all projects upon completion to assess whether a project was delivered as specified, on time, and according to budget.
HOW
The PIM-PAM demonstration resources are presented across three main areas:
Generative AI
The application of generative AI to interactively distill insights key insights for public investment and asset management from curated large text references sources, including all World Bank project documents and climate action strategies across the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region.
Beyond offering immediate benefits to end-users, the resources aim to demonstrate what is currently possible with open-source digital technologies and data.
They foster a proactive institutional will in areas like public infrastructure investment and asset governance, which are crucial for achieving better development results across various countries. The tools are also designed to prevent costly and poorly informed public sector investments in decision-support IT systems and data. They do this primarily by showing how existing data can already generate valuable insights and by providing a clearer understanding of where gaps can be most effectively addressed.
Vienna Development Knowledge Center (VDKC)
The Bank’s Global PIIAG Community of Practice, in close collaboration with the Vienna Development Knowledge Center (VCDK), Public Finances and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for Greening Development, hosted by the Austrian School of Government (ASG), will continue to strive by combining targeted knowledge management and learning by doing measures with these digital tool resources.
The ultimate metric of success for any of these tools and methods will be the extent to which they can realize measurable progress in terms of awareness, application, and adoption among PIIAG practitioners. This success will depend on increasing active use of these tools and their ongoing improvement. In this process, the initiative will continue to seek applicable contributions by Technology.