The Covid-19 pandemic and the acceleration of China’s digital infrastructure push have heightened the necessity of developing a comprehensive U.S. infrastructure strategy. The U.S. has taken several important steps toward fashioning its own positive vision for global infrastructure, but critical work remains.
The Blue Dot Network (BDN)—an effort by the United States, Japan, and Australia to promote high-quality global infrastructure—holds promise and should be encouraged, but many unanswered questions about its implementation will need to be addressed for the initiative to achieve its desired impact.
It is critical that public-sector officials responsible for infrastructure development—both at the local and national levels—commit to transparent practices to secure sustainable financing mechanisms.
Over the next 15 years, more hard infrastructure is projected to be built around the world than currently exists. As our infrastructure is transformed, so will be the economies it fuels, the regions it connects, and the global commons it underpins. These trends are too powerful and potentially beneficial for the United States to stop, and too consequential to ignore.
As developing countries continue to experience population growth, rapid urbanization, and economic and industrial expansion, the need for effective and high-value infrastructure will remain acute.