Mr Roskam spoke to the industry recently at Trenchless Australasia 2009, providing a framework to promote the use of innovative Trenchless Technology to government and public policy makers.

Mr Roskam put into a political, economic and policy context what the industry is doing and will be doing in the future, as well as explaining his perspective on some of the key economic drivers affecting the industry.

One of the key issues put forward by Mr Roskam was that the many and varied areas of the industry would benefit if united under the ‘buzz word’ – infrastructure. “You are all in the infrastructure. You’re not in the trenchless industry, you’re not in the hole industry, you’re not in sewerage, water or telecommunications. You’re in infrastructure.”

The challenge, identified by Mr Roskam, is to connect the debate about urban renewal and improvement to the installation, renovation and maintenance upgrade of underground infrastructure, as this essential work is often taken for granted and loses in the competition for government dollars and policy recognition.

Article continues below…

The ASTT is excited by Mr Roskam’s challenge to lobby government on behalf of the trenchless industry, especially in light of the roll-out of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Australia and a similar program in New Zealand, as well as the many opportunities for expansion and upgrade of water and wastewater networks.

Trenchless, infrastructure and the 3Ps

In order to promote the use and advantages of Trenchless Technology to government and other decision makers Mr Roskam says the industry must “locate yourself and your company and your industry into the 3Ps of productivity, population and participation”.

The IPA has experience with the other industries, such as road and rail, which have very successfully located themselves within the economic framework of: building another road will create X number of jobs, which will create X number of millions of dollars worth of exports leading to strong economic infrastructure.

Mr Roskam says “What strikes me is that utilities have regarded themselves as a technical, technological, engineering problem. And to some extent that is a product of the very high level of sophistication, R&D and technical knowledge. But on the other hand it means you often cut yourself out of public debate and cut yourself out of the attention of policy makers.” Building a nation

The big debate in Australia at the moment concerns the building of Australia through infrastructure projects such as the NBN and road, rail and other infrastructure projects. “From my perspective,” says Mr Roskam “nation building is not just about building new things, but about maintaining what we already have.

“But as we know, maintaining what we already have, renovating and renewing, is not as sexy as building something brand new.”

When dealing with urban infrastructure and utilities the challenge is – how do you continue to make it relevant to the policy makers and provide the photo opportunity? The solution is to frame the trenchless solution as an economic argument, “nothing succeeds more than a big, fat report with a glossy cover, with lots of numbers saying your industry will contribute X, Y and Z if they build something this way with X, Y, Z economic result,” says Mr Roskam.

The successful implementation of the above strategies could lead to the industry becoming a focus of public policy in the rehabilitation, renovation and maintenance of urban infrastructure. Raising the profile of the innovative technology available would also lead to the general public beginning to ask for the trenchless option to protect the local environment, business, traffic flow and neighbourhoods from the negative aspects of open trenching.