An Enabling Environment for Asset Management through Public Policy: The Benefits of Standardization and Application to the Water Sector

Rita Salgado Brito,Tiffany Batac,Kerry Brown,Iain Cranston,Tetsuya Mizutani

doi:10.3390/w13243524

Rita Salgado Brito, Tiffany Batac + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243524

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Abstract

Water services—including urban water supply, wastewater, and stormwater services—are essential to society and critical for protecting human health and the well-being of communities. Goal 6 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognizes this importance and aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Despite progress, the UN reports billions of people still lack water and sanitation services. Many governments around the world face the challenge of balancing between investment in new assets, programs, and services and providing the required funding for repair and replacement of existing water assets. This paper argues infrastructure asset management establishes a foundational framework for the system of operations, management, and importantly, governance of assets to deliver services. An enabling environment for asset management, in addition to supporting the delivery of services, also contributes to meeting public policy objectives. The research question is: How can governments utilize public policy to enable asset management and consequently achieve societal objectives. A variety of public policy instruments used to enable infrastructure asset management and support achievement of government goals and objectives, such as the UN SDGs, are outlined and analyzed. The methodology involved a survey and case studies drawn from three countries, focused on the water sector. It also presents outcomes, common elements, and the need for and benefits of standardization.

Highlights

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are often the reference framework for many countries to foster development and sustainability
The aim of this paper is to understand the links between public policy involving assets that are intended to support the delivery of public services and asset management and to better understand the need for a guidance standard on the topic
Given that infrastructure asset management establishes a foundational framework for operations and management of services, such as water services, it is important that governments promote an enabling environment for asset management through enacting appropriate public policy instruments

Summary

Introduction

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are often the reference framework for many countries to foster development and sustainability. Goals that are dependent on the successful management and performance of infrastructure assets such as Goal 6, Clean Water and Sanitation, can benefit from good asset management practices [1]. As defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), is the “coordinated activity of an organization to realize value from assets” [2]. The benefits of asset management include improved financial performance, informed decisionmaking, managed risk, and improved services and sustainability, among others [1,3]. The sustained implementation of asset management, goes beyond the usage of a management system approach; it is driven by the development, application, and coordination of public policy instruments that act as enablers for asset management, at a national and local level

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