5 Infrastructure Trends to Prepare for in 2013

Between smart meters, hurricanes, the looming threat of a cyberattack, and organizations flocking to the cloud, the technological infrastructure of the nation is changing. Technology consulting firm Microdesk made five predictions that architecture, engineering and construction firms should plan for in 2013 to position U.S. infrastructure for a more sustainable future.

1. Floods and hurricanes knocked out power and debilitated mass transit for weeks in 2012, but tools like visualization and collaborative design can strengthen the nation's infrastructure. Organizations should be proactive in addressing these issues.
2. Organizations should adopt modern standards and use building information modeling (BIM) to break the trend of traditional siloed design and maximize building process efficiencies.
3. Big data and analytics software will help designers and contractors make good decisions quickly, the firm stated. Purpose-built applications using real time data will find their way into the industry in 2013, bringing greater intelligence to the design process.
4. Mobile devices will become ubiquitous in the design, construction and management of infrastructure, the firm predicted. Companies must be equipped for mobile communication and collaboration.
5. More companies will move their design flow to the cloud to improve both collaboration and flexibility.