This year's government funding boost is one of the most significant commitments the central government has ever made to strengthening New Zealand's energy, ports, transport and healthcare backbone.  

Mohamed Abdulahi, Director at management consultancy Partners in Performance agrees that slow adoption of new technologies and processes is hamstringing the New Zealand construction sector.

"Up to 75 per cent of infrastructure projects are accompanied by budget overruns and time delays, A solution to this issue is to introduce lean processes and technologies that create performance transparency, (as well as) optimise design specification, prefabrication, pre-assembly, and advanced sourcing models. Increasing the application of 5D building information modelling platforms and advanced data analytics can create efficiencies in the construction process," Abdulahi says.

Abdulahi says the infrastructure planning process must also take into account the technological disruptions to mobility currently underway. "Many infrastructure projects in New Zealand are related to transportation. But it is important to consider that a paradigm shift may happen in the next 20 years due to the growing relevance of autonomous vehicles, drive-sharing platforms and new transport modes, such as the use of drones to ferry goods and even people."