Insights for what's next

Explore practical perspectives that turn complex challenges and emerging trends into real-world outcomes.

90 items
Coast
Big Questions

How can coastal cities strengthen marine infrastructure while adapting to rising seas?

Technical Director for Ports and Maritime Alan Cowley works with clients to optimize port and terminal operations by planning and designing infrastructure that improves safety, efficiency and reliability. As climate risks intensify, he works with clients to strengthen resilience while safeguarding trade, productivity and long-term asset value.

Alan Cowley
Airport Lounge
Thought Leadership

From seamless to intelligent airport orchestration

Airports need more than faster checkpoints, they need connected, intelligent operations.  From digital travel credentials and biometrics to AI-powered orchestration, performance will be defined by how systems work together in real time to deliver seamless, adaptive passenger journeys.

Burak Come
iStock-531334638
Report

Airport performance indicators

Flying high: 36 key indicators to optimize airport performance The question is: how do airports globally ensure they grow at a sustainable rate and generate more commercial value than industry peers? By measuring and optimizing the right metrics. We've done the hard work for you: our report, now complemented by an executive summary, takes readily available but complex industry information, applies our expert analysis using a best-in-class approach and pulls out key insights in the executive summary. Our report dives deep into the performance of 48 major airports from across the world using 36 key financial and operational performance metrics to elevate your strategic planning with real industry insights. Airports featured include Heathrow, Brisbane, Hong Kong, New York (JFK), San Francisco and Vienna. Whether you’re an airport interested in how your revenue performance per passenger compares to your peers, an airline seeking powerful insights to inform discussions with the airports you use, or a regulator wanting to understand an airport’s operating cost efficiency, this report is designed to provide you with insights to unlock better decision-making with normalized industry data. 5.2 billion passengers are expected to use airports globally in 2026 according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), marking a 4.4% increase from 2025 and the first time surpassing the five billion mark. These numbers underscore aviation's pivotal role in the global economy and show how airports have rebounded from the pandemic slump. However, not all airports are growing or performing at the same level, with the gap between

shipping port
Q&A

A view on the future of ports & maritime: A Q&A with Chris Best

Ports are vital infrastructure links in the global logistics chain – facilitating trade and commerce, providing connectivity between people and businesses, supplying our nations with goods and energy resources, and generally underpinning our economies and livelihoods. In this Q&A, Jacobs Global Solutions Director for Ports & Maritime Chris Best talks about trends making a splash in ports & maritime today, what clients are focusing on, and how we’re co-creating the world to come.

Chris Best
tunnel motion blur
Q&A

A view on the future of rail & transit: A Q&A with Gavin Fraser

Public transportation systems, valued as some of the most equitable and sustainable modes of transportation, connect communities and help stimulate economic development. In this Q&A, Jacobs Global Solutions Director for Rail & Transit Gavin Fraser talks about trends keeping rail & transit on track for the future, what clients are focusing on, and how we’re co-creating the world to come.

Gavin Fraser
Australia high speed rail corridor
Thought Leadership

The ABC of Australia’s high-speed rail

High‑speed rail is more than a transport project — it reshapes nations, unlocks new housing and industry, and drives low‑carbon mobility for generations. The question for Australia is no longer whether it needs faster, higher-capacity intercity rail, but whether it can define, design and deliver it with confidence. Jacobs draws on experience from major rail and tunneling programs worldwide to inform the pathway forward. From the approvals that build public confidence, to the complex tunneling that pushes engineering boundaries and disciplined project governance that keeps mega‑programs on track — Jacobs brings global insight and local certainty to every stage of high‑speed rail development. Because when nations move faster, communities thrive. When complexity is greatest, certainty matters most. A for approvals — defining the vision and securing buy-in High-speed rail projects fail when approvals precede clarity High-speed rail programs rarely falter because engineering solutions are unavailable — they struggle when scheme definition is unstable at the point of approval. Governments are often asked to commit substantial resources before objectives, benefits and affordable costs are fully aligned. International experience on major programs shows that when benefits, staging and requirements are not clearly defined upfront, cost pressure and political risk quickly follow. Approvals should build confidence by locking in purpose, pathway and end-state early. Avoid commitment to “headlines” like maximum speed or shortest journey time and focus on economic drivers like capacity, connectivity, housing, employment and regeneration. B for boring — tackling tunneling challenges head-on In constrained corridors, tunnel design determines performance, cost

Michael Jamieson
Port of Miami Tunnel
Thought Leadership

How public and private partnerships deliver real value for clients and communities

In the Red River Valley in central North America, flood risk isn’t an abstract climate statistic — it’s a shared memory and a part of life. When spring snowmelt and heavy rain arrive together, communities worry if emergency calls can be answered, whether hospitals stay accessible and when businesses can reopen. The Fargo-Moorhead Flood Diversion Project exists to answer these questions. It’s a generational investment in protection for a region of roughly 235,000 people, delivered with Jacobs as program manager and public-private partnership (P3) advisor, helping translate public need into a long-term delivery and governance reality. That’s what the best P3s (also known as PPPs or PFI — Private Finance Initiatives — in the U.K.) are really for. Not alternative financing, but certainty, reliability and the right application of experience and talent. A P3 brings private sector expertise and private finance together to deliver public infrastructure, then operates and maintains it to a pre-agreed contractual standard over a long concession, often 25 to 30 years. It’s like a mortgage that includes the upkeep: You don’t pay the full cost upfront, and the monthly payment includes maintaining the asset through its life cycle. The key here is smarter asset management and efficient operations — that's where the greatest value is earned. Across stakeholder roundtables and industry events, the mood is clear: Governments, funders and contractors see P3s as a key tool in stimulating infrastructure delivery globally. Here are five insights I've learned from our most successful P3 programs: 1. P3 is

Adam Price

  • Future Foundations

    Co-creating the world to come

    From developing climate resilience and transitioning to a low-carbon future, to modernizing and transforming infrastructure, governments and businesses face critical challenges. How they respond will define our future.

    As our clients navigate these challenges, we help them think differently – working together to pioneer tomorrow's infrastructure solutions and build the foundations for a prosperous, secure future. 

    Visit Future Foundations
    Future-Foundations