Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

AN OVERVIEW OF ENGINEERINGbuild a programme of work aimed at delivering practical solutionsthat would help transform the lives of poor people.Building a new NGO from scratch is time consuming and difficult.Forging relationships, establishing credibility and developinga coherent programme takes time and this has to bebalanced against the understandable impatience of supportersto see tangible results. Ten years on and we have createda highly innovative programme of work across the extractiveindustries, public sector infrastructure and engineering education,which is delivering a development impact beyond whatwould usually be expected of a small organization with modestoperating costs. We have also learned four key lessons thatwe believe serve as a template for mobilizing the engineeringindustry in the fight against global poverty.Firstly, solutions are needed that can rapidly go to scale.Poverty is a tragedy in progress for the estimated 40,000people who die each day of poverty related illness. Aid anddebt reduction are important in averting this tragedy, butextreme poverty can only be eliminated through sustainableeconomic growth and the creation of millions of decentjobs. The impact of corporate philanthropy is negligible. It isthe enterprise, skills and core business activities of engineeringservices companies and their clients where there is mostpotential. Consider for example that oil and gas majors spendapproximately US$500 through their supply chains for everyUS$1 spent on community investment. Innovative businessmodels are needed that harness this economic power and thecore competencies of industry to rapidly scale-up businesssolutions to poverty.Secondly, whilst it inevitable that tensions will sometimesexist between business and society, strategies for developmentmust focus on their interdependence. In practice this meansdeveloping mechanisms that align the commercial drivers ofcompanies with the development priorities of the countrieswhere they work to create ‘shared value’. EAP’s work in theextractive industries for example, has shown that contractorswho invest in developing suppliers from low-incomecommunities secure cost efficiencies for themselves, whilstcreating jobs and drawing local companies into the formaleconomy. The principle of creating shared value could formthe basis for a new contract between business and society.Thirdly, for most companies, the successful alignment ofcommercial and social priorities and the creation of sharedvalue on a large scale will require a fundamental reappraisalof their business systems and procedures. This includes,importantly, the incorporation of a social dimension intobusiness development, risk management and supply chaindevelopment. The management of social issues cannot bedelegated to the public affairs or corporate responsibilityteams. They are issues that go to the heart of the businessmodel and challenge the conventional wisdom of corporatestrategy. Partnerships with NGOs can be very effective inhelping companies to think through these opportunitiesand identify the most appropriate development challengesfor them to take on, and from which they can derive mostcommercial benefit.Finally, companies should position themselves to shapethe environment needed for good governance and privatesector development. There are a growing number of examplesof companies working together to tackle developmentchallenges that no single company can resolve alone. TheUK Anti-Corruption Forum (UKACF) for example bringstogether many of the UK’s leading engineering servicescompanies and professional bodies to develop industry ledactions to fight corruption in the infrastructure, constructionand engineering sectors. It represents over 1,000 companiesand 300,000 professionals, and demonstrates howthe engineering industry can organize itself to articulate aninformed and responsible voice in governance debates. Aninternational network of similar initiatives could provide asignificant boost to efforts in fighting corruption in the constructionindustry.These lessons and our practical experience provide us withan opportunity to provide high-level strategic advice to ourpartners. We are, for example, a key policy adviser to Price-Waterhouse Coopers who run the Secretariat of the ConstructionSector Transparency (CoST) initiative for the Departmentfor International Development. 19 We are also working with theUK Institution of Civil Engineers to modify procurement proceduresin public sector infrastructure. 20 And we are collaboratingwith engineering consultancy Arup to develop ASPIRE – asophisticated software tool for maximizing the sustainabilityand poverty-reduction impact of investments in infrastructure.21 This is how we achieve our developmental impact. Wereduce our overheads to a bare minimum and focus on strategicinterventions with key partners in government and industrythat deliver practical solutions.It was recognized in the Rio ‘Earth Summit’ that the principalresponsibility for eliminating poverty rests with government,but that business had an increasingly critical role to play. Ourpartnerships demonstrate how it can fulfil this role and simultaneouslystrengthen its competitive position. Our effortsform part of a broader effort to mobilize engineering and technologyto help build a more stable, civilized and prosperousglobal environment for all people.19 See http://www.constructiontransparency.org20 Wells, J. et al (2006) Modifying infrastructure procurement to enhance social development,EAP & ICE, London.21 For more information: http://www.inesweb.org© EWB-UK Women carrying stones, India.165