Valuing the social impact of built environment projects has grown in importance since the UK government published its Social Value Model early last year. This was accompanied with a new requirement that a social value factor be included in all central government procurement processes.
The social value of a project is essentially the benefit it brings to its local community. The government’s Social Value Model sets out five areas of focus: Covid-19 recovery, tackling economic inequality, fighting climate change, equal opportunity and wellbeing.
Tender weightings reflect social value
There is now a mandate that social value accounts for at least 10% of the total tender evaluation weightings on public sector projects.
The concept of social value is nothing new – Atkins associate director for social value Michelle Baker has been working on strategies to deliver it for over a decade. She says that even before the model’s introduction, companies were providing social value through different schemes like apprenticeships and volunteering. But, she says “it was never captured or thought about as social value”.
Baker says that now that social value is mandated into procurement, companies in the built environment sector are paying more attention to it.
They have invested in tools for its measurement and have been collecting data from a number of sources.
We can use data to make simulations using the virtual space to model, test and learn what will and won’t work
She believes that creating “social value digital twins” would improve the collection and measurement of data associated with social value and help to maximise the positive impact of infrastructure assets.
Digital twins are digital versions of something real, for example the actual built environment.
Atkins director for digital construction Neil Thompson says that a digital twin is not just a representation of the asset but of processes relevant to it as well.
“Through digital twins we can use data to make simulations using the virtual space to model, test and learn what will and won’t work,” he explains.
Thompson says that the current use of digital twins for infrastructure projects has so far been focused on the measurement of engineering performance for asset management.
He adds that tools that enable social value parameters to be incorporated in digital twins are now on the market.
These allow data to be collected, stored, analysed and simulated to create a true view of what the social value of an asset is and what its impact could be.
Baker explains that there is also a plethora of data sources including the Office of National Statistics (ONS), local authorities and surveys.
New data
Baker and Thompson say that digital twins could allow social value measurement and evaluation to become more efficient because of the inclusion of additional data sources and technologies. Through a social value digital twin the information can be merged to provide a representation of the local impact of new infrastructure.
Thompson says: “Data sources vary from the environmental impact of a project to geospatial data [the mapping of data onto the physical realm] that can provide a far richer visualisation of what’s happening on the ground and how local people interact with local services and places.”
Atkins’ vision for social value digital twins also includes using interactive tools to collect feedback from local communities affected by an infrastructure project.
One such tool could be created by importing data into an open access gaming platform that everyone can access. This would enable the public to look at a project’s digital representation, comment and ask questions. Thompson says that the interactive tools would enable citizens’ views to be better represented than they are through highly aggregated data sources like ONS data.
Maximising social value
Baker highlights the importance of understanding the needs and priorities of local communities in the planning process. She says that she has had to go out and talk to hundreds of people that were going to be affected by a scheme. The interactive tools incorporated in the social value digital twins will speed up this process and widen engagement.
“The interesting thing about the [social value digital twin] technology is that it’s not just about us getting through the planning process and making it lean into cheaper, faster, smarter; it is also empowering the citizen,” Thompson says.
“It goes back to the idea of place-making, inspiring people to collectively reimagine their public spaces and using a more collaborative process to help maximise social value.”
Atkins believes that social value digital twins would be ideal for the development of freeports – special economic zones around ports and airports – as many will be in some of the UK’s most deprived areas.
If we can get it wrong in the virtual space, it’s a very cheap and less impactful way of making mistakes
By analysing and simulating communities, geography and skills data during the planning process, it is possible to improve a project’s positive impact. This could be by upskilling the local workforce or creating green spaces when a need for improved wellbeing is identified.
Thompson says that the built environment sector has yet to take full advantage of digital twins. He says that there is only one chance to create an optimum design, and that using social value digital twins enables outcomes to be simulated as a project proceeds.
“Currently, we don’t learn something’s gone wrong until years down the line. But if we can get it wrong in the virtual space, it’s a very cheap and less impactful way of making mistakes,” Thompson says.
Adapting assets in response to continuous monitoring throughout their lifetime should enable them to have a more a positive impact. Thompson adds that social value digital twins could also be used to hold organisations across the supply chain accountable if they fail to deliver the benefits of a project.
The influence of social value digital twins on the infrastructure decision making process, could lead to the construction of assets that are fitter for purpose and which benefit local communities in the long term.
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