This is Part 1 of a two-part PRO series examining where infrastructure investment is flowing and how those trends are reshaping manufacturing, energy, logistics, and additive manufacturing. Part 2, by Matt Kremenetsky, will focus on data centers, AI infrastructure, and where additive manufacturing fits into that rapidly expanding ecosystem.
Over the past few years, infrastructure spending has started moving into very different areas than before. Governments are still funding roads and bridges, of course, but some of the biggest investment activity now is happening around power infrastructure, shipyards, logistics networks, data centers, and semiconductor fabs.
A lot of this is being driven by AI. Data centers are expanding rapidly, especially in the U.S., and that expansion is creating pressure everywhere else. More computing power means more electricity demand. More electricity demand means more grid upgrades, power generation projects, and transmission infrastructure. Semiconductor manufacturing is also growing again, partly because companies and governments no longer want to depend so heavily on overseas chip production after the shortages we’ve seen over the last few years.
Featured image courtesy of 3DPrint.com