Utilities across water, district heating, and waste management are under increasing pressure to deliver reliable services while managing aging infrastructure and limited budgets. In this context, asset data has emerged as a critical enabler of better decision-making and operational performance. According to Krešimir Brckan, Director of Ekonerg Konzalting, a Croatian firm focused on helping utilities and infrastructure operators digitalize and improve asset management, the role of data in utilities has undergone a fundamental transformation over the past decade.

The HDO – Croatian Maintenance Society – has spent nearly five decades strengthening the role of maintenance and asset management in Croatian industry while building bridges across the Mediterranean maintenance community.

A think tank that influences decisions. A lighthouse that guides the sector. Professor Uday Kumar wants the EFNMS Railway Maintenance Committee to become both, at a time when Europe’s railways must deliver more with infrastructure that is already ageing.

Why the Future of Asset Management is about People as much as Technology? Maintenance and Asset Management are entering a decisive decade. According to the NVDO Maintenance Compass 2025, the sector faces a convergence of major developments: rapid digitalisation, a growing shortage of experienced technicians, and increasing pressure from the energy transition and sustainability goals.

“Maintenance is no longer just fixing machines after they break—it’s about data, AI, and strategy,” points out Branislav Kysel, President of the Slovakian Maintenance Society.