AP3F focuses on technology-enabled infrastructure as a core priority, launching knowledge events to raise awareness of available technologies and providing guidance to governments on integrating InfraTech components into PPPs to improve quality of service and optimize value-for-money.
AP3F identifies planned or prospective InfraTech components during the TA application process; the Facility aims for 50% of new applications to include elements of digital technologies.
AP3F monitors the implementation status of InfraTech components in ongoing projects, ensuring at least 50% of completed projects supported by AP3F are integrated with digital technologies.
AP3F has successfully identified planned or perspective digital components in all 26 projects approved during AP3F's Strategy 2022-2025, including 2022 (7 out of 7), 2023 (11 out of 11), and 2024 (8 out of 8).
100% of projects achieving commercial and financial closure integrated digital technologies and InfraTech components in 2022 (2 out of 2), 2023 (2 out of 2), and 2024 (1 out of 1).
Infrastructure technology is a driving force behind smarter, more resilient, and sustainable infrastructure. First introduced as a strategic theme in 2022, AP3F provides tools and instruments to promote InfraTech in AP3F transactions. Throughout the project cycle, AP3F helps governments leverage data, automation, and connectivity to improve and transform infrastructure, advising on the integration of digital solutions and industrial applications in multiple sectors such as energy, transportation, water, health, and education.
In each case, the goal of digital technology in physical infrastructure is to create more efficient and agile assets that are responsive to data and user needs. Examples include smart grids for efficient power distribution, automated water networks and waste management systems, intelligent traffic control, backbone communications infrastructure, and government e-services.
The range and number of possible applications, as well as the speed of innovation in technology, can often outpace the ability of governments to adequately evaluate and plan for InfraTech: as a rule, traditional procurement methods lag industry releases, and officials may lack capacity to rapidly deploy or scale consumer-facing applications or successfully maintain digital systems. Furthermore, governments must assess the viability of new technology, weighing trade-offs between potential efficiency gains and quality of service with upfront costs, a faster obsolescence cycle, and potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
To address these issues, AP3F appointed a Digital Specialist to foster knowledge and provide solutions for the integration of technology into projects supported by AP3F. The Facility follows a systematic approach, mapping potential technologies, monitoring implementation in ongoing projects, and developing tools to facilitate InfraTech integration in PPPs, including the use of innovative financing and procurement methods to make the adoption of technology more feasible for DMCs.
In recent years, the Asia-Pacific region has emerged as a critical frontier for InfraTech investment. While private sector expertise has largely been concentrated in developed countries, capital is now flowing rapidly toward transformative projects across developing Asia. This growth reflects both opportunity and necessity: the region faces unprecedented urbanization pressures and climate vulnerabilities that demand innovative solutions.
AP3F has made the integration of InfraTech solutions a key area of the Facility's midterm Strategy 2022-2025, accelerating ADB's own Bank-wide initiatives to foster private sector growth through PPPs and other innovative modalities with an emphasis on strengthening digital capabilities. AP3F's digitalization agenda aims to help DMCs overcome the "digital divide"—the gap between those with reliable access to modern digital tech (internet, computers, smartphones) and skills, and those without—which threatens to widen inequality in education, jobs, and services, and limit economic participation in an increasingly digital world.
This divide manifests not merely as unequal internet access, but as a fundamental barrier to inclusive infrastructure development across multiple sectors. With over 60% of the world's population residing in Asia, this disparity shapes how nations build and modernize their critical infrastructure systems.
The Kyrgyz Republic has low levels of digital literacy historically, with only one-third of women actively using the internet. KGZ: Green Data Center (AP3F090/PP041), the first green data center PPP to be implemented in the country, is part of a series of economic reforms aimed at establishing high-income jobs for the country's youth, especially women, diversifying its industrial base, increasing exports, and attracting foreign investments. The project will participate in the government's commitment to create a competitive digital economy—which includes making broadband more affordable, digitizing government services, developing the e-commerce sector—utilizing the PPP structure to transform the country into a digital hub on "the Great Silk Road" by 2040.
Building digital backbone infrastructure is a feature of other AP3F projects. FIJ: National Digital ID Project (AP3F083/PP034) aims to establish a national ID to provide more reliable access to a wider range of public and private services. As a pilot application, AP3F will assist in the preparation and tender of an electronic "Know Your Customer" (eKYC) process for digital banking. The project will enable targeted subsidies and promote financial inclusion, among other benefits, laying the ground for further digitalization of the economy. AP3F will leverage experience with a similar project in Timor-Leste, TIM: Unique Identity System Project (AP3F061/PP022), introducing private sector expertise to deliver value-for-money, reduce pilferage and fraud, and cut transaction costs.
Another area requiring urgent attention is the expansion of renewable energy and the supporting grid infrastructure necessary to connect and store energy from indigenous sources such as wind, hydropower, and solar. Clean energy provides a wide range of opportunities for incorporating digitalization and InfraTech elements across the entire value chain of renewable energy projects, as digital technologies play a key part in managing the intermittency of renewable energy sources.
The rapidly evolving industry of green technology is also an opportunity for domestic job growth and upskilling, which will ensure mitigation and resilience efforts are well-maintained and continue to produce with minimal interruption over the long term. The benefits of green technology also extend to other industries adjacent to clean energy, including eco-tourism and the extraction of critical minerals, responsibly sourced, as inputs for technology components.
In a capacity building scope, AP3F informs and educates governments and line agencies on potential avenues for integrating digital technologies to maximize the value derived from renewable energy projects. PHI: Integrating Renewable Energy with Irrigation Assets of National Irrigation Administration (AP3F084/PP035) seeks to leverage floating solar technology to create productive uses of energy from the surface area of the Philippines' numerous reservoirs and irrigation assets.
The project builds on AP3F's success at Laguna Lake in PHI: Capacity Related Assistance for LLDA Floating Solar Framework (AP3F057/CB018). By harnessing new technology at scale, AP3F aims to incentivize the private sector for a longer investment horizon for floating arrays than typical solar projects—a proof of concept that could have significant implications for similar energy projects throughout the region.
Another pivotal technology for the successful implementation of clean energy is the adoption of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). Crucial for integrating intermittent renewables (solar/wind), BESS stores excess energy and releases it during peak demand or outages, offering grid stability, supplementary power ("peak shaving"), frequency regulation, and backup power. Through improvements to the grid and transmission lines, these grid-connected BESS systems can enable renewable energy to operate at a utility-scale with enormous energy and economic implications for DMCs, reducing reliance on fossil fuel imports and making energy more affordable.
AP3F's energy portfolio features multiple projects utilizing BESS technology—including PAL: Solar PV PPP (AP3F035/PP010), the first renewable energy project at scale in the Pacific, FSM: Renewable Energy Generation Project (AP3F087/PP-038), CAM: 100 MW Solar PV and Battery Storage Project (AP3F080/PP-031), and the multi-phase national solar program in Uzbekistan, UZB: Sherabad Solar IPP (AP3F038/PP012), UZB: Guzar Solar PV Project (AP3F053/PP020), and UZB: PV Projects 3 & 4 (AP3F063/PD013) (AP3F064/PP024)—making AP3F a leader in PPP procurement for hybrid renewable energy projects. Other technology enhancements to boost the performance and reliability of clean energy include predictive load management and maintenance systems, micro-grid controllers, and integrated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) platforms.
Transport infrastructure has long been the backbone of economic development, connecting people to opportunities and goods to markets. Yet traditional approaches to planning, building, and operating transport systems often struggle with inefficiency, congestion, and limited capacity to adapt to changing demands. The integration of InfraTech in the transport sector offers a transformative solution, enabling transportation to become more responsive, efficient, and sustainable while delivering superior value-for-money across project lifecycles.
Digital technologies fundamentally reshape how transport systems collect, process, and act upon information. From highways that dynamically manage traffic flow to airports that predict maintenance needs before failures occur and increase capacity without physical expansion—e.g. PHI: Modernization and Capacity Expansion of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (AP3F070/PP027)—these innovations enhance safety, reduce operational costs, and improve user experiences. For governments and private partners investing in transport infrastructure, digital integration is no longer optional. It represents a strategic imperative that determines whether projects deliver lasting public value or become obsolete within years of completion.
At the heart of modern transport digitization lies the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), which integrates advanced electronics, communications, and information processing into infrastructure and vehicles. ITS operates through a continuous cycle:
BAN: N3 Highway (AP3F067/PP026) represents a government-to-government partnership leveraging the private sector expertise of the Republic of Korea, a leader in ITS, to modernize Bangladesh's road networks. The benefits of ITS for this project are substantial and measurable (see "Project Spotlight").
For municipal bus systems, such as the high priority bus system in Davao City, Philippines, the potential of ITS to provide real-time arrival information can transform the rider experience and optimize fleet management. PHI: Davao City High Priority Bus System (AP3F086/PP037) involves more than refurbishing buses; it overhauls the entire system, streamlining scheduling and dispatching, depot logistics, and transit signals to improve reliability and travel times. These features work together to make public transit more competitive with private vehicles, shifting modal preferences toward more sustainable options.
Other rapid mass transit projects receiving AP3F support—PHI: O&M for Metro Manila Subway Project (AP3F046/PP17) and PHI: O&M for the North-South Connectivity Railway Project (AP3F047/PP018)—also benefit from digital upgrades. Automated train control systems can help maintain safe traveling distance between trains when seconds matter, and technology-enabled station features, such as passenger information systems, can improve customer experience with arrival times announcements, service alerts, and wayfinding assistance.
The healthcare sector, likewise, is experiencing unprecedented digital transformation, fundamentally reshaping how hospitals operate and deliver care. Digital technologies offer compelling opportunities to enhance both service quality and value-for-money outcomes.
In a typical physician-patient encounter, digital systems now enable seamless access to patient histories, streamlined test ordering, real-time collaboration with specialists, and integrated documentation processes.
The strategic integration of InfraTech can optimize resources, reduce operational costs, and enhance patient outcomes. These technologies enable hospitals to function as interconnected ecosystems where data flows between departments, predictive analytics monitor equipment usage, and automated systems reduce human error while accelerating care delivery.
Consolidating fragmented Soviet-era services into efficient multi-disciplinary facilities
First multi-disciplinary hospital linking clinical excellence with medical education
Transitioning an underperforming facility toward financial sustainability
Success depends on strategic technology selection, training, and adaptive implementation approaches that evolve with technological innovation. In each case, AP3F considers country context, lessons learned, and thorough market soundings to leverage the PPP framework to inform thoughtful InfraTech integration.
AP3F's commitment to digital transformation is measured through a rigorous results framework tracking both inputs and outputs. Performance indicators monitor new applications incorporating elements of digitalization alongside completed projects achieving commercial and financial closure. The target is ambitious yet achievable: 50% of total applications and completed projects annually should feature technology-enhanced components.
The results demonstrate remarkable success. Each year, AP3F has dramatically surpassed targets with 100% of total applications and completed technical assistance incorporating digital technology. AP3F has sustained this momentum through 2025, gradually refining methodologies and instruments for consistent identification and monitoring.
A key part of AP3F's work is project-level mapping. Digital assessments evaluate the potential for technology to improve infrastructure delivery and performance, enhance transparency (for example, by connecting data across different administrative levels), and increase resilience through climate mitigation-adaptation and social inclusion.
AP3F supports events that raise awareness about technological opportunities and risks, including webinars and an InfraTech Toolkit (under development).
AP3F digitalization consultants support governments in creating enabling environments and establishing sector-specific subsidies.
AP3F provides project-level technology recommendations by vertical, and market maturity.
AP3F explores project-specific subsidies, dynamic pricing models, and opportunities for technology company co-investments
Bid documents may include adjusted procedures such as two-envelope systems, clauses enabling innovation while defining technology-related liability and risk, competitive dialogue models refining procurement focus, and unsolicited proposal policies introducing more flexibility to adopt InfraTech solutions.
AP3F monitors implementation, opportunities to optimize, esp. technological components subject to obsolescence.
AP3F evaluates post-commercial operation innovation, including unsolicited proposal policies allowing post-commercial operation innovation
AP3F provides methodological guidance measuring investment volume and impact throughout the project lifecycle.
For the most part, technologies relevant in the context of AP3F transactions are at the productive and incremental level. Over the medium to long term, however, AP3F expects more paradigmatic shifts to occur as technologies such as artificial intelligence gradually move towards mainstream adoption.
Despite rapid changes in the face of technological innovation, these non-exhaustive maps provide guidance for investment and design, exploring the potential for digital transformation in each project and evaluating the impact of integration on value-for-money and broader development goals.
One of the barriers to adoption is that most stakeholders are unaware of available digital technologies and InfraTech innovations. In addition to technology mapping, AP3F also emphasizes upstream capacity building and knowledge sharing to raise awareness about the opportunities and risks associated with available technologies.
By fostering collaborations and exchange with the public and private sector through workshops and knowledge management, AP3F attempts to define a common language, connect insights, and promote business opportunities among stakeholders.
For example, AP3F organized a four-part seminar on digital technologies in infrastructure. The series established InfraTech as fundamentally different from traditional infrastructure, offering inherently sustainable, digitally-enabled solutions that create synergistic effects across multiple sectors. Technology can enable unprecedented efficiency gains while supporting objectives that crosscut other priorities such as gender equality and climate change.
In particular, digital backbone infrastructure serves as the foundation for all subsequent technological advancement. The emphasis on fiber networks, data centers, and connectivity platforms reveals how strategic infrastructure investments can catalyze exponential economic development through network effects and leapfrogging opportunities as a result of strategic partnerships. PPP models become particularly valuable for balancing public policy objectives with private sector innovation capabilities.
The webinar, "Decoding InfraTech, Enabling E-Government Services" examined citizen services (national IDs), e-platforms for central databases (land registries, tax management, etc.), smart city operations (smart transport systems, energy grids, street lighting, etc.) among many other categories of government activity that benefit of digitalization under a PPP framework.
Collectively, these insights point toward an urgent imperative: DMCs must embrace InfraTech not as a separate sector, but as a transformative approach that enhances traditional infrastructure delivery across all domains. The governments that recognize and act on this opportunity will gain significant competitive advantages in achieving development objectives efficiently and sustainably.
InfraTech represents more than technological adoption—it embodies a fundamental reimagining of infrastructure development. Through its comprehensive approach spanning capacity-building, project preparation, and post-tender support, AP3F has achieved remarkable success, consistently exceeding digitalization targets while building systematic capabilities across the Asia-Pacific region. By aligning PPP structures with InfraTech opportunities and establishing rigorous frameworks for measuring progress, AP3F demonstrates how strategic facilitation can transform infrastructure delivery, creating more resilient, efficient, and sustainable systems that meet the region's evolving demands.
By structuring the country's first government-to-government (G2G) transport PPP with Korea, AP3F has created a replicable model that captures world-leading technological expertise while building domestic institutional capacity.
The Joydebpur-Mymensingh highway forms a critical artery along National Highway No. 3 in Bangladesh, serving as the economic lifeline for six districts that are home to more than 18 million people. The highway also facilitates international trade, linking Bangladesh with India through three strategically located dry ports.
Despite the importance of this corridor, the original two-lane configuration has struggled to accommodate growing demand. Recognizing this infrastructure gap as a constraint on regional development, the Roads and Highway Department (RHD) expanded the highway into four lanes in 2016. Nevertheless, gridlock and concerns for road safety persisted. With projections for daily traffic expected to increase 20% over the next decade, RHD conceived an ambitious plan to transform this congested highway into a modern, access-controlled expressway with dedicated service roads and emergency lanes in both directions for a total of eight lanes of traffic.
Rather than pursuing conventional procurement methods to complete the upgrade, Bangladesh has chosen an innovative path with the guidance and support of AP3F: implementing the project as a government-to-government Public-Private Partnership with the Republic of Korea.
The partnership brings together public infrastructure with state-of-art technologies Korean companies are known for, especially experience in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and other important InfraTech components, such as energy-saving equipment and solar lighting solutions.
BAN: N3 Highway (AP3F067/PP026) represents more than infrastructure expansion; it offers an opportunity to invest in infrastructure technology in developing Asia—a thematic priority of AP3F—through the transfer of Korea's world-class transportation knowledge.
For AP3F, the fundamental value proposition is clear: maximize the development impact of Korea's road construction technology and expressway management capabilities. To achieve this, AP3F structured the transaction to ensure that Korean private sector expertise could be fully leveraged, delivering not just a road, but a template for modern, digitally-enabled infrastructure in Bangladesh.
The Republic of Korea has established itself as a global pioneer in transportation technology, distinguished by its systematic integration of digital innovation across the infrastructure lifecycle.
Korea follows a technology roadmap that goes beyond traditional civil engineering. In the construction phase, companies deploy cloud computing, Building Information Modeling, Internet of Things sensors, big data analytics, drones and robotics throughout project delivery.
This "smart" construction may feature autonomous earthmoving equipment—unmanned dozers, graders, and rollers—executing precision work guided by high-resolution 3D mapping created through multi-drone surveys.
Digital twin technology (virtual replica of physical objects) can provide real-time oversight of construction schedules, safety protocols, and quality control, while enabling predicative maintenance platforms to extend asset life.
But it is in expressway operations and management—in particular, the development of Intelligent Transport Systems—that Korea has differentiated itself.
Since the 1990s, Korea has been a leader in ITS, continuously integrating technological upgrades to monitor and control traffic. National plans call for full cooperative deployment of ITS across all road infrastructure in Korea by 2030, solidifying the country's reputation as a global leader in the space. Upon completion, this milestone will enable seamless vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, optimizing traffic flow and accelerating autonomous vehicle adoption.
"…not just a road, but a template for modern,
digitally-enabled infrastructure in Bangladesh…"
— AP3F
The N3 project delivers multifaceted benefits addressing Bangladesh's transport infrastructure deficit while advancing strategic policy objectives. By prioritizing regional connectivity and supporting road sector reforms emphasizing governance, efficiency, and cost recovery, the expressway enhances national highways to facilitate regional and international trade, boost competitiveness, and catalyze private investment.
Critically, the project demonstrates viable pathways for non-sovereign financing through private sector engagement and PPPs. The six districts served by the highway will experience improved connectivity to ten developing economic zones, accelerating industrial growth and employment generation. Enhanced access to the three international dry ports strengthens Bangladesh-India trade corridors.
For local populations, including vulnerable communities, the expressway provides transformative access to economic opportunities, markets, employment, competitively priced goods, and essential administrative, health, and educational services. The project aligns with ADB's Country Partnership Strategy priorities for Bangladesh, specifically addressing private sector participation, economic diversification, and employment expansion.
For PPPs in the health sector, digital applications represent far more than incremental improvements—they fundamentally reshape how value-for-money is created and sustained throughout a project's lifecycle.
Across developing Asia, hospitals grapple with aging facilities, rising demand, and constrained fiscal resources. Digital technologies offer a powerful pathway to transform healthcare infrastructure, delivering services that are not only clinically excellent but also operationally efficient and financially sustainable.
Digital technologies for hospitals can range from baseline applications already proven in the market to transformative innovations pushing the boundaries of medical care.
In a typical physician-patient encounter, the physician accesses patient history, orders tests, and uses results or collaborates with clinical specialists to make a diagnosis and prescribe a treatment regimen. Other workflows involve documentation, billing, and revenue cycle management that require access to multiple data systems and a variety of user credentials. Each of these value chains provide opportunities for digital enhancement to save money, expand access, and improve the quality of care.
AP3F assesses projects involving healthcare infrastructure to streamline and optimize services, including data storage and retrieval of patient history, appointment management, billing, bed management, pharmacy management, and other hospital activities. In addition, AP3F evaluates the applicability of modern digital technology-based equipment and infrastructure for patient monitoring, diagnosis and testing, surgery and other treatment procedures and rehabilitation and recovery.
Consider Uzbekistan. Since independence, Uzbekistan has pursued healthcare reform with determination, yet legacy challenges persist. The country's hospital network remains fragmented across multiple single-specialty facilities, many dating from the Soviet era. Equipment shortages, operational inefficiencies, and poor care coordination plague the system.
Building on successful precedents—including a competitive dialysis project awarded to global operator Nephroplus—the Ministry of Health requested AP3F to support the creation of a multi-disciplinary hospital in two regions using the PPP modality: Andijan, home to Uzbekistan's most densely populated area; and Bukhara, a region with UNESCO-designated historic sites attracting international tourism, which the government sees as a potential destination for medical tourism alongside improved local care.
For both projects, Uzbekistan envisions consolidating fragmented services into efficient multi-disciplinary facilities. For UZB: Hospitals PPP Project (AP3F066/PP025), AP3F is providing comprehensive technical assistance, including project definition and transaction advisory, to secure private sector participation for equipment, diagnostics, and operations.
The digital assessment for these projects emphasizes integration across the entire hospital lifecycle. Hospital management software will integrate patient management, appointment scheduling, billing, bed allocation, and pharmacy operations into seamless workflows. Modern digital equipment will enhance patient monitoring, diagnostics, surgical procedures, and rehabilitation. Health records, stored electronically, will enable data sharing across Uzbekistan's healthcare network, supporting care coordination and clinical decision-making, positioning these hospitals as anchors for expanded digitalization for the broader health system.
Despite steady progress, Kazakhstan's healthcare system faces persistent challenges. Health expenditure remains well below global and European benchmarks, constraining modernization efforts, and hospital infrastructure suffers significant wear, burdening local budgets with maintenance costs while failing to meet modern standards.
To remedy the health system, Kazakhstan enacted enabling legislation for healthcare PPPs, creating the foundation for an ambitious reform program. "Concept for the Development of Healthcare Infrastructure 2024-2030" prioritized six greenfield university hospitals procured through PPP modality, linking clinical excellence with medical education and research.
KAZ: Karaganda Multi-disciplinary Hospital PPP Project (AP3F088/PP039) is a groundbreaking initiative to build a 300-bed university hospital in Karaganda City, representing Kazakhstan's first competitively procured hospital PPP. The hospital will serve 1.2 million people across Karaganda Oblast and neighboring regions, updating aging infrastructure. It will also inaugurate Karaganda Medical University with a modern clinical base supporting approximately 8,000 students annually.
"Digital technologies offer a powerful pathway to transform healthcare infrastructure, delivering services that are not only clinically excellent but also operationally efficient and financially sustainable."
These hospital projects exemplify how strategic InfraTech integration through PPP frameworks can address systemic healthcare challenges while building foundations for long-term sector modernization across developing Asia.