The Challenge

Crossrail was one of Europe’s largest and most complex infrastructure programmes. While the technology and standards for information management were in place, one critical factor was at risk of being overlooked: people and culture. Without shared understanding across a supply chain of hundreds of organisations and thousands of individuals, the much-celebrated “virtual railway” was in danger of failing.

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Our Approach

In 2012, the Crossrail Academy, later evolving into the Digital Advancement Academy, was created to tackle this challenge head on. Its mission: ensure that every organisation, from government bodies to tier-one contractors and their supply chains, understood the information requirements, processes, and culture needed to deliver digital transformation.

• Delivered four full-day sessions per week across the world, engaging diverse audiences in practical, plain-language learning.

• Developed and delivered onboarding programmes for contractors, ensuring that every player understood Crossrail’s digital requirements before starting work.

• Provided a neutral, collaborative space to trial new technologies, align on standards, and resolve issues openly.

• Reached across industries, supporting governments, major projects, utilities, contractors, suppliers, and academics in adopting digital best practice.

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The Impact

Over more than a decade, the Academy:

• Trained and influenced over 15,000 professionals worldwide, embedding digital knowledge across infrastructure sectors.

• Supported the UK Government BIM mandate, helping organisations achieve compliance and embrace innovation.

• Acted as a trusted advisor to governments, major projects, and supply chains, shaping national and international digital strategies.

• Fostered a new culture of collaboration and innovation, moving the industry away from adversarial behaviours toward shared success.

• Created a lasting legacy of methods, standards, and practices now embedded across projects far beyond Crossrail.

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The Value Proposition

The Crossrail Academy proved that digital transformation is as much about people as it is about technology. By investing in education, onboarding, and cultural change, the project didn’t just deliver a railway — it delivered a generation of professionals equipped to lead the next wave of infrastructure innovation.

The model has since been replicated globally, offering a blueprint for how education, facilitation, and thought leadership can accelerate digital adoption and resilience across industries.

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Technology builds systems. People build outcomes. The Academy gave the industry both