The World Infrastructure Forum (WIF) is a high-level international platform that brings together global leaders across academia, industry, finance, technology, and public institutions to shape the future of infrastructure.Co-led by the World Bank, MIT, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the Forum is a non-profit, decision-oriented initiative designed to address the structural transformation of infrastructure systems in the 21st century.
WIF convenes a curated group of senior decision-makers—CEOs, ministers, investors, and institutional leaders—within a neutral environment focused on long-term strategic dialogue, alignment, and action.It serves as a global platform for infrastructure governance and thought leadership, fostering collaboration among those shaping the systems that underpin economic development and societal resilience.
WIF convenes a curated group of senior decision-makers—CEOs, ministers, investors, and institutional leaders—within a neutral environment focused on long-term strategic dialogue, alignment, and action.It serves as a global platform for infrastructure governance and thought leadership, fostering collaboration among those shaping the systems that underpin economic development and societal resilience.
We are entering a moment of profound transformation.Infrastructure—once considered a supporting layer of the economy—has become central to global stability, competitiveness, and societal resilience.
Climate pressures, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and geopolitical shifts are redefining how infrastructure is designed, financed, and governed.At the same time, increasing fragmentation across sectors—public, private, financial, technological, and academic—limits the ability to respond coherently to these challenges.
The World Infrastructure Forum emerges in response to this context:
To convene global leaders to build a shared understanding of the systemic challenges reshaping infrastructure, and to enable coordinated, forward-looking action across sectors.
To establish a global reference platform that contributes to the development of resilient, sustainable, and technologically advanced infrastructure systems, aligned with the needs of a rapidly evolving world.
WIF seeks to foster a new infrastructure model—data-driven, climate-resilient, financially viable, and globally coordinated.
WIF seeks to foster a new infrastructure model—data-driven, climate-resilient, financially viable, and globally coordinated.
WIF is designed to operate with a distinct institutional and strategic approach
WIF is uniquely shaped by a founding structure led by academic institutions and multilateral organisations, rather than corporate interests.This foundation—anchored by the World Bank, MIT, UT Austin, and UPM—ensures:
This institutional architecture enables WIF to operate as a trusted global platform, capable of convening diverse stakeholders under a shared framework aligned with the public interest.
Participation is centered on leaders with direct responsibility over capital, regulation, and strategic assets, enabling meaningful dialogue and alignment at the highest level.
WIF brings together the full infrastructure ecosystem—engineering, finance, insurance, technology, public leadership, and academia—enabling integrated perspectives and solutions.
The Forum is structured as a platform with continuity, promoting working groups, ongoing dialogue, and knowledge generation over time.
Hosted in Madrid, a strategic global hub, WIF provides a neutral meeting point while connecting Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The World Infrastructure Forum is built on a governance model designed to ensure balance, credibility, and independence, anchored in the leadership of academic and multilateral institutions.
WIF is co-founded and co-led by:
This structure combines:
Ensuring a unique integration of policy, innovation, and execution.
The Agustín de Betancourt Foundation is a Madrid-based institutional foundation that serves as a neutral platform to promote engineering excellence, infraestructure development, and collaboration between academia, industry and public institutions. The FAB acts as the organizing and managing entity.
The World Infrastructure Forum maintains a constructive relationship with the broader global dialogue ecosystem, including the World Economic Forum (WEF).Senior representatives linked to infrastructure initiatives within WEF are part of the Advisory structure, ensuring alignment with major global discussions while preserving the Forum’s independent governance and agenda-setting.
At the core of WIF’s governance is its International Advisory Committee, composed of leading institutions across the infrastructure value chain.
Infrastructure Developers
Engineering Firms
Investors & Finance
Insurance & Risk
Multilateral development banks
Technology and digital infrastructure
Academic Institutions
It operates as a working governance body composed of decision-makers with direct influence over capital, regulation, and strategic assets.
The World Infrastructure Forum is conceived as a long-term global platform for dialogue, coordination, and knowledge generation.
Its ambition is to:
By bringing together those who design, finance, regulate, and operate infrastructure, WIF contributes to a more coordinated, resilient, and sustainable global system.
