Infrastructure is not only essential for faster economic growth, but for providing citizens with the means to improve their own lives. The CSIR uses science, engineering and technology to contribute to the development and maintenance of the country’s economic infrastructure and the transformation of human settlements. The main focus areas are the integration of data in decision-support systems for planning and maintaining settlements, improving the efficiency of buildings, developing new building materials and construction methodologies, formulating design methods and maintenance procedures for road, port and railway infrastructure, and developing models and methods for more efficient public and freight transport.