Causeway’s Future Highways Summit 2026 brought together senior leaders from across local authorities and the wider highways community at a time of unprecedented pressure on the sector. With financial constraint, rising regulatory demands, skills shortages and public scrutiny all intensifying at once, the day was designed to explore how highways teams can respond with greater confidence, clarity and control.
Attendees heard from leaders shaping the future of digital infrastructure, alongside peers already delivering change on the ground.
The morning included a keynote from Nick Bolton, CEO of Ordnance Survey, who traced OS’s journey from its historic roots in data creation through to its modern role as a national data steward. He highlighted a clear evolution: from creating and collating authoritative data, to enabling discovery, interoperability and collaboration across industries. For highways leaders, the message was clear – data only delivers value when it can move easily between systems, organisations and decision-makers.
A practical, delivery-led perspective came from Kris Westerby, Head of Highways at Northumberland County Council. Kris spoke openly about the drivers behind their operational transformation, including ease of use, consistency across teams, integration and the need for a genuine single source of truth. His session grounded the discussion in day-to-day delivery, showing what can be achieved when technology supports operational goals rather than adding complexity.
Causeway’s SVP for Highways, Nick Smee, set out the wider challenges many authorities recognise all too well. Budgets are tighter. Expectations are higher. Compliance is more complex. Yet many networks are still managed through fragmented systems that were never designed to work together. While individual tools may perform well in isolation, the gaps between them create duplication, manual workarounds and risk – often only becoming visible when something goes wrong.
The Summit was not a collection of distant aspirations. It was a clear statement of direction grounded in the realities authorities face today, showing how Causeway is working alongside the sector to support more joined-up and resilient highways services.
Find out more by visiting the Causeway website.
(Image – Causeway)