The mission of Jordan PPP: the most advanced PPP system in the world

The mission of Jordan PPP is to build the most advanced PPP system in the world. We give every organization and every sector in the country the knowledge to start, shape and deliver public-private partnerships, using the best of AI, robotics and tokenization. Our aim is for Jordan’s infrastructure to serve its people for generations, and for Jordan to be a global example of PPP leadership towards the $500 trillion infrastructure singularity.

That paragraph is a big promise for a small website, so this post explains what it means. It covers what we mean by the most advanced PPP system, what the infrastructure singularity is, how AI, robotics and tokenization fit in, and which problems could slow all of it down.

What is a PPP?

A PPP, or public-private partnership, is a long agreement between a government and a private company. The two share the work and the risk of building something the public needs, such as a road, a power plant or a water network, and the company is paid over many years for keeping it running. If you are new to the idea, our plain guide to what a PPP is starts from zero.

What would the most advanced PPP system look like?

Most countries run PPPs one project at a time, inside one or two government offices. A few specialists understand how the deals work, and most people who could take part never hear about them. An advanced system would turn that around.

In Jordan’s advanced system, any ministry, city, company, bank, university or charity could understand how a PPP works and find its place in one. Projects would be easy to find and easy to compare. The records of each project would be open and up to date, and machines would handle much of the slow paperwork. A good idea from a small town could reach the people able to fund it.

That is why this site has a free guide for every kind of organization and a free guide for every sector. Knowledge is the first part of the system, and we can share it today.

What is the infrastructure singularity?

The infrastructure singularity is the point where the built world and the computed world become one system. Roads, power lines and water pipes would sense what is happening, share what they learn and help run themselves. Our vision page sets the idea out in full.

The numbers behind it are large. Rebuilding and running the world’s infrastructure will take about $500 trillion over the next fifty years: $300 trillion to build, $150 trillion to operate and maintain, and $50 trillion for the sensors, computers and robots inside the assets. Jordan starts with about $86 billion of PPP and infrastructure projects in development, and $46 billion of them are anchored in Aqaba.

How will AI change PPPs?

AI will first take on the reading and writing. A PPP can produce thousands of pages of contracts, studies and reports, and AI can read them, compare them and point out what a person should check. That gives a small government team far more reach.

Later, AI will help run the assets. It could spot a failing water pump before it breaks, plan repairs for a road and balance a power grid minute by minute. Our post on AI in PPP projects in Jordan goes further.

How will robots change PPPs?

Robots will take on work that is dangerous, dull or hard to staff. Drones can inspect a bridge, machines can lay and weld pipe in the desert heat, and robots can clean solar panels at night.

Over time, fleets of machines will build new assets with very few people on site and then look after them for decades. That changes the sums inside a PPP, because the cost of building and the cost of upkeep both move. Contracts signed today will run for decades, so they need room for that change.

How will tokenization change PPPs?

Tokenization means recording a share of an asset as a digital token that people can buy and sell. Today, owning part of a toll road or a solar farm is mostly open to large funds and banks. Tokens could split that ownership into much smaller pieces.

That could let a teacher in Irbid or a family in Aqaba own a small part of the infrastructure they use every day, and earn a share of what it makes. It could also bring new money to projects that struggle to find it. Our post on tokenizing infrastructure in Jordan explains how it could work.

What are the biggest challenges?

This mission has hard parts, and it helps to name them now. These are the ones we think about most:

1. 01Trust. People will back PPPs only if they believe the deals are fair. Prices, contracts and results need to be open, so that anyone can check them.
2. 02People and skills. Few people in any country know PPPs well, and fewer still also know AI or robotics. Jordan will need to train many more of them, starting in its universities and ministries.
3. 03Jobs. Machines will change the work on building sites and in control rooms. Workers need a real path into the new jobs, and that planning has to start early.
4. 04Law. Laws move more slowly than technology. Jordan’s 2023 PPP law gives the country a base, and tokens and self-running assets will raise new questions about who owns what and who is responsible when something goes wrong.
5. 05Safety and security. A power grid run by software can be attacked through software. Every connected asset needs strong protection and a way for people to take back control.
6. 06Fairness. Toll roads and water bills affect people with little money the most. Every project needs a clear answer for them, and that includes the towns far from Amman.
7. 07Money and patience. Long projects need lenders and investors who are ready to stay for decades.

Why can Jordan be a global example?

Jordan has real reasons to try. It is a small country, so one good system can reach every ministry and every governorate. It has a young and well-educated population, a long list of projects and a port city in Aqaba that connects it to the wider region. Its need for water and clean energy also gives it a reason to move early.

Jordan can lead by doing the work carefully, sharing what works and being honest about what falls short. Other countries can then take what they find useful and improve on it.

Where can you start?

Every part of this mission begins with someone learning how a PPP could work for them. You can find the guide for your organization, read about the sector closest to your work or read the vision in full. All of the guides are free, and we keep adding more.