HKA Asia Pacific’s Industry Innovation Partnership 2025
15th September 2025
Innovation at HKA Asia Pacific
At HKA, the Spark Committee serves as an innovation engine, applying transdisciplinary practices to tackle complex challenges, collaborate with diverse stakeholders, and challenge the status quo.
The innovation partnership
Over the years, HKA has partnered with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to support undergraduate students in becoming the next generation of thought leaders. In our most recent collaboration, HKA hosted seven students pursuing a Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation (BCII) over a twelve-week period as part of their Industry Innovation Project (IIP) subject.
Passionate about project-based learning, the students engaged in a complex challenge brief where they, explored, reframed, prototyped, and refined potential solutions.
For three years, HKA has secured an IIP partnership. This year’s project was led by Associate Director Amanda Buchanan, and supported by Spark Committee members including Mathilde Schoelpple and Emma Moy – both BCII alumni.
“I really enjoyed the energy the students brought to the challenge and into the office each week. It was great to have the status quo challenged and to come away from the partnership having learned new ways to innovatively approach a project.”
Amanda Buchanan, HKA
The project challenge
The Spark team presented the students with a complex challenge brief:
“In an uncertain world on the verge of the next polycrisis, how might we shift perceptions towards building resilience in the infrastructure industry?”
This challenge prompted the students to explore the impacts of globalisation, crisis intervention dynamics, and the value of responsive versus reactionary approaches.
The students came from diverse academic backgrounds, with limited understanding of the infrastructure sector. HKA supported their journey through weekly meetings, interviews with internal and external stakeholders, and curated resources to enrich their learning. Applying their innovation skills, the students critically and creatively unpacked the original challenge brief.
“The IIP team were presented with a very challenging and broad problem that we anticipate will impact our industry massively in the next decade. It was inspiring to see the students, from a range of disciplines, apply themselves to the issue and identify the things that are overlooked as opportunities in this industry.”
Mathilde Schoelpple , HKA
Project Insights
Throughout the project, the students applied a range of methodologies and tools, leading to three key insights:
- Resilience requires dynamic monitoring.
Resilience isn’t static; it requires continuous oversight through ongoing analysis and proactively responding to emerging challenges. Without this, organisations face the risk of being vulnerable to disruptions.
- The industry has an opportunity for further information-sharing mediums.
By embracing more integrated communication systems, the industry has an opportunity to further drive collaboration and enhance cross-functional value and resilience.
- Robust client relationships are essential for consistent, successful outcomes.
Client relationships are critical to the success of consultancy, going beyond transactional interactions. These relationships enable strategic collaboration where proactive partnerships and situational awareness encourage joint resilience, leading to mutual success.
“The open-ended and complex problem space was a phenomenal chance to stretch and grow my innovation and creative intelligence skills.”
Zoe, Student
“I was inspired by the forward thinking minds we were supported by, and this motivated me to find a true innovative solution involving agentic AI to create real world impact.”
Cameron, Student
To address these insights, the students proposed a multipronged strategy. The recommendation entailed (1) standardising metrics for resilience – similar to ESG ratings, (2) developing an end-to-end AI agent pipeline for real-time data analysis on potential risks to infrastructure project resilience, and (3) incorporating a custom-tailored interactive dashboard to highlight both vulnerabilities and recommendations. The intended outcome explored a future-thinking solution that positions resilience as both a competitive advantage and business necessity, encouraging a greater industry-wide shift towards proactive measures.
The final presentation demonstrated an in-depth innovative roadmap for internally and externally embedding resilience, including values and sustainability propositions, cost analysis, a proof of concept, and actionable recommendations HKA could adopt.
“The IIP with HKA was a great opportunity to work with and learn from industry innovation professionals.”
Holly, Student
“I was impressed by the final solution the students developed in response to the complex problem brief. Their ability to pivot and incorporate feedback throughout the project enabled them to produce a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that aligned effectively with our consultancy context.”
Emma Moy, HKA
Both HKA and the Spark Committee place innovation at the forefront of our work, aiming to drive client value and establish a competitive edge through new, unique approaches. We greatly value the opportunity to collaborate with emerging talent and continue exploring new ways for HKA to innovate and adapt to a rapidly evolving environment.
