What Does Sustaining Infrastructure Mean to You?

Looking back on the past month I don't think I knew what 'Sustaining Infrastructure' really meant.

The literal meaning: (from the American Heritage Dictionary)

sus·tain (sə-stān') tr.v. sus·tained, sus·tain·ing, sus·tains

To keep in existence; maintain.
To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for.
To support from below; keep from falling or sinking; prop.
To support the spirits, vitality, or resolution of; encourage.
To bear up under; withstand: can't sustain the blistering heat.
To experience or suffer: sustained a fatal injury.
To affirm the validity of: The judge has sustained the prosecutor's objection.
To prove or corroborate; confirm.
To keep up (a joke or assumed role, for example) competently.

in·fra·struc·ture (ĭn'frə-strŭk'chər) n.

An underlying base or foundation especially for an organization or system.
The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons.

Not just any company can say 'oh yeh, we sustain infrastructure... yeh, all of it... uh huh'. No. It's very difficult to make that claim. The term itself is powerful and demands respect. It emcompases Bentley the company and its users as a whole.

Through BE Conference, and realizing just how much impact Bentley has on the world through a little of my own research, I've figured out the meaning of this term. Sustaining Infrastructure is actively maintaining society and the environment around us.

Here is a video on Sustaining Infrastructure that was shown at BE Conference 2008:

What is Sustaining Infrastructure to you?