On December 6, 2025, the inaugural ceremony of Smart Civil Infrastructures, an international academic journal sponsored by Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (BUCEA), was grandly held during the National Bridge Academic Conference. The event attracted over 600 domestic and international experts and scholars, including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), foreign academicians of engineering, and national masters of engineering survey and design.

Professor Xi-Gang Zhang, academician of CAE, national master of engineering survey and design, chief scientist of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), and Editor-in-Chief of Smart Civil Infrastructures, delivered a welcome speech first. He pointed out that the global science and technology sector is undergoing unprecedented transformation in a century, with various disruptive technologies emerging rapidly. Meanwhile, China is comprehensively advancing a series of major strategic initiatives, such as the Transportation Power and Digital China strategies. At this historic juncture, civil engineering, as an ancient discipline that underpins the development and security of human civilization, embraces a rare opportunity for intelligent transformation. Civil engineering professionals are entrusted not only with the mission of technological innovation, but also with the era-specific responsibility of supporting national cultural rejuvenation and participating in the reshaping of global knowledge systems. First-class academic journals are integral to building a strong nation in science and technology. Rooted in a global perspective and integrating cutting-edge research findings, Smart Civil Infrastructures will leverage its outstanding academic quality and distinct practice-oriented approach to drive the construction industry toward greater safety, intelligence, and sustainability.

Professor Ting-Hua Yi, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of BUCEA, recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Smart Civil Infrastructures, elaborated on the journal's founding background, disciplinary positioning, development vision, and editorial board composition. He noted that since its preparatory stage, the journal has garnered widespread attention and positive responses from academia and industry, and has assembled a team of more than 120 editorial board members consisting of academicians, fellows, society presidents, and industry authorities from over 20 countries and regions, including China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Canada. Looking ahead, the journal will focus on three key priorities: first, serving as an innovation hub for cutting-edge technologies to drive original breakthroughs; second, building an intellectual support base for civil engineering strategies to strengthen strategic underpinning; third, establishing a cross-disciplinary convergence platform to facilitate knowledge integration. The journal is committed to developing into an academic highland that leads the digital and intelligent transformation of civil engineering, injecting sustained and far-reaching impetus into the advancement of the construction industry.

Academicians of CAE, including Xi-Gang Zhang, Jing-Quan Wang, De-Sheng Jiang, Zheng-Qing Chen, and Bin Zeng, together with Masters Bing Cui, Ren-Gui Wang, Biao Ma, Professor Ting-Hua Yi, and Professor Wen-Jie Li, jointly unveiled the journal to mark its official launch.

In recent years, BUCEA has actively responded to China's "AI+" initiative, embedding information technology deeply into teaching, research, and management. Driven by digital transformation, the university has accelerated its overall development by formulating and implementing the Three-Year Action Plan for Accelerating the "AI+" Initiative at BUCEA. It has established a comprehensive, full-cycle, and multi-dimensional development model for "AI+" and"+AI", vigorously promoting the in-depth integration and innovation of artificial intelligence and education across disciplines, talent training systems, research capacity building, and faculty development. To align with the intelligent transformation trend of the construction industry, BUCEA officially initiated the preparation of the international academic journal Smart Civil Infrastructures (ISSN: 3117-5260). Professor Da-Yu Zhang, President of BUCEA, serves as the Chairman of the Journal Council, while Vice Presidents Professor Zhao-Hui Chen and Professor Jun-Qi Li act as Vice Chairs. The journal is led by Editor-in-Chiefs Professor Xi-Gang Zhang and Professor Ting-Hua Yi, and its Advisory Editorial Board comprises 12 authoritative experts: CAE Academicians Jin-Ping Ou, Xu-Hong Zhou, Yan-Liang Du, Hua-Jun Li, Qing-Rui Yue, Jia-Ping Liu and Chuan He; Foreign Academician Billie F. Spencer Jr.; Han-Bin Ge, Academician of Foreign Academy of Engineering; Yan Zhuge, Academician of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering; Professor Michael Beer, President of the European Safety and Reliability Association; and Professor Mundia Muya, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zambia. Additionally, over 60 national-level leading talents and more than 50 tenured professors and associate professors from renowned international universities serve as Associate Editors and Editorial Board Members.

Smart Civil Infrastructures is published globally by KeAi Publishing, a joint venture between Science Press and Elsevier B.V. The journal adopts ScienceDirect, the professional peer-review and full-text database platform of Elsevier, for the entire manuscript handling process. Positioned as a comprehensive academic journal focusing on intelligent technologies in civil engineering, it is dedicated to advancing the digitalization, informationization, and smartization of civil engineering. It focuses on innovations and breakthroughs in the implementation of emerging technologies, such as smart sensing, the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, in major infrastructure projects including long-span bridges, high-rise buildings, large-scale stadiums, deep and long tunnels, major energy facilities, and complex lifeline systems. The journal welcomes submissions of various types, including reviews, research articles, technical notes, data papers, and engineering case studies.