FIDIC 2008
As the UK member of FIDIC, the International Federation of
Consulting Engineers, ACE attended the 2008 FIDIC annual conference in
Quebec from 6-10 September 2008. This global gathering for the consultancy
and engineering sector is a key event in the industry's year and
ACE was an influential player at the conference, with a significant
delegation making the trip to Canada. With ACE hosting next year's
conference in London, UK delegates in Quebec were looking forward to
learning lessons for 2009 and to promoting the London event.
- Wednesday 10 September 2008 (Day 3) -
'Scott Wilson's Nielsen calls on FIDIC to tackle unfair contracts'
Former ACE chairman and Scott Wilson commercial director, Martin
Nielsen, captured the mood of conference on Wednesday morning with an
impassioned plea for FIDIC to throw its weight behind a campaign to
tackle the industry-wide problem of inequitable contracts.
In Nielsen's view unfair and unrealistic contracts were an enduring
threat to consultancy and engineering firms being able to build
successful businesses. Speaking as a platform speaker in the "Building
Strong Organisations" session, Nielsen cited the UK construction
industry as a sector that had seen numerous reviews and reports which
urged better working yet the industry was still bedeviled by clients
imposing contracts which made team and collaborative working almost
impossible.
"It's time for FIDIC to throw it's weight behind a campaign to stamp
out the iniquity of inequitable contracts," Nielsen told his audience
to applause.
Other speakers at the session included John Dionisio, chief
executive officer and president of AECOM USA, who outlined his vision
for building a strong business.
As well as describing his organisation's focus on people, enlightened
recruitment policies, diversity and their work in the community,
something common to many of the firms represented in the hall, Dionisio
was at pains to point out the need for firms to focus on business.
"Without being profitable we will not be able to do all the things that
we want," he said.
Turning his attention to future prospects, Dionisio concluded: "We are
in a very exciting business in very exciting times. In 37 years in this
business I am so proud today of the things that our industry is doing
to make peoples lives better."
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- Tuesday 9 September 2008 (Day 2) -
'Getting FIDIC fired up about communications'
Good communications and the need for engineers to raise their game
in this area is a common theme at this year’s FIDIC conference. SUZANNE
STEVENS, president and founder of Canadian communications consultancy
Ignite Excellence and a speaker at the conference, took time out to
answer a few questions from ACE.
Why are you speaking at this conference?
This is an industry undergoing change in a number of areas and having
worked with engineers in the past we know that they are receptive to
change. We can help people in improving their communications to win
business and also after they have won projects to assist them in better
communications with their clients. So, we are committed to this industry
That’s an interesting question. Some people would say that
engineers are poor communicators but I’m not sure that I would
necessarily agree with that. They may be shy but they are not alone
amongst professionals in having that trait. Are they better or worse
than other professionals? Again, a difficult one. What I do know is
that we have worked with many engineers on improving their
communications skills with great success.
How can professionals improve their communications skills, given that many have spent many years not improving them?
There are three groups to target here. Programme leaders and
trainers, who need to understand why they need to better communicate
and need to understand the industry. Organisations need to instill a
culture of communication. They have to want to become better
communicators and make it a philosophy at all levels. We can then
reinforce that by constant contact and follow up. Most importantly, the
individual themselves needs to be open minded and a life-long learner.
It is important to convince people why they need to become a good
communicator. FIDIC is recognising this at this conference so delegates
can take away the ‘why’ and make it practical.
What in your experience is the biggest barrier to good communications for businesses?
Often it is simply that people don’t know how to do it or why to do it.
Technology is not the answer. It is an aid not a substitute for face to
face and verbal communication. Resorting to email all the time can
create mixed messages. Use it sparingly as an accompaniment to good
communications not as a substitute.
What do you think makes a good leader?
Someone who practices what they preach and who is first in line to
demonstrate these competencies. In our experience the drive for
improved communications starts from the bottom or the middle of
organisations. Good leaders are ahead of the game and not only practice
what they preach they also communicate the aims of the organization so
people at all levels know what they are doing. It’s not enough to just
be doing your job, you have to see the bigger picture.
Who is your role model communicator? And why?
Two very different people for different reasons. Bill Clinton as a
presenter and the clear and polished way in which he comes across to
people. Mother Theresa for her understated approach and her ability to
get the job done.
Can you sum up what Ignite Excellence does in one sentence?
We influence, we differentiate and we engage so our clients can influence, differentiate and engage.
For further information on Ignite Excellence visit their website here.
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Conference comments
UK delegates to the conference give their reaction on how it was for them so far . . .
"Talking about the engineer's role in the global community, Jeffrey
Russell from the University of Wisconsin said: 'We have two futures:
the future we create, or the future that others create for us'. We do
need to seize the time. Speaking of which, a further comment from
Professor Russell should be taken to heart, when he said: 'America
licensed engineering in order to protect public health, public safety
and public welfare'. UK engineers and politicians take note."
Neil Sandberg, Chairman, ACE
"I was impressed by the speakers at the ethics and integrity
seminar and also the vocal comments from the floor on the importance to
society of the need to stamp out corruption and bad practice. The
discussion followed on well from John Ralston Saul's philosophising on
the importance of engineers promoting citizenship".
Kevin Corbett, Group Legal Director, Faber Maunsell
"John Ralston Saul's comments on the need for engineers to get
closer to and understand the needs of society and to take a leading
role in responding to global challenges hit a real chord with the
delegates."
Gavin English, Managing Director, WSP (MC) International
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- Monday 8 September 2008 (Day 1) -
'Stand up, the revolutionary engineer'
"Society will not achieve its sustainability and development
goals without engineers taking a leadership role," FIDIC president John
Boyd told the opening ceremony of the FIDIC 2008 annual conference in
Quebec, reports ANDY WALKER from Canada.
"The role of engineers is never more visible than in the
infrastructure and buildings that surround us," Boyd went on, making a
plea for the conference to take on a leadership position in society
"beyond engineering and construction" to influence the future direction
of the world.
Promising delegates unrivalled insights, stimulation and high level
debate, Boyd pledged to return in a year’s time in London to present
the first-ever FIDIC State of the World Report, assessing the planet's
progress towards developing sustainable solutions to the key global
challenges it faces.
Conference keynote speaker, leading thinker and philosopher Dr John
Ralston Saul, picked up on the theme of engineers going beyond their
immediate sphere of influence. Recalling a recent visit to Kandahar, he
talked about engineers building roads and bridges. A practical solution
in normal times but, given the local reality of bombs being placed
under bridges in that part of the world, some modern solutions aren't
necessarily the most appropriate said Saul.
Highlighting the potential of engineers and their inspirational role
in a thought-provoking and hard-hitting address, he spoke about the
doubling of life expectancy from 1850 to 1920, which he claimed was
largely down to the work of engineers enabling people to live more
healthy lives. Engineers and doctors were at the cutting edge of ideas
in defending living standards and social progress, said Saul.
"The problem of specialised professionals caught in a straight
jacket of ethical specialisms has meant that your leadership has taken
a back seat," he said. "I'm looking for the engineers who doubled the
life expectancy of people. I'm looking for citizens. Some professions
are more important than others and you engineers are in the top five
professions and to have you out of the loop as citizens changing things
is a big problem for society," said Saul.
"Of course becoming the specialist is comforting, or intellectually
lazy to be more accurate," he chided his audience. "You need to rewrite
your definition of your profession to become again part of society. A
return to ideas is needed. You need to be central to changing
civilisation for the better. Beware of the silo concept and of defining
yourselves by the narrow confines of your professionalism," said Saul.
Saul said that everything is won and lost in the universities.
Universities needed a revolution to change their approach and to start
developing more rounded citizens and in his view engineers were ideally
placed to lead that revolution. "Changing the nature of education is
needed to avoid the silo mentality that has been built into so many
courses and by definition, individuals," said Saul.
"Society is not about the management of professions, who merely act as
helpers to those that 'manage'", Saul said, “it's about engineers
taking control of their future by leading change in the way that issues
are addressed in the education system.”
Concluding his speech, Saul spoke of the enabling role of engineers
in leading “a new humanism” that can transform the world and the way it
addresses the challenges it faces. Delegates to the FIDIC conference
need to lead, not follow, and re assume their former influence that
literally changed the world and can do so again,” Saul said.
Second keynote speaker, former Quebec premier Pierre-Marc Johnson,
gave some further "views from the outside" in reviewing some of the
most important social, economic and environmental trends influencing
the consulting engineering industry.
Paying tribute to the intellectual curiosity of engineers, Johnson
expressed his admiration for the profession. "You have set yourselves
an ambitious programme," he told his audience. Against a background of
globalisation, engineers have to deal with a much more complicated,
fast-moving and mobile world than previously, Johnson said. "The
consequences of such growth have brought about developments that cannot
be ignored. China will be the world's most powerful economy. India will
grow ever more rapidly. 25% of the world’s population will be using the
internet in five years. The movement of people and ideas will
continue," he claimed.
“Energy use and fossil fuels have huge consequences,” said Johnson.
A consensus has been established on this issue though there are some
dissenting voices Johnson said. The debate is to mitigate or adapt to
climate change. He also cited the "anonymity of capital" as an issue in
creating a lack of accountability. Quality needed to prevail.
Predictability and certainty were required by financiers and insurers.
“Managing the unpredictability of the private sector has to be
contended with. You need also to recognise the value of national and
international organisations like FIDIC that play a significant role in
collectivising the experience of professionals to politicians and
opinion formers,” Johnson explained.
Summing up his speech, Johnson issued a clarion call for quality and
excellence, especially on building and infrastructure projects. “We
need much more emphasis on expertise and experience in the procurement
of public infrastructures, said Johnson. “If you’d hurt your arm and
needed an operation, you would not put that operation out to tender
amongst a bunch of surgeons. You'd go for quality and experience every
time. We need to legislate to ensure that public procurement is more
about quality and less about cost,” said Johnson, a sentiment with
which his audience in Quebec wholeheartedly agreed.
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'A capability for collaboration'
Business information systems that don't 'talk' to each other are
hampering many organisations from meeting their potential. DARRYL
WILLIAMSON, director business intelligence and knowledge management at
BST Global and a seminar speaker at the FIDIC conference, spoke to ACE
about the challenge many firms face in this area.
"We see many clients being stretched in executing global projects,”
explains Williamson. “Resources are being spread around the place - my
own company is experiencing it ourselves - and the challenge is to get
those resources to engage globally without travelling too much,"
Williamson says.
"We've begun to see technology maturing to allow real-time
collaboration. Chat-type technology and IP platforms have really
emerged and we are harnessing that to make collaboration easier,” says
Williamson. “Of course, we recognise the business pressures
consultancies face and want to work with firms to provide a solid
business system with the right tools to enable effective communication
across offices and regions," Williamson says.
Companies are trying to usher in collaboration in different ways,
through intranets and file sharing for example, but according to
Williamson many of these systems don't connect with work processes.
"The fragmented nature of these systems also deters people from using
them," he explains. BST Global is using the maturing technologies,
taking that capability for collaboration and extending it to the next
level. Using the Microsoft Sharepoint platform, Williamson is looking
forward to helping firms collaborate their way out of the current
impasse many of them face.
"Our solution is not a silver bullet," Williamson claims, but we are
talking about change management and adapting the right technology to
what organisations are trying to do. Having real-time access to
information when they need it gives firms the opportunity to make
informed business decisions and act on them quicker than ever before.
That's our aim," Williamson says.
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- Sunday 7 September 2008 -
The 2008 FIDIC annual conference in Quebec City, Canada is giving
engineers the opportunity to examine the important position they occupy
in society. The conference will challenge engineers to build a stronger
industry that more effectively serves society, focusing on their role
in influencing decision makers and opinion leaders while delivering
quality services to meet global needs.
Participants will be challenged not only to recognise and explore
the issues but also to recommend specific actions to be undertaken by
FIDIC and its member associations in order to “build a strong industry
serving society”. Beginning with a plenary session, each day of the
conference will focus on one of the three key sub-themes - Influency
Society, Delivering Quality and Building Strong Organisations.
ACE has a prominent spot at the conference, promoting its hosting of FIDIC 2009 in London.