New Frontiers for Project Management: Future Energy

By David L. Pells

Professional project management (PM) continues to grow rapidly in usage and demand worldwide, in most organizations and across all industries.  This is especially true in high technology and information technology (IT) organizations, but in may other industries as well.  The world is also rapidly changing, due to the global economy, climate change and other factors.  What do these changes mean to project-based organizations and PM professionals?  Many of these changes will offer new challenges and opportunities for individuals and organizations involved with project management.

I believe there will be some significant new industries, and major changes in existing industries, that will offer “new frontiers” for projects and PM around the world in the next 10-20 years.  Some of these new areas of PM application have been emerging slowly over the last decade, but are now expanding rapidly due to other forces and converging influences.  Other new frontiers are in traditional industries and sectors, but based on new global information, perspectives and awareness that are leading to new and massive investments in infrastructure.  And some frontiers are growing apparent based on changing demographics and more inter-connected, urban and global human population and civil society.

One example of such a new frontier is nanotechnology, a topic that was addressed in my March 2008 editorial.  This month we look at another new frontier for PM, Future Energy, a hot topic for the last 10 years but now front page news due to the combined influences of rapid demand growth (especially in emerging economies such as China), oil & gas supply limits, rising prices, the global economy and climate change. 

Read complete editorial in English