Volume IX - Issue V - May 2007
PM Industry News
Principles for Private Sector Participation in OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries have approved new principles to help governments in working with private sector partners to finance and bring to fruition major infrastructure projects in areas of vital economic importance such as transport, water and power supply and telecommunications The OECD Principles for Private Sector Participation in Infrastructure give governments a checklist of policy issues that they should consider in ensuring that citizens get the services they need at a fair cost and with acceptable returns to private sector partners. The Principles are designed to help governments address a range of issues that may arise in working with private sector partners. The principles cover five main areas: I. Deciding on the utility and nature of potential private sector involvement; II. Providing a sound institutional and regulatory environment for infrastructure investment; III. Ensuring public and institutional support for the project and choice of financing; IV. Providing disclosure and complaints procedures for an effective working partnership; and V. Ensuring responsible business conduct on the part of the private sector partner. The Principles were developed in consultation with a broad group of public and private sector experts from OECD and non-OECD countries, as well as from non-governmental organizations. They are intended to be used in conjunction with other OECD policy guidance and tools, such as the Policy Framework for Investment and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. To view an advance copy of the new OECD Principles document, click here The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to address economic, social and environmental challenges of globalization. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organization provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. OECD member countries include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. More information can be found at www.oecd.org.
ESI Opens Regional Office in Dubai, UAEESI International, a leading provider of project management, business analysis and contracted training, announced the opening of a new regional office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday, April 6. According to the company’s press release, the new office is the first for ESI International in the Middle East and North Africa region and will serve as the company's regional headquarters.  The new ESI office will be located in the business district of Bur Dubai. From its new Dubai location, ESI plans to serve its clients throughout the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) by offering a large range of learning programmes to help them getting better results from their projects, contracts, requirements and vendor relationships. According to ESI's lead Middle East Business Development Manager, Craig Jordan, “The Middle East is one of the fastest growing regions in the world at the moment and I'm excited about the opportunity this offers ESI. During 2006 we secured significant new contracts in the telecommunications, oil and gas, constructions, transportation and the financial sectors. We are currently working very closely with a number of key accounts helping them to deliver project management development programmes specifically tailored to the unique challenges faced in this region.” According to Alan Garvey, Managing Director of ESI, EMEA: 'This is an important milestone for ESI International and clear evidence of our commitment to developing a higher profile in the Middle East and North Africa.”
ESI has been active in the Middle East region for several years, providing project management training and consulting services to a number of clients in the area, including Ericsson, Halcrow, Motorola, HP, Saudi Aramco, Q-Tel. ESI International is a leading provider of project management, business analysis, contract management, sourcing management and business skills performance improvement programs. For 25 years, ESI has been building talent and driving results within Fortune 1000 companies and nearly every major U.S. government agency. ESI offers public classroom training in 75 cities worldwide, on-site training, e-training and professional services. For more information, visit www.esi-intl.com.
Katrina Claims in Louisiana Grow to $450 Billion According to a front page story in USA Today in the United States on Monday, April 9, 2007, claims for damages from Hurricane Katrina are set to grow to over $450 Billion. The state of Louisiana has filed a claim against the US Army Corps of Engineers for $200 billion, with the City of New Orleans filing one for $77 billion.  These are more than double the $110 billion approved by the US congress for Florida and the US Gulf Coast after Katrina and two other hurricanes devastated the area in 2005. Homeowner claims are also expected to exceed $200 billion. Louisiana and New Orleans have filed claims against the Corps of Engineers, contending that the Corps built the New Orlean’s levees improperly and kept open a controversial shipping channel that allowed Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge to hit the city more directly. The Corps claims that the levees were not its sole responsibility and that the channel did not increase the damage. The Corps has not yet paid any of the claims and there is some uncertainty as to if and when that might occur. In all likelihood, all parties will end up in court. Regardless of the outcome, the Gulf Coast of the USA will see thousands of rebuilding projects over the coming years and an increasing need for project managers and project management. If US federal funding continues to flow into the area, this would suggest a number of opportunities for project management experts and businesses, where the need is obviously so large.
IPMA President Veikko Valila visits Dallas for Meetings with PMForum President David Pells Mr. Veikko Valila, president of the International Project Management Association (IPMA), flew into Dallas from Helsinki, Finland on Monday for two days of meetings with David Pells, president of PMForum, Inc. and managing editor of www.pmforum.org and the popular PM World Today eJournal. Mr. Valila was in the USA to attend an IACCM conference in New Orleans, but flew to Dallas two days early to meet with Pells.  According to Veikko, “PMForum has been growing rapidly lately, along with its reputation. It is one of the few independent and truly global project management organizations in the world today, and I wanted to discuss a closer alliance between our organizations. I think that PMForum can provide some important services for IPMA and some new benefits for our member associations.” IPMA has been advertising on the www.pmforum.org website for the past year, and is a sponsor of PMForum’s online eJournal PM World Today – www.pmworldtoday.net. Topics discussed during the meetings on April 9-10, 2007 included PMForum news coverage of IPMA’s upcoming world congresses, news services, publication services and possible distribution of PM World Today to IPMA national association members around the world.  According to David Pells, “I was flattered that Mr. Valila would come all the way to Dallas to meet with me. PMForum is committed to supporting the global project management profession, and I look forward to expanding our support of IPMA. We are ready to help IPMA and other PM professional organizations worldwide with any means at our disposal.” During his visit to Dallas, Mr. Valila also attended a planning meeting for the 1st UTD Project Management Symposium scheduled for August 6-7, 2007 in Plano, Texas. The Symposium is being co-organized by the University of Texas at Dallas, the Dallas Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®), and PMForum. In a surprise development, Veikko offered to contact his associates at Nokia in Finland to help arrange for a keynote speaker for the UTD symposium. Additional information about the symposium can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/blogs/news/2007/03/2nd-call-for-papers-for-1st-utd-project.html. Founded in 1967, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) is a global federation of national project management societies that serve the specific project management needs of each country in its national language. IPMA provides an umbrella organization to represent them at the international level. The IPMA now consists of over 45 national associations spread across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. IPMA’s internationally acclaimed 4 Level Project Management Certification Programme continues to grow, with over 50,000 professionals having now achieved IPMA Certification. The IPMA annually presents project management awards to teams that achieve, and can prove, great feats in project management. IPMA maintains its continuous presence in the global project management arena through its regular hosting of International Symposia, Expert Seminars and its Annual World Congress. For more information, visit http://www.ipma.ch/Pages/IPMA.aspx.
Project Management Firm Celebrates 100 Years in Canada AMEC, the international project management and services company now based in London, UK, announced on Monday, 16 April, the launch of a company-wide celebration of its 100 years in Canada.  "AMEC is proud to have shared a century with Canada," said Samir Brikho, AMEC's Chief Executive. "Just as we were 100 years ago, at the beginning of this century, AMEC has been entrusted with the responsibility of some of Canada's largest, most important projects." According to the company’s press release, AMEC is involved with 10 of the 11 bitumen extraction plants in the oil sands industry; is project manager for the restart of two nuclear reactors at Bruce Power; is leading the project and construction management of the only two diamond mines in North America under construction, Snap Lake and Victor in the Northwest Territories and Ontario respectively; and completed the environmental impact assessment for the MacKenzie Valley Gas Pipeline. During a client reception in Calgary, Alberta, Mr. Brikho also unveiled a commemorative video, “Sharing a century - Building a nation”, highlighting significant milestones and unique stories from the past 100 years. Throughout 2007, AMEC's employees will be marking this achievement with various events at each of its more than 70 offices across the country. Engineering News Record Magazine has ranked AMEC as the No. 1 International Design Firm in Canada. AMEC is an international project management and services company that designs, delivers and supports client assets for customers across the public and private sectors. AMEC employs more than 20,000 people working from a network of offices throughout the U.K., USA and Canada, as well as regional offices and projects worldwide. AMEC shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange where the company is listed in the Support Services Sector (LSE: AMEC:L). AMEC has approximately 4,500 employees operating from 74 offices across Canada. One of AMEC's Canadian predecessor companies, Montreal Engineering, was founded in 1907. A detailed history of AMEC's 100 years in Canada can be found at www.amec.com. A streaming version of the video, “Sharing a century - Building a nation” can also be found on the site. For further information: AMEC, Lauren Gallagher, Tel: (403) 651-1067, lauren.gallagher@amec.com.
Cando Project Intelligence Wins German Innovations Prize 2007 Cando projects GmbH has announced that it has been commended with the German Innovations Prize 2007 in the category Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for its product Cando project intelligence. According to the Cando news release, the Jury voted Cando project intelligence as one of the most innovative and interesting solutions for Project Management. The product of the Munich company Cando Projects GmbH offers high usability and outstanding functionality for middle sized firms.  “It took a lot of courage to create an innovative solution that was not just a copy of all the conventional solutions which exited. With more than 40 Industrial customers already using our software, its nice to have it officially recognized,” said Thomas Schlereth the CEO of Cando projects GmbH. The Innovations Prize competition was first held in 2004. In 2007, a total of more than 1,200 companies applied for the award. In order to win the Innovations Prize 2007, a company and its product must provide an innovative solution for the Small Business community. The award will be given every year and announced at each annual CeBIT. Cando projects GmbH is the independent manufacturer of a new software generation for project management in teams. “Cando project intelligence” is based on long years of experience of project management for medium-sized and major business enterprises.  Founded in Munich, Cando provides services all across Germany, for all sectors of industry and every type of public institution. The Cando customer list includes major business concerns such as Hermes Logistik Gruppe, Techem, DALLI-WERKE, Böllhoff and the City of Vienna. For additional information, visit www.candoprojects.com or contact Ms. Wicki Winzer, Manager PR & Marketing, at w.winzer@candoprojects.com.
Does Advancing Technology Mean Increasing  According to an article published in EE Times Asia on Tuesday, 24 April, "project management can be expected to make up 20 to 25 percent of integrated circuit (IC) design costs at 65nm, almost double the costs at 90nm". Due to the increase in data set sizes crossing multiple global sites, IC designs now require more infrastructure than what conventional data-management systems can provide. According to the article, with current methods designers and design groups face lengthy tagging times, protracted check-in and check-out times and difficulties with assembling and reusing existing components without complex scripting. Teams also encounter corruption from glitches during data transfers over global networks, caused by file-by-file transfer operations, and experience challenges in sharing collateral when they use separate configuration management systems for HW/SW development. From a global design perspective, designs groups in different geographic regions face different problems. These include the inability to handle large binary objects quickly and the inability to efficiently combine data from multiple sites. Designers (worldwide) can also be locked out during back-ups and face the difficulty in implementing disaster recovery plan. While the EE Times Asia article was primarily intended to announce a new Global Design Platform (GDP) from IC Manage, said to be the first data-management solution to offer design assembly, derivative management and real-time worldwide delivery, PMForum noted the comments about project management. The mentioned GDP product includes features for IT integration (for hot backup), high availability and disaster recovery for 24 x 7 enterprise availability, high-performance revision control, configuration management and multi-site collaboration capabilities. In other words, the new product is to help improve PM on complex integrated circuit design projects with global team members. The GDP solution is promoted as enabling companies to efficiently manage, locate, assemble and reuse design data and IP across the enterprise during all design phases. "A design team's ability to collaborate efficiently across a global network throughout the design process is vital to meeting their project goals," said Dean Drako, president and CEO, IC Manage. "With today's dramatic increase in data volume, only a transaction-based approach with derivative tracking will let companies achieve around-the-clock, high reliability, design collaboration efficiencies." We at PMForum believe that the semiconductor and integrated circuit design industries represent important markets for advanced project management applications and methodologies. As these industries continue applying Moore’s Law to obtain higher computing power with smaller and smaller integrated circuits, the complexities also increase. The demand for better and more sophisticated project management can also be expected to increase in this sector. Source: http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800462106_480100_cae63424200704_no.HTM
PM Software for the Mac! ProjectWizards Reported by PMF Correspondent Manfred Rieck in Frankfurt, Germany Currently Macworld.com is reviewing several project management software tools. So far, only a few project management applications have been thoroughly tested. Merlin 2.0.3 was amongst the PM applications that were tested and the review was published on 24 April.  According to the press release issued by ProjectWizards, the reviewer Jason Teague stated, "Merlin 2.0.3, from Project Wizards, is project management software that is not only as good as its Windows competition, Microsoft Project, but much better.” Macworld rewarded Merlin 2.0.3 with “four and a half mice” for an intuitive interface, a variety of pre-built templates that are provided and easy update with iCal and Address Book. Last summer Merlin 1 was also reviewed by MacWorld, with four mice rewarded. Since then, Project Wizards worked on upgrading the software. Merlin 2 is being further developed, with future releases expected to offer more powerful and helpful features for projects managers working on Mac OS X. ProjectWizards GmbH is a German based company. Since 2001 they execute strategic and operational project management. With the experience of their professional project managers, ProjectWizards started to develop Merlin exclusively for the Mac in 2004. Since then Merlin has evolved to the standard tool for project management on Mac OS X. More information about ProjectWizards can be found at: ProjectWizards GmbH
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