Podcasts about major projects

Send us a textImagine standing in downtown Cleveland and gazing at Lake Erie just blocks away, yet feeling disconnected by an intimidating landscape of highways and parking lots. This frustrating paradox has defined Cleveland's relationship with its waterfront for decades.The Shore to Core to Shore Initiative is an ambitious and promising effort to reconnect Cleveland's downtown with Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River. Jessica Trivisonno, Senior Advisor for Major Projects for Mayor Bibb, and Drew Crawford, Senior Director of Planning for Downtown Cleveland, give us an update on the transformative plans that will finally bridge these divides.Ready to imagine a Cleveland where you can seamlessly walk from Tower City to the riverfront, or from Public Square to the lake? Construction begins in 2027, but the vision is taking shape now. Listen in to understand how Cleveland is finally poised to embrace its greatest natural assets.

Host Sarah Burke interviews Riley Nimens, an award-winning media professional, freelance events and television producer. They discuss Riley's career from working with the CBC and CTV's W5 to her freelance work in news, live events, and documentary production. Riley shares insights on the challenges and rewards of freelancing, her work at major events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup, and her passion for storytelling through projects like 'Dear Taliban'. The conversation also explores the evolving media landscape. More About Riley Nimens: Riley Nimens is a multi-award-winning producer, director, and business strategist known for her innovative approach and dynamic leadership in the media industry. With ten plus years of experience in producing live events, documentaries, and compelling stories, Riley captivates global audiences with her exceptional storytelling skills and unwavering commitment to delivering memorable experiences and content. https://www.rileynimens.com/ https://www.crave.ca/en/tv-shows/broken-inside-the-toxic-culture-of-canadian-gymnastics  https://www.canadaland.com/shows/dear-taliban/  https://www.runwaydanceconnection.com/  (00:00) Introduction and Background (01:11) Career Beginnings and Early Experiences (04:50) Transitioning to Freelance Work (07:51) Live Events and Major Projects (14:08) Working at the FIFA World Cup (19:13) Documentary Work: Dear Taliban (21:12) Future Projects and Aspirations (26:28) The Future of Media and Industry Challenges (29:34) Personal Ventures and Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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When a 9-year-old girl vanishes without a trace in 1984, a rural Canadian town is left reeling. Law enforcement quickly zeroes in on a suspect—a quiet, socially awkward neighbor. But as the case unfolds, doubts about his guilt emerge again and again. Decades later, Detective Sergeant Steve takes on the cold case. With the power of modern DNA technology, everything once thought to be fact is suddenly back in play. Will the truth finally come to light? Detective Sergeant Steve is a seasoned investigator with 28 years of service in the Toronto Police Service, where he currently leads the Homicide Cold Case Unit—home to the largest caseload of unsolved cases in Canada. In addition to overseeing the Cold Case Unit, Steve also manages the Forensic Video Unit and played a key role in the establishment of the Missing Persons Unit, guiding its development from the ground up. Throughout his distinguished career, Steve has held various positions in specialized units, including the Drug Squad, Major Crime Unit, Major Projects, ROPE (Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement) Squad, and the Hold Up Squad. Notably, while in the Hold Up Squad, he was instrumental in solving the high-profile multi-national bank robbery series known as the "Vaulter Bandit." A graduate of Brock University, Steve holds a major in Political Science and a minor in Business Entrepreneurship. His early career interests in law enforcement were sparked by his work with the Canada Border Services Agency during his time at university. For bonus episodes, behind-the-scenes shenanigans, join the SuperFam community at smalltowndicks.com/superfam

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The entertainment industry is in turmoil, with Disney's recent "Snow White" remake being a major example of how the woke agenda is failing both creatively and financially. There is a larger trend in media that prioritizes political correctness over quality storytelling. With a lack of fresh, compelling content and a rise in remakes, the media landscape is desperate for a return to traditional, values-driven narratives. Chandler Bolt joins the conversation to discuss how we can reclaim our media from the grip of woke politics and restore artistry to the entertainment industry.Click the link to secure your spot today! http://selfpublishing.com/turley*The content presented by sponsors may contain affiliate links. When you click and shop the links, Turley Talks may receive a small commission.*--Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and/or leave a review.FOLLOW me on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/DrTurleyTalksSign up for the 'New Conservative Age Rising' Email Alerts to get lots of articles on conservative trends: https://turleytalks.com/subscribe-to-our-newsletter**The use of any copyrighted material in this podcast is done so for educational and informational purposes only including parody, commentary, and criticism. See Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015). It is believed that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

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In this episode of the Matthews Mentality Podcast, hosted by Kyle Matthews, we dive deep into the world of real estate investments and development with Laith Hermiz, founder and CEO of Ironside Realty. Laith shares his journey from being the COO and Executive Vice President at Agri Realty Corporation to founding his own firm. With a rich career spanning both public REITs and private real estate, Laith discusses his critical role in acquiring and developing over $2 billion in assets, and the importance of strategic growth, value creation, and cultivating industry relationships. They explore current market trends, particularly the net lease space, and Laith offers insights on strategies and opportunities during disruptive times. The conversation also touches on the personal anecdotes, lessons learned from navigating the commercial real estate industry, and the importance of continuous learning, networking, and mentorship. 00:00 Introduction and Host Welcome00:29 Guest Introduction: Laith Hermiz00:57 Early Career and Achievements01:58 Net Lease Market Insights06:44 Personal Anecdotes and Stories13:57 Laith's Background and Family History14:03 Education and Early Career Path32:01 Discovering the Value of Networking32:41 Transitioning from Law to Real Estate33:41 Early Career in Real Estate Development34:34 Major Projects and Career Milestones34:58 Navigating the REIT Space35:38 Balancing Career and Family37:37 Motivations and Wealth Creation39:10 Key Career Achievements40:45 The Importance of Relationships45:00 Challenges and Lessons from the GFC51:44 Building a Successful Acquisition Platform58:56 Impact of COVID-19 on Real Estate01:00:53 Founding a New Venture01:06:06 Navigating Market Shifts and Opportunities01:06:55 The Appeal of STNL Retail Space01:08:24 Challenges and Surprises as a Founder01:10:11 Balancing Passion and Hard Work01:11:25 The Art of the Deal and Building Relationships01:14:39 Advice for Aspiring Professionals01:24:10 Networking and Professional Growth01:35:00 Final Thoughts and Reflections

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In this episode of Navigating Major Programmes, Riccardo Cosentino and co-host Shormila Chatterjee sit down with Melissa DeMarco, a seasoned construction and infrastructure leader with a PhD in construction management. With over 15 years of industry experience, Melissa has led projects across industrial, institutional, mining, and infrastructure sectors. Currently a partner at Accuracy, a boutique consulting firm, she has played a pivotal role in expanding the company's infrastructure and energy practice in Canada and globally. She delves into her academic journey, including her groundbreaking PhD research on global project networks, which allowed her to work with major industry leaders and analyze the mindset shifts required for success in complex, multi-location projects."People think of construction as a hard science, but then I think the angle that you took, which is sort of the same angle that I studied on, it's a social science, because ultimately there's so many people, and as soon as you have an aggregation of so many people, it then becomes a social environment, rather than a hardcore technical environment." – Melissa DeMarcoKey Takeaways:Melissa's career path from academia to industry has shaped her unique approach to infrastructure leadership.Success in major projects relies on both technical expertise and the ability to manage people effectively.Building a business from the ground up requires a mix of strategic vision, resilience, and strong relationships.Advancing in male-dominated industries takes both hard work and the confidence to advocate for leadership opportunities.The conversation doesn't stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:Follow Navigating Major ProgrammesFollow Riccardo CosentinoFollow Shormila ChatterjeeFollow Melissa Di MarcoRead Riccardo's latest at www.riccardocosentino.com Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.

Welcome to the CRE podcast. 100% Canadian, 100% commercial real estate. In this episode of Commercial Real Estate Podcast, hosts Adam Powadiuk and Aaron Cameron are joined by Vic Gupta, CEO of CreateTO, to discuss how Toronto manages its $27 billion public real estate portfolio. Vic shares insights into transformative projects like the Greyhound Terminal... The post Affordable Housing & Major Projects with Vic Gupta, CEO of CreateTO appeared first on Commercial Real Estate Podcast.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett joined Jacqui Felgate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you constantly saying, “I don't have enough time to get everything done”? Are your employees maxed out, leaving you thinking about hiring someone new? Before deciding, listen to this episode and discover the 5-Hour Challenge.In this episode, we'll break down a game-changing process designed to help business owners and their teams free up time, eliminate unnecessary tasks, and refocus on what truly matters.You'll learn:What the 5-Hour Challenge is and how it works.How to complete a task audit and identify tasks that can be delegated, eliminated, or automated.The four types of activities—Quick Wins, Major Projects, Filler Work, and Negative ROI—and how to handle each.Two key questions to ask when evaluating tasks to maximize productivity and profitability.Why should you complete this process quarterly before hiring new employees?Implementing the 5-Hour Challenge will eliminate wasted effort, improve team efficiency, and boost your bottom line—all while freeing up your time as a business owner.Don't miss this episode! Tune in now and take the first step toward working smarter, not harder.Connect with Brian:brianm@scaleocityworks.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brianmontes/Check out the E2E Coaching & Community - https://bit.ly/E2ECoachingandCommunitySubscribe to our newsletter - https://entrepreneurtoemployer.beehiiv.com/p/get-back-5-hours-per-week-with-a-task-auditAnd that's a wrap. If you love the Entrepreneur to Employer podcast, you will love the Entrepreneur to Employer Business Growth Community on Patreon. As a business owner, you're already making moves to grow your company—but what if you had access to even more tools, strategies, and exclusive content to help you scale faster and reclaim your time? That's what you'll get by joining the Entrepreneur to Employer community on Patreon! Here's what's waiting for you inside:✅ Bonus content with actionable strategies to build scalable systems✅ Exclusive templates & resources to streamline your HR and operations✅ Monthly Q&A sessions to get personalized insights for your business✅ Early access to new content before anyone else If you're serious about building a business that doesn't run you, this is your next step.

Hays Post Reporter Becky Kiser discusses projects for 2025 with City Manager Toby Dougherty and Mayor Sandy Jacobs   Listen Here

Happy New Year! Quincy 300 & 400, Major projects completed in 2025 & more...

Shadow Minister for Major Projects and Transport Infrastructure David Southwick joined Jacqui Felgate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special Master Builders episode of Navigating Major Programmes, Riccardo Cosentino and co-host Shormila Chatterjee are joined by Marianne Smith, a distinguished partner at Blakes National Infrastructure Group, to celebrate her remarkable career and pay tribute to Judy Wilson, a trailblazer in Canada's infrastructure industry. Judy, a world-renowned procurement lawyer and a champion for diversity, left an indelible mark on the sector before her passing. This episode honors her legacy while highlighting Marianne's own contributions as one of Judy's closest mentees.With over 20 years of experience in infrastructure and procurement law, Marianne has played a pivotal role in shaping public-private partnerships (P3s) across Canada. She shares her journey from working alongside Judy to becoming a leader in the field, emphasizing how mentorship and advocacy for diversity have been central to her success."Judy was a champion of diversity. She was an ally before we had the nomenclature of what an ally is.  She used her power, authority, influence. Not just selfishly, but also to promote, women, people of color, anyone who might've felt, that they didn't belong in the boardroom or around the table, talking about tough, infrastructure type issues. She really did impact so many people in that way." – Marianne SmithKey Takeaways:Judy's approach challenges with creativity, focus on client needs, and advocate for diversity to drive meaningful changeHow to leverage your expertise to develop frameworks and processes that can become industry benchmarks.How to build inclusive environments that encourage collaboration and empower diverse teams to succeed.Why investing in mentorship by sharing knowledge and supporting the growth of future leaders. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. The conversation doesn't stop here—connect and converse with our LinkedIn community:Follow Marianne Smith on LinkedInFollow Shormila Chatterjee on LinkedInFollow Navigating Major Programmes on LinkedInFollow Riccardo Cosentino on LinkedInRead Riccardo's latest at www.riccardocosentino.com  Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy, opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Disenyo.co LLC and its employees.

Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!Episode 365, In this episode, Paul discusses what's propelling the hydrogen economy forward, focusing on key projects like ExxonMobil's Baytown plant and groundbreaking initiatives across Europe. He explores how massive investments, advanced technologies, and a global shift towards low-carbon hydrogen are transforming hydrogen into a pivotal energy source.Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy the podcast. Please feel free to email me at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com with any questions. Also, if you wouldn't mind subscribing to my podcast using your preferred platform... I would greatly appreciate it. Respectfully,Paul RoddenVISIT THE HYDROGEN PODCAST WEBSITEhttps://thehydrogenpodcast.comDEMO THE H2 ADVANTAGEhttps://keyhydrogen.com/hydrogen-location-analytics-software/ CHECK OUT OUR BLOGhttps://thehydrogenpodcast.com/blog/WANT TO SPONSOR THE PODCAST? Send us an email to: info@thehydrogenpodcast.comNEW TO HYDROGEN AND NEED A QUICK INTRODUCTION?Start Here: The 6 Main Colors of HydrogenSupport the show

What if you could turn end-of-year overwhelm into strategic success? In episode 171, Dr. James Bryant explores the critical challenge of year-end prioritization. He introduces a powerful Impact vs. Effort Matrix framework designed specifically for managing the unique pressures of year-end tasks. Through practical examples and a systematic approach, Dr. Bryant demonstrates how engineering leaders can make strategic decisions about what truly deserves their attention during the limited time remaining in the year, while considering both professional demands and personal commitments. [00:00 - 03:11] Setting the Stage: The Year-End Challenge Understanding the unique pressure of year-end task management Real-world example of an overwhelmed engineering manager Importance of strategic prioritization during limited timeframes [03:12 - 04:17] The Year-End Difference Recognition of compressed timelines versus regular scheduling Impact of holiday season on task completion Collision of multiple demands and deadlines [04:18 - 05:57] Understanding the Impact vs. Effort Matrix Introduction to the strategic prioritization framework Definition of impact and effort dimensions Four quadrants: Quick Wins, Major Projects, Fill-ins, and Avoid/Postpone/Delegate [05:58 - 08:12] Strategic Question Framework Assessment of time reality within remaining weeks Identification of key stakeholders and dependencies Evaluation of real consequences for task completion [08:13 - 11:18] The Four-Step Implementation Approach Morning power hour for quick wins Peak performance block for major projects Afternoon strategy for fill-in tasks End-of-day priority reassessment [11:19 - 12:35] Managing High-Impact Overload Introduction to the Power of Three method Strategy for vetting high-priority tasks Approach to managing task postponement [12:36 - 14:28] Action Steps and Future Focus Creating comprehensive task lists Applying the impact and effort framework Preparing for unexpected challenges Key Quotes:  "Look at your high impact list as if I could only complete three things by the end of the year, what would they be?" - Dr. James Bryant "Sometimes our engineering minds drive us to make things thorough and perfect, but perfection is not the goal right now." - Dr. James Bryant Join The Finish Strong Team:  https://www.engineeryoursuccessnow.com/finishstrong/ Engineer's Blueprint for success: https://www.engineeryoursuccessnow.com/engineers-blueprint/ Let's connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I'd love to hear from you. Sign Up for the Email List: https://bit.ly/3QFzcWW  You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website, www.engineeryoursuccessnow.com, and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.

What if you could turn end-of-year overwhelm into strategic success? In episode 171, Dr. James Bryant explores the critical challenge of year-end prioritization. He introduces a powerful Impact vs. Effort Matrix framework designed specifically for managing the unique pressures of year-end tasks. Through practical examples and a systematic approach, Dr. Bryant demonstrates how engineering leaders can make strategic decisions about what truly deserves their attention during the limited time remaining in the year, while considering both professional demands and personal commitments. [00:00 - 03:11] Setting the Stage: The Year-End Challenge Understanding the unique pressure of year-end task management Real-world example of an overwhelmed engineering manager Importance of strategic prioritization during limited timeframes [03:12 - 04:17] The Year-End Difference Recognition of compressed timelines versus regular scheduling Impact of holiday season on task completion Collision of multiple demands and deadlines [04:18 - 05:57] Understanding the Impact vs. Effort Matrix Introduction to the strategic prioritization framework Definition of impact and effort dimensions Four quadrants: Quick Wins, Major Projects, Fill-ins, and Avoid/Postpone/Delegate [05:58 - 08:12] Strategic Question Framework Assessment of time reality within remaining weeks Identification of key stakeholders and dependencies Evaluation of real consequences for task completion [08:13 - 11:18] The Four-Step Implementation Approach Morning power hour for quick wins Peak performance block for major projects Afternoon strategy for fill-in tasks End-of-day priority reassessment [11:19 - 12:35] Managing High-Impact Overload Introduction to the Power of Three method Strategy for vetting high-priority tasks Approach to managing task postponement [12:36 - 14:28] Action Steps and Future Focus Creating comprehensive task lists Applying the impact and effort framework Preparing for unexpected challenges Key Quotes:  "Look at your high impact list as if I could only complete three things by the end of the year, what would they be?" - Dr. James Bryant "Sometimes our engineering minds drive us to make things thorough and perfect, but perfection is not the goal right now." - Dr. James Bryant Join The Finish Strong Team:  https://www.engineeryoursuccessnow.com/finishstrong/ Engineer's Blueprint for success: https://www.engineeryoursuccessnow.com/engineers-blueprint/ Let's connect! Find me on my LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I'd love to hear from you. Sign Up for the Email List: https://bit.ly/3QFzcWW  You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website, www.engineeryoursuccessnow.com, and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.

On this week's Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, a conversation with Ryan Mitchell, marking the one-year anniversary of the Michigan Department of Transportation's (MDOT) Office of Major Projects.  The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) categorizes major projects as those with a price tag of $500 million or more.   Mitchell helped establish and refine the alternative delivery and critical project delivery programs of numerous U.S. transportation agencies, including the state transportation departments of Nevada, Texas, Alaska, and now Michigan. In our conversation, he explains the various types of alternative delivery of projects and the benefits. Other links and references: Innovative contracting at MDOT www.Michigan.gov/MDOT/Business/Contractors/InnovativeContracting    MDOT's Modernize 75 project www.Modernize75.com/ 

In this episode of Mastering Major Projects, Riccardo Cosentino and co-host Shormila Chatterjee sit down with Marni Dicker, a dynamic and bilingual senior executive recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women and one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in the country. Marni's accolades include the General Counsel Award for Business Achievement and the Premier's Award of Excellence from the Province of Alberta for her groundbreaking work on the Calgary Courthouse Public-Private Partnership.With an impressive background in corporate law and a strategic leadership role in the Canadian Premier League, Marni shares her extraordinary journey from criminal law to becoming a transformative figure in infrastructure and business strategy. Known for her ability to deliver projects on time and within budget, she discusses the importance of diversity and inclusion in leadership and her commitment to mentoring the next generation of female leaders."Remember, I knew nothing about construction and infrastructure engineering, and they would ask me a very substantive question. What would you do if this happened on one of your sites? And I did the following. I would certainly call external counsel who is specialized in that area, and I would ensure that we got the best advice. Basically, I was punting it down the line because I had no idea, none, how to answer their questions. What I quickly learned is that's what they liked. No one is expected to know everything you are supposed to be able to know how to use your resources, how to get the right expert advice." – Marni Dicker Key Takeaways:Career Evolution: Marni's path from criminal law to leading major infrastructure projects, showcasing her adaptability and leadership across industries.Public-Private Partnerships: Marni's experience in structuring award-winning public-private partnerships, including her work on the Calgary Courthouse project.Leadership in Infrastructure Development: From leading infrastructure for the Canadian Premier League to managing multimillion-dollar projects, Marni's strategic and operational expertise is highlighted across sectors.Mentorship and Diversity: Her role as a mentor and advocate for diversity, pushing for gender equality in leadership roles within traditionally male-dominated industries.Plus, insight into how Marni successfully balanced her demanding career while prioritizing her family life. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. The conversation doesn't stop here—connect and converse with our LinkedIn community: Follow Marni Dicker on LinkedInFollow Shormila Chatterjee on LinkedinFollow Navigating Major Programmes on LinkedInFollow Riccardo Cosentino on LinkedInRead Riccardo's latest at wwww.riccardocosentino.com Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy, opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Disenyo.co LLC and its employees.

“The client's role is not to solve the problem — it's to state the problem.”What's the client's perspective in major cultural projects? What are “client user groups?” What's the difference between advocating for the client, and advocating for the project? How do you “inhabit your project?” How might a single gender-inclusive restroom project change an entire institution? Should every project have a “super contingency” in the budget?Amy Weisser (Deputy Director for Strategic Planning and Projects at Storm King Art Center) joins host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “The Client Side of Major Projects.”Along the way: P.P.E., trusting the hiring decisions, and a 2,000-year-old Roman theory that still works today.Talking Points:1. The Three-Legged Stool: Vision, Schedule, Budget 2. Client Advocate, Project Advocate, User Advocate 3. Museum Building Projects are Linear, Not Cyclical 4. All Projects are Transformational 5. Project Phases: Watercolors to Hard Hats 6. Disasters DO Happen 7. Build Your ValuesHow to Listen: Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311 Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G Everywherehttps://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/ Guest Bio:Amy Weisser is Deputy Director, Strategic Planning and Projects at Storm King Art Center, where she incubates projects focused on strategic growth. Weisser has spent 30 years supporting cultural institutions undergoing profound development. Prior to Storm King, Weisser led exhibition development for the National September 11 Memorial Museum from 2005 to 2017 and helped open the contemporary art museum Dia:Beacon and the American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center for Earth and Space. She has taught Museum Studies at New York University. Weisser holds a doctorate in Art History from Yale University. She is a co-author of Martin Puryear: Lookout (GRM/SKAC, 2024). About MtM: Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com Links for This Episode: Amy's Email: as.weisser@stormkingartcenter.org Amy's LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/amysweisser/ Storm King: www.stormking.org Storm King's Capital Project:https://stormking.org/capitalproject/Building Museums Symposium, a project of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums: https://midatlanticmuseums.org/building-museums/Links for MtM: https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger alger@cgpartnersllc.com https://www.cgpartnersllc.com Newsletter: Like the show? Try the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a one-minute email, three times a week, on exhibition planning and design for museum leaders, exhibition teams and visitor experience professionals. (And the best way to find out first about new episodes of the podcast.)Subscribe here: https://www.makingthemuseum.com 

ADOT's Doug Nintzel sits down with Rob Samour of ADOT's Major Projects office to discuss the status of current projects. 

In the latest episode of Hold That Thought, Katrina Van Houtte, Dentons Partner specialising in Major Projects and Construction, dives deep into the heart of New Zealand's infrastructure challenges, exploring the hurdles faced in having a secure pipeline, prioritisation, and the timely execution of critical projects. Katrina is joined by Aurecon New Zealand's Managing Director Tracey Ryan and Fulton Hogan CEO's Ben Hayward, they discuss: · The impact that constant changing of infrastructure policy and priorities have on the sector · Opportunities to de-politicise infrastructure development· How the current budget addresses infrastructure investments· Decarbonising infrastructure delivery and how New Zealand can best respond.

This week on The UK Flooring Podcast, we had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Jo Sedgley from Sedgley Flooring Solutions Ltd. Join us as we journey from his wild days in Magaluf to building a thriving multi-million-pound flooring business.Early Beginnings:Joseph's start in flooring straight out of school in 1993.How knocking on the door of a local flooring business changed his life.Magaluf Adventures:Three wild years in Magaluf and how those experiences influenced his life and business relationships.The transition back to the UK and the early stages of his career.Climbing the Career Ladder:Working with top teams and major companies like John Abbotts.The impact of key mentors and colleagues on his professional development.Building Sedgley Flooring Solutions Ltd:The challenges of starting a business from scratch in 2014.The evolution from working out of a garage to running a successful enterprise.The pivotal moments and key partnerships that facilitated growth.Management and Team Building:Joseph's approach to leadership and maintaining loyalty within his team.The importance of a balanced mix of subcontractors and full-time employees.Major Projects and Achievements:Highlights of significant projects, including the Proton Beam project at Christie Hospital.How Sedgley Flooring Solutions Ltd navigates large-scale contracts and delivers excellence.Personal Insights and Future Plans:Joseph's reflections on balancing work and personal life.His vision for retirement and future travel plans.Memorable Quotes:"If you can't pay the lads, you ain't gonna get the job done.""Losing your rag solves nothing."Guest Information:Joseph SedgleyLinkedIn: Joseph SedgleyDon't forget to subscribe to The UK Flooring Podcast for more inspiring stories and expert advice from leaders in the flooring industry. Share this episode with your friends and colleagues to spread the knowledge! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast, Steve Prusak, president and CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical, talks about his new role, major projects and industry challenges. Prusak, with 30 years of industry experience, provides insights into the company's ongoing efforts, future plans and Chevron Phillips Chemical's view on sustainability in chemical industry. He expresses his dedication to advancing Chevron Phillips Chemical's growth and sustainability initiatives, ensuring the company remains a leader in the petrochemical industry while adapting to future challenges and opportunities. For more news on the renewable energy industry, manufacturing industry, oil and gas industry and more, visit https://www.bicmagazine.com/

In this episode of the AgCulture Podcast, Donald Moore, Executive Director of Global Dairy Platform, shares his insights into the global dairy industry. Donald discusses the collaborative efforts of major dairy cooperatives worldwide, emphasizing the efforts in industry sustainability and dairy's economic and social impacts. Tune in to explore these crucial topics and more on your preferred podcast platform. (00:00) Introduction (02:00) Formation of Global Dairy Platform (05:57) Major Projects and Achievements (10:03) Importance of Networking (11:11) Challenges in Dairy Industry (14:29) Policy and Advocacy Efforts (26:07) Future of Dairy Industry (35:26) Closing Thoughts Meet the guest: Donald Moore is the Executive Director of the Global Dairy Platform (GDP). He leads key initiatives like the Dairy Sustainability Framework and Pathways to Dairy Net Zero. Donald also serves on the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock Guiding Group and the FAO's Private Sector Advisory Group. Discover the world of agriculture with the "Ag Culture Podcast", hosted by Paul Windemuller. This podcast will be a gateway for those passionate about agriculture to explore its global perspectives and innovative practices. Join Paul as he shares his experiences in the agricultural industry, his travels and encounters with important figures around the world. Expect engaging stories of Paul's journey as a first-generation farmer and consultant, covering topics ranging from coffee to greenhouses to agricultural technology. "Ag Culture'' will aim to inspire agricultural entrepreneurs and innovators weekly. Available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Subscribe at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AgCulture Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and keep an eye out for future episodes, bringing insights and stories from the vibrant world of agriculture.

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Delta Mayor George Harvie, who serves as chair of the Metro Vancouver board of directors, has come under scrutiny for his travel expenses, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars this year. Guest: Mike Klassen, ABC Vancouver City Councillor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are LLMs stochastic parrots or reflection of our own intelligence? In this episode of Navigating Major Programmes, Riccardo Cosentino sits down with Lawrence Rowland for an extremely candid conversation surrounding the adoption of artificial intelligence, in major programmes and beyond. AI skeptics and AI enthusiasts alike, this episode was recorded for you. “None of us are keeping up, none of us know what the hell is going on. So, if you can kind of just relax and enjoy it happening, you will also help everyone else so much more. Enjoy it. And enjoy what [AI] is telling us about us.”  –Lawrence Rowland Lawrence began as an engineer on large capital projects with WSP and Motts, before moving onto Bechtel and Booz Allen. He spent ten years in project and portfolio management with CPC and Pcubed, before transitioning to data analytics and AI for projects, working originally for Projecting Success, and now for React AI. He now helps project services firms find relevant immediate AI applications for their business.  Key Takeaways:Large Language Model (LLM) 101What is an AI agent? What is the principal-agent problem (PAP)?What LLMs can teach you about your own thinking patternsThe future of Google Gemini and AI adoption in generalThe weaknesses of the generative AI of today Mentioned Links:A Path Towards Autonomous Machine IntelligencePrincipal Agent ProblemApplied Category TheoryWisdom of CrowdsState Space Models and MambaDemis Hassabis and the return of alpha zero type tree search and RL If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. The conversation doesn't stop here—connect and converse with our LinkedIn community: Follow Navigating Major Programmes on LinkedInFollow Riccardo Cosentino on LinkedInRead Riccardo's latest at wwww.riccardocosentino.com      Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy, opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Disenyo.co LLC and its employees.

REGIONS: Major projects in pipeline for Zambales | December 25, 2023Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us:Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebookInstagram - https://tmt.ph/instagramTwitter - https://tmt.ph/twitterDailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts:Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotifyApple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcastsAmazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusicDeezer: https://tmt.ph/deezerStitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein #TheManilaTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today - we're diving into a monumental event that unfolded at Cochise College earlier this week.Support the show: https://www.myheraldreview.com/site/forms/subscription_services/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ryan Mitchell, recently named director of the newly established Office of Major Projects at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), joins the podcast. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) categorizes major projects as those with a price tag of $500 million or more. Mitchell helped establish and refine the alternative delivery and critical project delivery programs of numerous U.S. transportation agencies, including the state transportation departments of Nevada, Texas, Alaska, and Michigan.He explains the various types of alternative delivery of projects and the benefits. Other links and references: Innovative contracting at MDOThttps://www.Michigan.gov/MDOT/Business/Contractors/InnovativeContracting   MDOT's Modernize 75 projecthttps://www.Modernize75.com/ 

In this week's episode, Riccardo switches chairs and guest host, Jim Barnard, asks all the questions. Riccardo shares insights from his Oxford Saïd Business School dissertation on the use of collaborative contracting into major programmes, specifically PPP structures. Riccardo and Jim delve into the complications and complexities of risk management, adversarial situations, stakeholders and shareholders and private financing.   “When you have collaborative contracting, you almost waive your legal rights or your rights to pursue legal remedies. And so, all of the parties are around the table. There are many advantages of collaborative contracting, but the simplest one is, instead of hiring lawyers to sort out disputes, you're redeploying those resources to actually solving project problems.” Key Takeaways:  The price of winning contracts in the PPP market and how the public sector entity comes into playWhy collaborative contracting provides better odds for finishing on time and on budget, but equity has to take more riskPPP and politics, how do we navigate it?  If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. The conversation doesn't stop here—connect and converse with our community: Riccardo Cosentino on LinkedInJim Bernard on LinkedIn Transcript:Riccardo Cosentino 00:05You're listening to navigate the major problems, the podcast that aims to elevate the conversationshappening in the infrastructure industry and inspire you to have a more efficient approach within it. I'myour host, Riccardo Cosentino brings over 20 years of major product management experience. Mostrecently, I graduated from Oxford University Said business school, which shook my belief when itcomes to navigating major problems. Now, it's time to shake yours. Join me in each episode, as I pressthe industry experts about the complexity of major program management, emerging digital trends andthe critical leadership required to approach these multibillion-dollar projects. Let's see what theconversation takes us. Hello, and welcome to a new episode of navigating major programs. Todaywe're going to be doing things a little bit differently. My friend, and one point guest of the show asagreed kindly to be hosting this podcast. And we'll do a role reversal where I'm going to be doing thepresenting and Jim Barnard is going to co-host the show. And today we're going to talk about a topicthat is very close to my heart, which is the use of collaborative contracting into major programs,especially into PPP structures. I've done a full dissertation at Oxford as part of my master, majorprogram management, and I decided that it'd be good to walk you through my findings and myconclusion. Anyway, let me introduce the host for today. Jim Bernard. How you doing? Jim?Jim 02:00I'm great. Riccardo, thanks for having me. Big fan of the podcast, obviously had the chance to be on apreviously so very much appreciate the opportunity to be host this time.Riccardo Cosentino 02:11So today, as I said, I'll be a be doing the talking. And you'll be doing the asking. Maybe I can start? I'lljump right into it unless you have a specific question for me. And maybe I can give a bit of a bit of anoverview of my research thesis and some of my findings and some of my conclusions.Jim 02:34 2Transcribed by https://otter.aiYes, summary will be great, a perfect place to start. But some of our folks listening may not becompletely familiar with even the concept of collaboration. And I know having read your dissertationthat you get into some fairly technical and detailed topics relative to finance and how structures are setup and that type of thing. So for those of us either less familiar or kind of new to the topic, if you don'tmind, let's start as basic as possible.Riccardo Cosentino 03:03Okay, well, let's start with, let's start with what prompted me to research this specific topic, the probablya good place to start here. I you know, I'm a professional the work in public private partnership over thelast 20 years. So again, a lot of knowledge about the topic, I have structured and finance manytransactions that use non recourse financing. And a couple of years ago, my company decided to exitthe what we call the lump sum turnkey business, which is the type of contracting where a private sectorentity commits to deliver a project on time and on budget and every any cost overruns. And at any cost,and any time overruns are absorbed by the entity that has committed to deliver the project. So mycompany has been losing a lot of money with the stock form a contract. So in 2018, we decided toexited. However, this type of contract is the cornerstone of non recourse financing, recourse financingis financing that doesn't, doesn't lean on the asset of the parent company, but the only leans on theasset of the other special purpose vehicle that is delivering the project,Jim 04:26basically. Project.Riccardo Cosentino 04:29Yes. Right. So it's basically the future revenues, that that's the only recourse available to lenders debtand equity lenders is access to, to project revenues rather than corporate revenue associated with theentity that is delivered project.Jim 04:49Right.Riccardo Cosentino 04:50And because my company exited this business lumpsum turnkey, indirectly we also exited theconstruction portion of public private partnerships were where entities or companies, contractors arehired to deliver the project under the structure. However, we still wanted to stay involved in contracting.So what we started researching is different types of contracts and collaborative contracting, came upalliances IPD all forms of contract that they include a large component of collaboration. In this type ofcontracts, the risk is not transferred to the product to the contracting entity is the risk of on timecompletion and on budget completion stays within the project sponsor. There is a Pain Gain sharingmechanism, where the contracting entity, the contractor that is delivering the project puts their fee risk,but they're not taking on the cost of around burden that is typical of lump sum turnkey. So once westarted researching this, the question that I was asked many, many times, being the expert in publicprivate partnership is can we convince clients and lenders to use collaborative contracting within thenon recourse PPP structure? And intuitively, I didn't think it was possible, I did some preliminary 3Transcribed by https://otter.airesearch as part of my job. But I couldn't really find conclusive answers of why collaborativelycontracting could or could not be used within a PPP structure,Jim 06:45where I take a step back down, how did you do your preliminary research was at a qualitative research,quantitative research and kind of benefits of both detriments of both How did you choose what methoddid you use and how did you choose it.Riccardo Cosentino 06:58So during what while I was still working, so before I use an academic method, I, I just looked at thecommercial parameters, I just look at the commercial framework and in the legal framework, and I justtried to see if the economic principle of the commercial principle would support these type ofcommercial and legal structure, right. And based on my understanding of the commercial principle, nonrecourse financing, where risk has to be transferred, and where lenders that especially debt lenders,needs to be kept whole in the PPP structure, the only entity that can keep the lenders or is thecontractor delivering the work? I mean, no, it's not the only way. But it's the most economical way. Andthe cheapest way of implementing a project finance structure is to have the contractor guaranteeing thedelivery of the project by putting up the balance sheet and by taking on the cost of Iran in a lump sumturnkey model,Jim 08:07but the fee, the fees at that point are fixed, right. So you're really talking all downside, fixed upside inthat structure. I mean, it sounds not just unpalatable, but somewhat dangerous for the contractor to getinto that arrangement.Riccardo Cosentino 08:23It is and they think he has worked in the past to a certain degree where Contractor have been able tomanage that risk the took on. But I think over the last 15 years, the market got so competitive, thatcontractors have been racing to the bottom sometimes fixing the cost of the project to a level too low toactual deliver and then end up absorbing all of the losses at the back end or the contraction period. Imean, that's definitely what happened to our company we overcommitted in order to win the contract,and then we ended up with a lot of the losses. However, there are instances where the model works.It's just you know, I think you the model can work if you have a healthy competitive process, if you havean unhealthy race to the bottom is probably dangerous, dangerous territoryJim 09:23that can open up even getting into different ways of gaming. Bidding processes itself is a massive topic,I'm sure that gets into behavioral economics and how people bid and upsides and downsides andpsychology and all this other stuff. So we probably want to table that for a future episode because wecould spend hours just on that aspect of it. I'm sure. So, but I guess the conclusion is at some point inthe market, the bids got so tight in the market, the fees got compressed, so low that the people who arewinning the bids were just really behind the eight ball at the beginning. I mean, it was it was almost Iwant to say it was, you know, failure was baked into the to the process. But it sounds like you're in areally tight spot straight out of the gate. 4Transcribed by https://otter.aiRiccardo Cosentino 10:13That's correct. And it's not unlikely It's not unlike the, you know, bid low claim high model that westudied in, at Oxford, right, I think there was a case about how the it's, we live in an industry wherethere's a lot of, you know, contractors make their money through the claims. And then and I think that'swhere the PPP market got to where, you know, companies bid low in order to secure the contract, andthen then trying to deal with the consequences afterwards,Jim 10:46by claim process, you're talking going to court litigation,Riccardo Cosentino 10:50eventually. Yeah, that's where he ends up. I mean, you can try and settle. I mean, there are settlementalong the way that you can do there are but you know, ultimately, yeah, you go to court, and, you know,20 to 30 cents on the dollars if you're lucky when you play.Jim 11:05So that whole system sounded like from the day that they decided to race to the bottom of the wholesystem seems like it's building upon a weak foundation to start. And it's crumbling from there. I mean, ifyou're going to court to deal with inevitable complexity of a major program seems like somethingstarted wrong. I mean, it's not in it's not within the project itself, which obviously has its own complexityfrom a cost standpoint, engineering standpoint, and construction execution stakeholders, and then wehave this whole network of influencers within any major program. But this is like on top of that, this is awhole kind of external integration challenge. That, before you even get to the complexity of the project,you're kind of off off center to begin with that fair.Riccardo Cosentino 11:58That's, that's very fair. And, and but that's probably not something caused by the PPP structure or thenon recourse financing structure is more caused by, you know, public sector entity, especially beingsubjected to optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation in order to get these projects off the ground.And I think we PPP that problem is accentuated by the fact that there's a bit of heuristics, which is theprivate sector can do it better. So we don't have to develop the project to you know, 50% 60% design,in order to get to get bids in, we're gonna put out a 5% design, the private sector will take a developergive us a fixed price. And, and we'll go from there, which breeds a situation where you have contractorcommitting to a fixed price contract with only 15 20% design done. Because that's the nature of PPPwhere, you know, the government or the public sector doesn't want to develop the project, becausethey don't want to stifle the innovation that the private sector could bring. But on the other hand, theydon't really give a lot of opportunity to the private sector, to develop the design, to you know, 60 70%,which is what you need to have certainty, and then an ability to commit to a fixed price.Jim 13:28So are sort of back to that master, the opposite of the master builder heuristic. We're not planning longand or planning slow and building quickly, we're planning quickly and just accumulating delays and costoverruns. 5Transcribed by https://otter.aiRiccardo Cosentino 13:41Absolutely, absolutely. And then, you know, and you know, we seen this, because these projects are solong. And by the time that all the problems actually materialize, it's probably six, seven years down theline. So nobody worries about that at the beginning, and you will worry about that at the end. And youalways people somehow scratch their heads is that how do we get here, but pretty simple how we gothere.Jim 14:07So not to not to necessarily prompt a sales pitch for collaborative contracting. But how do you see orhow what did your research determine the benefits of collaborative contracting? We're, and then howlikely is it that it's going to become part of part of the industry?Riccardo Cosentino 14:31So my research was wasn't so much about collaborative contracting. So I took I took the benefit ofcollaborative contracting as a given and I said, you know, if collaborative contracting is such a goodway of delivering projects, How come is not used in PPP structures? What are the limiting factors thatdon't allow the implementation of collaborative contracting into PPP P. So my starting premises wascollaborative contracting is good. It is the way forward, and how do we how do we roll it out in differentparts of the industry?Jim 15:12Can we explore that just for a second? What is it about collaborative contract? And what benefits? Doyou believe that delivers to the industry?Riccardo Cosentino 15:21Well look, to me, just the fundamental principle that when you have collaborative contracting, youalmost you're almost waive your legal rights or your rights to pursue legal remedies. And so all of theparties are around the table. So the, you know, there are many advantages of collaborative contractcontracting, but the simplest one is, instead of hiring lawyer to sorting out disputes, you redeployingthose resources to actually solving project problems. So if you think of the litigation costs in thesemajor, major programs, if you just take those costs, and you were to use that financial resource toactually solve actual problems on the project, I mean, it doesn't take a lot of research to know thatanecdotally, that that's a good thing. Developed with all due respect to our attorney friends out there,your role may not best to be solving problems after the fact. Right? I mean, that's kind of the idea.Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, a claim against the client doesn't get concrete poured faster. Right. Okay.Fair point. You know, a few extra engineers and a few extra project resources could get that concretepoured faster, or figure out a way to pour the concrete faster.Jim 16:56Yeah, have the magic communications better to when you're not having to run it through attorneys andlegal filings?Riccardo Cosentino 17:02 6Transcribed by https://otter.aiYeah, I mean, I use I use that example. Because it's, you know, we just talked about claims we justtalked about, you know, ended up in court. So that's, that's the thing that comes to mind. But, you know,in general, I think we can all agree that a non antagonistic environment is more conducive to betterworking relation and better outputs. It's just anecdotally, we intuitively we can all see thatJim 17:34Sure.Riccardo Cosentino 17:35That we all want to work in a collaborative space, because, you know, when you bring the intellect ormultiple people together, and you foster that, you definitely want to get a better outcome.Jim 17:47Right, more rewarding toRiccardo Cosentino 17:48Yes. So that's, that's why I've took that I took it as a dogma, I said, collaborative contracting, is the rightway forward,Jim 17:58okay.Riccardo Cosentino 17:59So, okay, so why can we use that in PPP structures. And so, this is where it gets a little bit technical.Where, you know, PPP are really know nothing more than non recourse financing or project financing.That was it was a financing mechanism that was developed in the 70s. for oil exploration in the NorthSea, there weren't enough oil and gas company, there wasn't a big enough oil and gas company toabsorb the risk of oil exploration in the North Sea. So, they came together and came up with thestructure, which basically insulate the parent companies for the loss from the losses of the project. Andso, you know, if you take all exploration, and you lend him money into oil exploration Norh sea lenderscan only go after the asset to the oil platform or the future revenues associated with the asset. And thatbasically insulate the parent company for wo po things go really wrong,Jim 19:11but is there is there a completion guarantee built into this? I mean, the contractor can't just walk awaywithout recourse, can they?Riccardo Cosentino 19:18So, sorry, what I was describing is the is the is the structure or the client level? Yes.Jim 19:25Got it.Riccardo Cosentino 19:26 7Transcribed by https://otter.aiSo at the at the contractor level, yeah, absolutely the contractor. So that's what I was saying that inthese non recourse structures, the completion guarantee comes from the contractor. So ultimately, theback so although the project itself is non recourse, the contractor does put up guarantees becauseultimately the guarantees are in favor of the project sponsor and the project lenders right debt thatlenders, right? So the equity lenders is typically the developers, obviously they take equity risk, so Theyhave high amounts of risk or high amount of returns. So the first one, they get wiped out if the projectdoesn't do well. However, the debt lender has less, you know, these are big institution, they don't likerisk, they want to be insulated. So if the project was in to reach substantial completion, the contractorwould keep the lenders whole up to a point. And there's this is, this is why collaborative contracting isnot quite easy to implement in the structure, because the debt lenders always looking to recover themoney, right? And if the risk hasn't been transferred to a contractor, where the lender is going torecover the money for right,Jim 20:47where does it go, because it doesn't leave the project, just because nobody raised their hand to take it,it's not going away.Riccardo Cosentino 20:55So it's a Series is brought by non recourse financing PPP, these a zero sum games, where either thecontractor loses money, or the client loses money. And so that that creates the adversarial situation,especially if you haven't bid the job properly, you're going to be losing money, you're going aftersomebody because nobody likes to lose money, you're going to go after the client, and then theadversarial scenario sets in.Jim 21:24So the most important relationship, the most important relationship between the client and thecontractor for the project success is immediately set up on a weak foundation, like, yes. Okay. Thatexplains anything.Riccardo Cosentino 21:40And it will be, you know, is not impossibly, you could implement a collaborative contract between theclient and the contractor. However, the lenders need to get repaid, and the lender is only going to getrepaid when you reach substantial completion, you start extracting oil, you start selling the oil, and thatgenerates the revenues that are then used to repay the debt lenders, right? Yeah, so we couldimplement collaborative contract between the contractor and the project developer. However, in case ofcost overruns, the developer would pick up those costs. And because obviously, the lenders are still,you know, they still have debt service that you have to repay. And so somebody's got to pick up theircosts. And if he's not, there is not the contractor for a lump sum turnkey, then is the developer. Andhowever, that is not then becomes a more expensive structure, got a sense that you now have to putthe equity in. So now, it's very, very technical.Jim 22:55So maybe complex is that is that a good way to put it? 8Transcribed by https://otter.aiRiccardo Cosentino 22:59Is the well yes, complex, as actually complicated. It's very mechanical, there's no complex, it's theJim 23:07Swiss watch. It's not the flock of birds,Riccardo Cosentino 23:11which is basically, you know, when you inject equity, you know, when lenders lend you manage for aproject, that lenders lend you money for a project, they want to know that they're going to get paid back,right? And so they are going to look at the cost overruns. And they're going to look at who's going toabsorb the cost overruns. And so if the contractor is not going to pick up the cost overruns, becauseyou now have a relational contract in place, then the sponsor will, however, the sponsor has norecourse, there is no recourse to anybody above, right, typically, the contractor provides a parentcompany guarantee, and as the recourse to the parent company, but a developer because there's norecourse is not providing that they're there for they have to actually inject all of the equity upfront, rightto cover potential cost overruns. So you now have cash injected into the project, even though you mightnot need it, which makes it very, very expensive.Jim 24:08But you also have the benefit of big contingency.Riccardo Cosentino 24:11Absolutely. Absolutely. So, again, it's not is not impossible, this is just gets to the conclusion of mydissertation, which is it's possible to have relational contracting, it's going to be more expensive.However, the flip side, if we believe that collaborative Contracting is the way forward, you're going to bemore likely to finish on time and on budget, through collaboration that adversarial relations.Jim 24:38It's a funny, it's a funny perspective, to me having been involved in some complex projects, and itseems a little bit short sighted that somebody would really object to a 200 basis points or 2% increasein their cost of capital. Over massive cost overruns in the back end, huge attorney He's fees, delays,which we know costs money, I mean, time is actually money in a major program. So it's always justshocked me how everybody wants to bid to be as low as possible. Everybody wants to make sure thatthat interest rate is just as thin as they can possibly get it without giving any consideration to the factthat you're not saving anything. Because when you set up the program, that way, you're justguaranteed you're going to be over budget far more than you would ever save, and then add thelitigation on top of it that delays everything else. I mean, it just seems short sighted to me,Riccardo Cosentino 25:35unfortunately. So I'm, I specialize in public sector infrastructure. So I deal mostly with municipal, stateand federal government projects. And unfortunately, in the public sector, you have to demonstratevalue for money. And, you know, I think PPP is, it's particularly, the value for money analysis makesthings even worse, because what you end up now with is, private sector financing is more expensive inthe public sector financing a public, they know, the United States government can borrow at a cheaper 9Transcribed by https://otter.airate than any other corporation. So if you have a federal project, you're now adding, you know, 100 150bips to the cost to the cost of that because you have the private sector taken. So you now have a valuefor money analysis that already starts with you being in a hole. Because you now they Yeah, are goingto do it for a PPP are going to use private finance, but it's more expensive. So how do I balance thevalue for money? How do I justify that this is good value for money. And, you know, that's where youare starting play with risk transfer, you start quantify, the more risk you transfer, the more able you'regoing to be to show value for money, the lower the cost, the better because then again, you're going tobe able to show value for money. And as I said, The problem is that you're starting in a hole, right,because you already have to demonstrate why are using private finance. And then, and thencompound, the problem is, the way you justify private finance is by transferring risk, that are going totransfer more risks to the private sector are going to pay them more, you know, are going to pay theirhigher cost of capital. But that will bring me benefit because I have transferred to them the risk ofcompletion.Jim 27:37So you've got a, you've got a problematic paradigm may not be the it's a bit overused word, but you'vegot a problematic equation at the front end, which is creating some pretty significant adverseconsequences at the backend. Before you even get in to start talking about planning fallacy andstrategic misrepresentation. I mean, it, it sounds like the entrenched thought process behind howprojects should be evaluated, needs some work. And a fundamental understanding of the flaws in valuefor money might help. Because we know the results. I mean, there's plenty of data out there that showsI mean, independent of structure, how badly these projects perform. It's astronomical. But but it seemslike there's still some pretty heavy resistance to changing a perspective or methodology on the frontend to try to make up for some of that stuff. Is that fair?Riccardo Cosentino 28:35Yeah. I mean, you're also dealing with politicians right at this point. So it makes things even morecomplex. I think it's important that we talk about the I have other theory evidence, I guess it's furtherarea research, maybe for my PhD. But in my mind, PPP is our Chem, there is a role for PPP. So whenyou have low complexity projects, where you can actually define what you want, and you have very fewstakeholders. It's not it's not a bad model. So in Canada, various jurisdictions have had a lot of successwith hospital building, procuring them and building them using the PPP structure and as being as beingpositive as being a positive experience for all stakeholders. And this bill because it's a box, right, youbuilding a building, and it's any, you know, you can define what you want, and contractors are fairlyexperienced. And you know, it's a it's a Vertical Box. I think we're a falls apart where the PPP falls apartis when you have linear project and you start having more complexity in terms of many morestakeholders Many more moving parts in terms of you know, if you're building a railway, you now needto choose the technology, you go for different jurisdictions. And so the PPP, so having the privatesector lenders into a PPP structure creates more complexity, because he adds an additionalstakeholder and shareholder into the project. And it makes things a bit more complex, especially whenyou when you hit in problems.Jim 30:30 10Transcribed by https://otter.aiSo there's a every program has got a certain complexity threshold, that it cannot pass, it sounds like soif it's going to be, or if it's simple, from an engineering design perspective, single site, you know, squarepiece of property, whatever it can tolerate, and maybe even benefit from a certain addition ofcomplexity on top of, you know, in this case, the private sector provides access to resources thatmaybe the public sector doesn't have or can't appropriate. So the project can kind of hit that threshold.Whereas a complex project, just in the engineering and design side, may already be at that threshold orpast it. So adding another layer of financing complexity sounds disastrous,Riccardo Cosentino 31:18that's certainly the anecdotal evidence I have that especially so the way we differentiate is linear versusvertical. Right? When you have a linear project, yeah, the complexity is too high. And the benefit is,because you remember, the argument of bringing private sector lenders is that you have additionaloversight, you have an additional layer of oversight, you're going to use, the private sector lender isgoing to keep all the other stakeholder honest. So we're going to keep, let's say, the hospital ownerhonest, in terms of change order, they're not going to be able to halfway through the process, that issuechange order change in their mind, or what the scope of the project is, right? There's, you know, withthe with the design, build, finance, maintain and operate, you're actually maintaining the hospital for 30years. So you have now forced the Minister of Health to ring fence, the money required to maintain theproject for 30 years, because you're sending up a contract upfront, right. And if you if you know, publicsector, you know that the first thing the public sector cuts is operating budgets, right, so the PPP bringsbenefits. So the additional layer of complexity brought in by the private sector lenders iscounterbalanced by all these other benefits that a private sector lender brings in on a linear projectwhere the complexity is much higher, the benefits are outweighed by the negative of adding additionalcomplexity to something that cannot absorb it like you describe it very well.Jim 32:50So what conclusions did you draw from the research? I mean, PPP, the resistance to PPP,collaborative contracting, and PPP sounds fairly high. Yet the benefits seem fairly easy to argue. Andcertainly, anecdotally, we've got enough evidence where things don't work that you'd like to think afresh approach might be warmly received. But what are the impediments? What are the realistic optionsas they are today, relative to how successfullyRiccardo Cosentino 33:19I you know, can be my conclusion was pretty straightforward. It's actually it's the money issue, right? Imean, it's you, you could have collaborative contracting, it means equity has to take more risk. Andtherefore the project is going to be a little more expensive to finance because equity is taking more risk.However, if truly collaborative Contracting is the way forward and can actually deliver better on timeand on budget outcomes, then the additional cost of the private finance, to have collaboratedcontracting is, is insignificant. I haven't quantified it. But you know, you know, several basis points,compared to hundreds of millions of cost overruns. Yeah, I think if we were to do a back of theenvelope, we'll probably come to the conclusion that it's the cost benefit analysis, justify the additionalcost of financing,Jim 34:20 11Transcribed by https://otter.aiwhat's there, there's some and I'm going to get it wrong, but there's some colloquialism about steppingover dollars to pick up pennies kind ofRiccardo Cosentino 34:30Pound Foolish Pennywise PoundJim 34:32Foolish Yeah, the British the British version of the same sentiment. I keep having to remind myself thatwe went to went to graduate school in the UK, butRiccardo Cosentino 34:42yeah, so that's, you know, it'd be interesting it'd be a be interesting. The problem is PPP is a politicalbeast. I mean, the reason PPP was created, it's a political tool.Jim 34:55I mean, it to your point, it serves a purpose. It is a tool that has An application. But they the othercolloquial, I mean God, there's so many colloquialisms we could use. But if all you've got as a hammer,everything starts to look like a nail. I could go on, I'll spare the listeners, too many mixed metaphors andbad analogies. But the it sounds like your research is, or the conclusion is, it's got its place, it can bevery effective. But don't over rely on and the industry really should be open to a candid and evidencesupported discussion about alternatives.Riccardo Cosentino 35:32And it's admitting that to private finance, add an additional layer of complexity. And then the private Jimis that most practitioners don't understand complexity don't understand my major program is complexsystems. So it's not understood that you can't keep adding complexity and, and not not having negativeoutcome. Right, the more complexity you add, the more likely you have to have negative outcome, andadding a private sector lender is adding. So if you if you understand that, then you can manage andmitigate it. But if you don't even understand that private sector lending is additional complexity, thenthen you findJim 36:17that that may be the message or the beginning of the next research project or the next mission,understanding the level of complexity and how major programs are, in fact, complex adaptive systems,maybe we can take that step to your point, everything else will start to improve as well.Riccardo Cosentino 36:35So maybe we should start published, shared that complexity tool that we used complexity assessmenttool,Jim 36:46I'm sure Harvey Mahler would be thrilled if you would post a link to his research on complexity. Well,this has been fascinating. Riccardo, I certainly appreciate it. I've learned a lot. I really enjoyed readingyour research. I do think that there are opportunity. I mean, we've got enough evidence that the PPP is 12Transcribed by https://otter.aidon't work that well outside of some pretty specific application. So I think the work that you've done willcertainly push that conversation forward. And I, you know, I appreciate the opportunity to talk with youabout it.Riccardo Cosentino 37:21Thank you very much, Jim. And thanks for hosting the episode today. And hopefully, I'll have you backover guest in the foreseeable future.Jim 37:28That'd be great. I'd certainly appreciate the chance. Thank you.Riccardo Cosentino 37:32Thank you. That's it. For this episode, we'll navigate the major problems. I hope you found today'sconversation as informative and thought provoking as I did. If you enjoyed this conversation, pleaseconsider subscribing and leaving a review. I would also like to personally invite you to continue theconversation by joining me on my personal LinkedIn at Riccardo Cosentino. Listening to the nextepisode, where we will continue to explore the latest trends and challenges in major programmanagement. Our next in depth conversation promises to continue to dive into topics such asleadership, risk management, and the impact of emerging technology in infrastructure. It's aconversation you're not going to want to miss. Thanks for listening to navigate major problems. And Ilook forward to keeping the conversation going Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy, opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Disenyo.co LLC and its employees.

In this episode of Navigating Major Programmes, Oxford Saïd Business School alumnus Riccardo sits down with fellow alumna, Kimberley Heraux, to discuss her dissertation on the use of intelligent technology in major projects. The pair discuss everything from the role contractual agreements play in the success of intelligent technologies, to treating the implementation of AI as a complex programme itself.   Héraux is an experienced program manager with a demonstrated history of delivering complex projects and programs in the higher education sector and in private industry. Her experience includes but isn't limited to: Enterprise Software Deployments, Data Center, IT Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Integration and ITIL.   “If you treat the implementation of intelligent technology into a major programme as a complex program itself,” says  Héraux “We can shift the mindset to have two Galbraith's Star Models.” Key Takeaways:  Why we should look at major programmes as an information processing system, plus why information flow will directly increase productivity.The obsession with time and progress and why this mindset blatantly disregards proven program management processes.  The two classes of AI technologies that are altering the iron triangle.  The “SWAT team” mentality, benefits of agile processes; welcoming change in major programmes.  Collaborative contracting to improve the flow of data and reduce risk in major programmes.    If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. The conversation doesn't stop here—connect and converse with our community: Riccardo Cosentino on LinkedInKimberley Heraux on LinkedIn Transcript:Riccardo Cosentino 00:05 You're listening to navigate major problems, the podcast that aims to elevate the conversations happening in the infrastructure industry and inspire you to have a more efficient approach within it. I'm your host, Riccardo Cosentino brings over 20 years of major product management experience. Most recently, I graduated from Oxford University's day business school, which shook my belief when it comes to navigating major problems. Now it's time to shake yours. Join me in each episode, as I press the industry experts about the complexity of major program management, emerging digital trends and the critical leadership required to approach these multibillion dollar projects. Let's see where the conversation takes us. Kimberly echo is best known for a drive to deliver organizational transformation through major technology initiatives. She is currently serving as a program leader on an industry defining technology major program by the US fortune 50 company. Kimberly is passionate about technology, elevating team culture and firmly believes in the indomitability of the collaborative AI performance project team. Kimberly holds a Master's of Science major program management from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science in international business from the California State University, Northridge. When she isn't busy running major technology initiatives, you can find Kimberly running on Southern California's beaches and wine tasting. Hello, welcome back to another episode of navigate the bigger programs. Today we're here with Kimberly servo. And today we're going to discuss intelligent technology in construction mega projects. Hi, Kimberly, how you doing today? Kimberley Heraux 01:56 Very well. Ricardo, thank you so much for having me on. This is very exciting. I've also been very curious about you know about some of the research that's been done in this space. So very happy to join the conversation. Riccardo Cosentino 02:10 Oh, I'm glad. I'm glad you're on today. It's it's a very interesting topic. I know you wrote a dissertation about this topic for your master Oxford. How did you decide to write a dissertation about intelligent technologies in megaprojects? Kimberley Heraux 02:27 Well, so my background, I built a career managing complex, IT projects, information technology projects. And if you think about artificial intelligence, it is technology. You know, you're we're increasing, we're seeing an increase in the use of AI in all types of technology. So naturally, when it came to selecting a dissertation topic, for for my Oxford, MMPM, I naturally gravitated to, well, gee, what will start to happen when we see mega projects, adopt systems that are increasingly outfitted with artificial intelligence. So that's how that's how I came up with that topic. You know, because I really find myself being interested in being able to deliver results and through technology that sort of that what has excited me all along my career, you know, is being able to deliver IT solutions that really make a difference to the bottom line of the organization. So I had, you know, a couple of a couple of experiences early in my career, one of which I like to cite and tell people, that's how I caught the bug of you know, getting excited about implementing IT systems where we, you know, we had a project where essentially, I was able to see the direct impact of properly implemented IT solution on the business where essentially, I was working for a manufacturer whose shipping process was very sensitive. And essentially, at the end of the project, we had cut down the time that it took to ship the product by over 60%. So shipping times were now a third of what they were. So that's when I caught the bug of my goodness, you know, technology can really, really make a difference in an organization's performance. So that's a tie in for you. Riccardo Cosentino 04:27 That would be an amazing achievement if we could increase the productivity of mega project by 60%. But okay, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves we're getting ahead of ourselves. Kimberley Heraux 04:40 I think it would be a very different world and Oxford would be very very proud of us Riccardo Cosentino 04:48 so before we get into into the into the discussion, maybe we need to do a little bit of scene setting and just frame what what we mean by intelligent technologies because I think in today's world, I mean, we have so many, so many words and so much jargon around AI and intelligent technology that I think it's, it's important that we frame what we mean in this particular setting. Kimberley Heraux 05:15 Very good. Yes, we can do that. So what I mean by intelligent technologies is, in the context of my research, it refers to artificial intelligence and the suite of technologies that complement or contribute to it. So what I mean by that is, so you take sensors, for instance, that are able to gather data, that can into a database that can then be used, you know, where AI algorithms analyze that data for you. So that would be a technology that contributes to, you know, artificial intelligence capabilities. Other technologies that complement AI, maybe things like modeling tools that allow you to, you know, gather interesting disciplinary data, because as you'll find out, when you talk about artificial intelligence, there's, you know, you know, data is a big part of that picture. So intelligent technologies is meant to refer to AI specifically. So algorithms that you know, pick up patterns in your data and help you leverage the patterns, or the discoveries that you make from those patterns, and the technologies that contribute to you being able to gather that data. And I should say, Ricardo, that if you actually search out there, I think all technology is increasingly being outfitted with AI. So when I mentioned modeling tools, realize that modeling tools in and of themselves, are using AI to help you run simulations to help you optimize things and whatnot. So these technologies that contribute to AI, and this, you know, this definition that I'm giving you, it's almost like there, there are a lot of gray lines, you know, but it's just think about intelligent technologies is AI primarily, and a bunch of associated technologies that are helping contribute to, to the AI algorithms being able to perform what they're what they're good at doing. Riccardo Cosentino 07:16 Will you say my bit? Well, yes, absolutely. When you say modeling tools, just for everybody's benefit did, can you mention a couple of sort of brands that you're referring to for modeling tool? What would be would like an AutoCAD be a modeling tool, or or a modeling tool? Or from the financial side? Kimberley Heraux 07:38 Yeah, very, very, very good question. So in the context of the research that I did, I focused on, I focused on the construction industry. And I use construction very, very loosely as basically mega projects that build things, you know, whether it'd be civil infrastructure, commercial buildings, etc. If you're building something that was essentially again, the term was used very loosely to cover a wide scope in my research. So when it comes to when I say modeling tool, so in construction people are used to when it comes to facilities. They're used to hearing about building information modeling. So that's the one that I focus on in my research. But really, the comments that I make in my research are applicable to any any tool that you use that allows you to create a virtual model of what it is that you're building. So I think you Ricardo recently posted something on the the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which I'm jealous that you recently visited. I think that you know, if you actually study that case, that I think they use the modeling tool called what what was it like Katia, you know, it was used for free rides, so they adopted that. So that's what I'm referring to when I say modeling tools. Riccardo Cosentino 08:53 Okay. No, thank you. That's an important clarification for everyone. So we have a good frame of reference. Okay, why don't we jump into the into the discussion and I'm gonna kick you off with a you know, with a will probably a broad questions, but one that is worth is worth starting from, which is what is the primary value of intelligent technology in construction projects or what why have you been able to find out in your research? Kimberley Heraux 09:20 So what I found in my research is that the primary value of intelligent technologies in the construction space specifically or in construction, mega projects, rather, is primarily these technologies help mega projects with risk reduction. And I in my research, I divide the technologies into two primary classes. The first class of intelligent technologies will allow you to unleash the power of AI on mega project data. So once you've done that, basically what you're able to do is to analyze the patterns In that data and make more accurate predictions based on those patterns. So it's analogous to the navigation system that you use when you're when you're driving somewhere, right? So you tell the navigation system, here's where I want to go, here's the approximate time that I want to arrive there. And it basically charts the course for you on how to get there by the time that you set right? Then halfway through your journey, something happens, traffic increases and whatnot. And it sends you a warning saying, hey, you know, something just happened. You're now your projected, you know, arrival time is now x, here are your options, would you like to reroute? So there's a class of intelligent technologies that allow you to do that with a mega project. And it's very, very valuable, because with the power of AI, the accuracy of those predictions, has improved drastically. Okay, so that's very exciting. So that's one class of technologies. The other class of technologies are more along the lines of the modeling tools that we were talking about earlier. And these information technologies really allow a megaproject organization to improve the information flow. So if you adopt, there's a set of authors that I ran into, they wrote an article in 1978, which seems like ages ago, but it was, you know, it's one of those. It's one of those classics, it's called "Information processing as an integrating concept and organizational design". And their key point was that you can look at an organization as primarily an information processing system that runs into internal and external uncertainties. And generally speaking, the more complex the endeavor that this organization is working on, the more information you'll need to help you manage through and navigate through. So if you look at a mega project through that lens of it's an information processing system, any technology that allows you to improve the flow of information between parties to create better alignment between parties, will actually yield productivity increases, which impact the megaprojects performance. So that was, the other key thing that I picked upon is that as I as I researched, is that really, it seems that there's that second class of intelligent technologies, really, if they're implemented correctly, and that's a caveat, they should help to increase productivity simply because the various parties on the mega project have better alignment. So that was very, uh, you know, those were exciting, exciting things that I uncovered. And, again, going back to my days of, you know, cutting down the the shipping time by, you know, to a third of what it used to be I mean, that's, that's what started to click for me, I'm like, Oh, my gosh, you know, these technologies really hold a lot of promise. So I got excited, all over again, getting ready for this conversation today, because I'm like, Oh, yeah. You know, definitely saw some exciting things out there in this space. Riccardo Cosentino 13:32 Well, first of all, I'm impressed that there's a paper from 1978, that deals with a topic that is so relevant today. Now, the 78. Math is, you know, 40 45 years ago. And so that is that it was really nicely put the way you, I'm gonna put the name of that paper in the show notes, because I think our show, so I want to go and read it. But I think I've all the listeners would want to go and check it out. And yeah, I'm fascinated by the concept that, yeah, I mean, it's complexity that the way you deal with complexity is by and by having information flow, and these tools and these technology help in flowing information and distributed information, allowing a reduction in complexity. And I think that's, that's, that's a key. That's a key point. And I think we know from our studies that mega projects are complex adaptive systems. So whatever we can do to reduce the complexity. Drive to where a business is a better outcome of major projects. Kimberley Heraux 14:47 Yeah, I'll give you a bonus one, I'll give you a bonus. You just threw out the word adaptive. So in my world in the world of IT projects, especially software systems, you know that the term agile became very, very popular. And if you had to ask me for my humble opinion on what Agile is, what Agile does, if you look at the practices is essentially really replaces a lot of processes that used to be very paper heavy, document the specs and then send them over and have them built. It replaces that with face to face interaction. So now you've got the product owner who's got the vision of what needs to be built, constantly checking in with the team, face to face interaction, to resolve the complexities, to basically be able to pivot when we have to adapt, you know, so adaptive change, because agile actually welcomes change. It says, Hey, product owner, if your business case has changed, and you need for us to make an adjustment in how the product is being built, we welcome that. So and and, you know, in some of the discussions that we had at Oxford, there are hints that the construction industry find some of that appealing, because you can't predict everything, right. And sometimes the nature of the program has to adapt to whatever external or internal pressures or you know, happenings. And so that idea, that idea is very appealing. So again, but if you look at Agile processes to me, they improve that information flow, they improve, you know, the ability of parties to quickly align. So when you have a change, like you have a design change, everybody has an easier time aligning to that change, because everybody's you know, that information flow, you know, you've enabled that know, through the use of, you know, if you use intelligent technologies to help you improve that information flow, at the end of the day, you have a much better time adapting without losing productive time. You know, because it's like, oh, somebody forgot to tell Riccardo about that change? How many times that hat does that happen, right? One stakeholder that found out late because of whatever, right? But if you've got if you've got rigorous processes, and that's the other thing I should mention is that these technologies are relatively complex to implement. You have to and you know, that the information processing technologies, you know, what I call coordination tools, in my, in my research, it's not just the technology you have, you also have to spend time coming up with putting in the processes and the internal standards to help you leverage the technology. Because it's not it's not magic, you know, there's a there's a science to implementing these things. Riccardo Cosentino 17:36 While you're almost prompting me to my next question. That's a nice segueway, which is, you know, what, you know, you mentioned some of the challenges, but what what are the challenges? What challenges into the successful adoption of intelligent technology in the construction industry? Or, or, you know, the, the part of the industry that you researched? Kimberley Heraux 17:58 Yes, well, I'll give you I'll give you a quote from my research, and you might, you might chuckle at this a little bit. So definitely, like challenges that hinder successful adoption of intelligent technologies in construction, are construction industry practices themselves. So one author described the construction industry as being overly obsessed with time and progress, with a blatant disregard for proven program management practices. Right. So it's, it's almost like what you picture what I pictured as I as I was reading this piece is that there is such a focus on delivering and delivering fast because as you mentioned, there's a focus on you know, the lowest bidder, you're trying to do it for the lowest price possible. So and time is money typically right? So you tried to deliver fast and and you some of the things that get de prioritized are some practices that if you actually took the time to put them up, put them in place some practices and solutions like intelligent technologies that if you put them in place up front, they will help you get there fast, right but um, but so, you know, construction industry practices, definitely a hindrance, you know, other practices such as, you know, a focus on lower lowest bidder policies. They tend to drive the the, you know, if you think about it, if that's, that's the focus, then what ends up suffering is, you know, there's no no time to really think about putting in a centralized information system for the mega project organization. Oftentimes, there's really no one party that's watching out for, you know, putting in a centralized or well thought out system at the core of The mega project is what it boils down to. And when you when you have no ownership, you end up with a hodgepodge. You know, some things might work well, and other things might be disconnected and cause you problems, which is where the productivity or the mega project, performance takes a hit. Riccardo Cosentino 20:16 So Kimberly, in your, in your research, I'm keen to bring out to for the listeners the topic of collaborative contracting, integrated project delivery. Because as we studied at Oxford, we know that integrated project delivery was was it was a contracting tool that was developed to increase collaboration and information flow between parties. You know, I think the fact that the literature too, says that the BIM models were being used, but various parties to the contract were not inputting the right data into the BIM models, because of the contractual relations between them was not conducive to that. And it'd be interesting to understand from from your research, what what are the links between in between collaboration and information flow and collaborative contracting in major projects? Well, what were you able to find out? Kimberley Heraux 21:20 So what I found out is that collaborative contracting, such as integrated program, program delivery, help improve the flow of data in mega projects. And what this means is that, you know, the participants who work in these contracts settings, the the the mega project managers that, that I interviewed specifically cited, that those types of arrangements definitely bring down some of the barriers between the various mega project actors, data silos, and that what that does is it it creates one set of data that is more transparent for use by the mega project. Okay, and that's good news for AI, because you just unleash those powerful AI algorithms on your good data, and you should be able to get some insights, you know, referring back to my navigation example earlier, right. So the accuracy of the predictions that you're going to be able to, to make based on that data, improve your ability to reduce risks on the mega project. What I found further, I think, in one, one of the pieces that I read, there was one author that proposed specifically, that contractual structures for construction, mega projects, should not only use more collateral continue to encourage more collaborative agreements, such as IPD. But they also they go a step further and say, you know, we should really take a look at, including specifications in those contracts that specify the contributions that each party will have to make to a centralized system, which is exciting, because if you know, if that's the case, I mean, you already have certain countries like the UK, the US, you know, requiring the use of modeling tools like Building Information Management, in BIM, you know, in mega projects, so you can leverage that, right, and say, That's a good foundation. Now, let's go a step further and specify for each of our mega project parties, you know, specify what the expectations are, as far as what your you're expecting them to contribute to the centralized system. So definitely, you know, it would seem if I had to summarize it for you, the mega for the the contractual agreement, helps to set up a structure that, you know, a mega project, organizational structure that encourages the use of intelligent technologies. So that's, that's the, that's the tie in there. Riccardo Cosentino 24:04 It's interesting that you mentioned specification of these standards, I think that the British are certainly ahead of most jurisdiction. There are British standards that are trying to address this. There's, you know, obviously the beam push for implementing BIM at various levels. But unfortunately, my jurisdiction Canada, I think we're still very far from from where the UK is. And it's left to single projects a single owner to specify and push the data. The data standards, which creates problems in itself because there's no modularity and there's no transferability of of processes from one project to another, unless you have the same client unless you have the same advisors pushing for the same specification, so there's still a lot of fragmentation, certainly in Canada, when it comes to data standards, however, the UK is much more advanced from what I understand. Kimberley Heraux 25:19 Yes. And you know what the other thing that I found, too, I mean, we were talking earlier about challenges from industry practice, in general, of course, you know, every country differs, but in general, you know, the research basically cites the power dynamics in mega project organizations. And, you know, specifically point out that it makes it very difficult for actors, like the client to mandate which IT systems the parties should use. So if you think about that, I mean, if you actually zoom out and think about that, if you're an organization, that you Your aim is to deliver a certain outcome or a certain product, but you've got a medley of systems to manage the information and to, you know, to help you manage the journey to actually to delivery. I mean, it's a tremendous obstacle, you know, to being able to achieve the outcomes that you're after. I mean, it can you imagine if IBM had, you know, disparate systems between its divisions, and it's working on a, you know, cross functional cross division project, you can imagine how difficult it would be for them to pull it off. Well, that's what you have, essentially, in a mega project organization is you have each party coming to the table with their set of practices, their set of systems, and of course, they're focused on delivering on time and for the lowest cost. And so putting in a set of systems or processes is sort of lower on their priority list. But in the end, I think that one of the end results is the mega project performance takes a hit Riccardo Cosentino 26:59 is interesting, because I think, yeah, one of you key findings was that we should be treating the adoption of intelligent technology. And I'm assuming, probably broaden it to say treating the adoption of of systems and information flow in major project as a complex IT project within the mega project organization. So based on your experience, fears, implementing major IT projects, when would you set up the IT system within a major project? And is there a specific time that is more beneficial, thinking that a major project has got a lifespan of maybe, you know, 10 years, and there are different phases in a major project, which have different requirements, you know, when you're in the development phase of a major project, you don't have the same number of people, you don't have the same number of stakeholders. But there are a lot of decisions that are made early on, that affect the future of the project, are we when the major project relies on the system is during the implementation phase, but that's typically four or five, or even six years after the big project was kicked off to the for the development phase. So in your mind, when, when when would be the best time to implement the IT strategy for a major project? Kimberley Heraux 28:31 So I'm gonna, I'm gonna go about answering that question in a roundabout way and tell you about my findings when I interviewed IT system implementers, as part of my research, because what I did was I asked them, I said, What, in your opinion, are some of the key attributes of an organization that succeeds at adopting complex technology? So if an organization is going to succeed at adopting complex, innovative technologies, what are the attributes of that organization? And they quickly pointed out two things that are very important one is you have to have vision of what it is that you're after. Right? So if you're going to tackle innovative system implementation, you have to have a clear vision of what you want out of it. And the second aspect is that you cannot have a quick fix mentality, right? So you have to think about a deeply come up with a plan, and then execute that plan, and put the systems in place. And those things allow the organization not only to implement the innovative technologies, but to adopt them and to get the benefits out of all of the blood, sweat and tears that you put in putting in a unit that you put in installing these systems. So given that, you know context, my opinion, is that for a mega project, and you're right, I did I did. To point out that mega projects really should think about the implementation of technologies as a complex IT implementation at the core of the mega project. And in order for you to drive adoption of those intelligent technologies, in my mind, what you would have to do, given that most mega projects are very time centric, I mean, there's a big focus on time is you'd have to almost, you know, at the beginning of the mega project, take a look at what systems will yield, they have the most promise of helping you manage mega project performance of helping you adapt, right, and then create a strategy for implementing those systems really fast, right? And it's, it's, it happens at the beginning, it's, it's part of, I mean, if you think about setting up an organization, it's part of the setup of the organization, you're setting up processes, you're setting up these complex intelligent technology systems to help support the processes that you've put in place, you're setting up, you know, your governance, your governance, body, etc. So it's part of setting up the organization with the caveat that, you know, you have to do it really fast. So you almost have to, in my mind, you have to have a SWAT team type of mentality, that's going to take a look at, okay, these are the technologies that we think we will get the most mileage out of, how do we get them adopted, you know, successfully by all of our by all of our all of our partners, right and and you basically manage like a complex IT system with all of the things that come with it, you know, you have a plan, you have a schedule, you put in the technology, you deliver the training that's necessary, you make sure that people have access, you know, to information necessary on how to use you know, you might, you might have to have continuous education on some, some some parts of it. And so that's, that's what I think is that it belongs at the beginning of the mega project organization coming together. Riccardo Cosentino 32:13 So, I think when we look at your dissertation, we have to mention the Galbraith star, because you you use your Galbraith star which is which is a framework that we studied in in Oxford, to look at the use of technology through, the throught that framework be interesting to get your insight in, in that methodology that you used. Kimberley Heraux 32:39 Right. So the Galbraith star is a well known organizational design framework. And, you know, as you know, Oxford focuses on the mega project organization itself being a temporary organization, but it's got all of the attributes of a complex organization. So, the Galbraith Star model has five components. Strategy, right? So what is your strategy for achieving the outcome that you're after the structure of the organization, the processes of the organization, the rewards that are associated to so that's incentivizing your your teams to, to, you know, to deliver or to to certain behaviors that are beneficial to the megaprojects goals. And then the people aspect so these intelligent technologies fall into the processes box. And what's interesting about the model is it encourages you it basically it has you analyze the tensions between the various boxes. So again, strategy structure processes, rewards people. So, if you're going to put a new intelligent technology based set of intelligent technologies within your processes box, the model what I take a look at in my research is what does that require of the mega project organizational goals an organization's structure? And what does that mean for the megaproject organizations? People like what what are the adjustments that have to be made primarily on on those in those two components if you will, of the structure and the people? And so, you know, what I found is that really what would be what came to light is that this if you treat the implementation of intelligent technologies within the mega project as a complex program in and of its own, then really it ends up with its own star right. So you have to have you know, because the it ends up with you know, the it the implementation of intelligent technologies at the core of a mega project, you're going to find yourself asking questions in each of those five domains. Right. So what's the strategy for the intelligent technologies? What structure do we need to put in place in order to enable adoption? What are some of the processes and standards internally that need to accompany those, those intelligent technologies? How do we want to reward our megaproject parties for you know, how do we want to incentivize them to use the intelligent technologies rather? And you know, what, what do we need to do to equip our people that the teams on the mega project to leverage those technologies? Does that make sense that that answer your question, guys, Riccardo Cosentino 35:43 It does Thank you. And it's, I think, Oh, my God, you just started another line of thinking, but I think you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to rephrase that we were starting to run out of time. But you know, the concept that, you know, you have a Galbraith star within a Galbraith star, I mean, we could really, we could really spend a little time discussing that. Kimberley Heraux 36:02 And the point there is that really, you know, it really does need if you're going to leverage these technologies, you really do need to treat it as a complex program within the mega project. And so if you think about it that way, it makes a lot of sense that it does require investment, it requires strategizing, it requires all the things that come with a major IT program. Riccardo Cosentino 36:25 Fascinating. Fascinating, I think we could be we could be talking about this for a long time. Anyway, I think we are coming to the end of the allocated time for for this show. I am trying to keep it to like 30 40 minutes, it fits nicely into the, into the daily schedule, or most of the people listening. But before we go, if a listener was interested in reading your dissertation, would they be able to find this somewhere? Have you published Are you would you be interested in people reaching out to you? If they wanted to know more about your dissertation? Kimberley Heraux 37:06 Yes, absolutely. If they're interested in reading it, then I can give you my information where they can reach out to me and I will gladly supply them with a copy. Riccardo Cosentino 37:15 I will put that in the show notes so that people can, can can reach out. And with that, I want to thank you Kimberly, for a great conversation today. I certainly you looked at a topic that will definitely help us navigate the major programs. And you provided us actually a really nice analogy with the navigating tool I swear we didn't plan that but you talk about navigating tool in navigating major programs. Thank you for that. Kimberley Heraux 37:43 Yes. Thank you. Thank you for having me. This was this was such a pleasure. Thank you. Riccardo Cosentino 37:50 Thank you very much, and we'll chat soon. That's it for this episode on navigating major problems. I hope you found today's conversation as informative and thought provoking as I did. If you enjoyed this conversation, please consider subscribing and leaving a review. I would also like to personally invite you to continue the conversation by joining me on my personal LinkedIn at Riccardo Cosentino. Listening to the next episode, we will continue to explore the latest trends and challenges in major program management. Our next in depth conversation promises to continue to dive into topics such as leadership risk management, and the impact of emerging technology in infrastructure. It's a conversation you're not going to want to miss. Thanks for listening to navigate the major programs and I look forward to keeping the conversation going Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast do not necessarily represent or reflect the official policy, opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of Disenyo.co LLC and its employees.

Highlights today include: Understanding Build America Buy America: Implications for the Lighting Industry, Midstream Lighting, Inc. Welcomes Ken Brechtel as V.P. of Sales for Major Projects, Light in Your Hands – Control Products by Bluetooth, Monza Method continues to Light Old Masters.

The podcast by project managers for project managers. Selecting contractors and negotiating the terms of a major project is one of the most difficult aspects of project management. In this episode Ed Merrow sheds light on fairness in contracting relationships, for the relationships to be self-enforcing, and how not to unwittingly set your contractors up to fail.  Table of Contents 02:53 … Meet Ed05:28 … Contract Strategies for Major Projects06:59 … Hiring Contractors is Never Easy07:55 … Key Principle #209:12 … #1 There is No Free Lunch10:20 … TINSTAAFL11:28 … #3 Complex Projects Need Simple Contracting Strategies13:03 … Collaboration15:07 … #4 Owners and Contractors are Different17:44 … #5 Large Risk Transfers are More Illusion than Reality19:25 … Importance of Scoping21:29 … #6 Contractors have Shareholders23:14 … Ren25:29 … #7 Contracting Games are Rough Sport27:05 … #8 Assigning a Risk to Someone Who Cannot Control that Risk is Foolish29:07 … #9 All Contracts are Incentivized33:20 … #10 Economize on The Need for Trust36:40 … The Value of Prequalifying Contractors40:13 … Getting the A-Team or the B-Team42:48 … Get in Touch with Ed44:02 … Closing ED MERROW: ...both owners and contractors play games.  Contractors usually win those games.  My advice is try to keep games out of your contracts.  Try not to put in a bunch of complex provisions whereby you think that the contractor will “have skin in the game.”  I want owners to remember that skin in the game is almost always owner skin.  WENDY GROUNDS:  You're listening to Manage This.  This podcast is by project managers for project managers.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and with me in the studio are Bill Yates and Danny Brewer.  We love having you join us twice a month to be motivated and inspired by project stories, leadership lessons, as well as advice from industry experts from all around the world.  We want to bring you some support as you navigate your projects. If you like what you hear, please consider rating our show with five stars and leaving a brief review on our website or whichever podcast listening app you use.  This helps us immensely in bringing the podcast to the attention of others.  You can also claim free Professional Development Units from PMI by listening to this episode.  Listen up at the end of the show, and we'll tell you how to do that. Today our guest is Ed Merrow.  Ed is the founder, president, and CEO of Independent Project Analysis, the global industry leader in quantitative analysis and benchmarking of project management systems.  Ed received his degrees from Dartmouth College and Princeton University; and he began his career as an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.  He followed that with 14 years as a research scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he directed the Energy Research Program.  We're talking to Ed particularly today about his most recent major research effort which is centered on the quantitative analysis of how contracting strategies and delivery systems shape project results.  His new book is on this subject, and it's titled “Contract Strategies for Major Projects.” BILL YATES:  In our conversation with Ed on procurement and contract strategies, Ed is going to share with us the key principles of contracting that all those involved with planning and executing major projects should know.  Here are three things to listen out for on this episode.  One, contractors may make convenient scapegoats, but they are rarely to blame for bad projects.  Number two, we depend heavily on trust, yet trust is not a contracting strategy.  And number three, contractors are almost always more skilled at playing those contracting games than those owners are. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hey, Ed.  Welcome to Manage This.  Thank you so much for joining us today. ED MERROW:  Well, thank you, Wendy.  I'm glad to be here. Meet Ed WENDY GROUNDS:  We are looking forward to getting into this topic.

Watch on Youtube.Mark Van Buren came to Queens University in Kington, Ontario looking for a degree in Architecture.  He stayed 8 years and ended up with Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, concentrating on water management.  He spent the next decade or so in California and Milwaukee on large water management projects, largely storm run-off systems.  Turns out the storm was in the contract delivery system and not in the pipes.  Disgruntled with the delivery process, he jumped at the chance to head back to Kingston about 20 years ago.  Since then he has risen through City Engineering ranks to become the Deputy Commissioner of Major Projects.  In that capacity he and his team just delivered the Waaban Crossing, the “third” crossing in Kingston that unites the City through the middle of the Cataraqui River.  The $180M dollar IPD project was the first IPD bridge project in Canada.  Unlike most civil structures and megaprojects, this one landed in Bent Flyvbjerg's .5% of projects:  it was on time, on budget and delivered all the benefits initially proposed.  Join us for a thoughtful hour with this unique bridgebuilder.

In this episode our host Elena Melchert talks with Ed Merrow of Independent Project Analysis (IPA) about his book “Contract Strategies for Major Projects” and why he says that contract strategies is less about the legalities of contracts and more about human behavior. Contract Strategies for Major Projects: https://www.ipaglobal.com/resources/books/contract-strategies-for-major-projects/ Ed Merrow bio: https://www.ipaglobal.com/team/edward-merrow/  Independent Project Analysis (IPA): https://www.ipaglobal.com/ This episode is made possible by TechnipFMC Click here to take it one question survey and receive OGGN hardhat/laptop stickers Brought to you on Oil and Gas Global Network, the largest and most listened-to podcast network for the oil and energy industry. More from OGGN ... Podcasts LinkedIn Group LinkedIn Company Page Get notified about industry events

Michigan has a powerful network of airports throughout the state that make significant contributions to the regional economy. Joining Chris to discuss the Capital Region Airport Authority's recent exciting activity is their President & CEO, Nicole Noll-WIlliams!

Do you work on the job site every day and think you don't have time or energy left over to study for your PE exam?

Clint Larson, Manager of Major Projects and Custom Homes for Ivory Homes, walks us through his organization's transition to adopting water wise landscaping and planning at the subdivision scale. A great talk about organizational change, growth in Utah, and effective implementation of innovative water practices. 

Jade is a Gooreng Gooreng woman and joins us from her recent experience with the Australian Government as Director of Economic Development and Major Projects based in Darwin.Jade has over 20 years knowledge and experience with respect to stakeholder, trade and investment relationship building; and developing and implementing programs and initiatives that have led to enhancing Aboriginal engagement and leadership capabilities within both the public sector and in her connections with remote communities in both Arnhem Land and Central Australia.Jade has qualifications in Business and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Project Management and Adaptive Leadership.A member of the CSIRO Indigenous Innovation Alliance Steering Committee, Jade advocates for innovative solutions that put culture, land and sea management and social benefit in the forefront of all decision making whilst demonstrating commercial viability. She is also on the North Australia Marine Parks Advisory Committee, working with Parks Australia staff to shape the management of Australian Marine Parks, providing advice matters including tourism, fishing, sea country, marine transport, science, conservation, governance, communications and engagement.Recommendations throughout this episode: https://ulurustatement.org/ Website: www.blackmagicwoman.com.auFollow us on Instagram - @blackmagicwomanpodcast The Black Magic Woman Podcast is hosted by Mundanara Bayles and is an uplifting conversational style program featuring mainly Aboriginal guests and explores issues of importance to Aboriginal people and communities. Mundanara is guided by Aboriginal Terms of Reference and focusses more on who people are rather than on what they do. If you enjoyed this episode, please ‘Subscribe' on Apple Podcasts or ‘Follow' on your Spotify app and tell your friends and family about us! If you'd like to contact us, please email, info@blackmagicwoman.com.auSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/black-magic-woman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MidJourney = https://www.midjourney.com/app/Replica Studios - https://replicastudios.com/dashboardBook Title: Black Coffee, Two Sugars: How to Super Charge Your Personality Without People-PleasingFocus on your major projectIn order to have a project for 25 years, it's going to need an extensive outline and be an evergreen subjectSomething needs to be written for your audience to either be downloaded or taken homeWorksheet (fill in the blank) for your coursePDF of the main points of your courseA book for your courseEbook for your courseA journalYou can also have merchandise for your projectAsk ChatGPT what merchandise goes well with your projectGo on your tripHave a tablet full of descriptions of locations on your tripPut those descriptions into MidJourneyUse these graphics in your content creation.What Else Can You DoCreate merchandiseTalk to ChatGPTAsk ChatGPT to help you come up with merchandise that you could use.  Put in the description of the book and themes from the book.Then ask for unique out-of- the box ideas that no one would expect that come out of the book.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-secret-to-success/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Amenities. More and more people are choosing where to live these days based on the attractions offered by communities. To aid in the attraction effort, that State of Indiana launched the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI). Communities throughout the state were given the opportunity to apply for a piece of matching grant funding. Boone County Economic Development Executive Director Molly Whitehead joins us on Episode 105 of the #LovinLebanon Podcast. Molly shares which quality of life attraction efforts were submitted, and which ones ultimately were awarded funding. She also shares some of the new initiatives being rolled out by the Boone EDC.   

10AM ET 01/31/2023 Newscast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year was a banner year for the Strip and Nevada's gaming industry. It sounds like the good times will keep rolling in 2023, right?

In 1999, the Newark Alliance was founded to lead efforts around the ongoing economic revitalization of Newark, with the goal of “transform[ing Newark] into a better and safer place to work, live, learn, play, and do business.” Part of this vision includes turning Newark into a true “regional city” through efforts in four broad strategic areas. The Alliance is supported by several, major private sector institutions including Audible, Mars Wrigley, RWJBarnabas, Prudential, and PSEG, as well as several public sector institutions like NJIT, Rutgers, NJPAC, University Hospital, and the MCJ Amelior Foundations. The Alliance leads many marquee programs, including the Newark Anchor Collaborative, Hire Newark, Live Local, and Career Works. Evan Weiss became the President and CEO of the Newark Alliance in December 2021. He previously was the Senior Advisor for Finance and Major Projects to Governor Phil Murphy, where he led the state's fiscal response to the COVID-19 pandemic and was the point person for key initiatives in Newark, Trenton, and Atlantic City. Evan joins the podcast to discuss his vision for the Alliance and what his plans for the organization are. Guest:Evan Weiss—Evan is the President and CEO of the Newark Alliance, assuming the role in December 2021. He was Senior Advisor for Finance for Major Projects to Governor Murphy. Before that, he was Director at the Pennsylvania Economy League and HJA Strategies. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago. Background & Articles:Website for the Newark Alliance: hereNews about the Greenway: hereThe Newark Gift Card: hereQuote:“It was clear now why Yahweh had not struck down the tower, had not punished men for wishing to reach beyond the bounds set for them: for the longest journey would merely return them to the place whence they'd come.”—Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang