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The event took place at the Rosh Rayhaan by Rotana, Riyadh on 29 November
The Big Project Middle East and Middle East Consultant editorial teams have confirmed that over 130 individuals attended the 2023 edition of the Construction Intel Summit KSA. The event featured 25 speakers from key regional and international firms, who discussed and debated a variety of topics relating to the vibrant Saudi construction market.
The event opened with a welcome address from Paul Godfrey, Head of Content at Middle East Consultant, following which, the event’s first panel discussion of the day began ‘Growing the Kindgom’s Talent Pool and Retaining Knowledge’. The panel discussed: what players in the built environment have already achieved in alignment with the nation’s focus on Saudisation; is the industry on track to support and achieve Saudisation goals by 2030; what challenges private construction firms face, and what initiatives can the government role out to enable them to develop and retain motivated Saudi talent, and more.
The session was moderated by Reem Seraj, Business Support and Vision 2030 Realisation Manager, Saudi Arabia at AtkinsRéalis, with speakers including: Clive Cashin, Project Director, Saudi Arabia, Serco; Faiyad Peterson, Country Director – KSA, Cundall; Laeeq Hassan, Associate Director & Chair of the RICS KSA MAP / Mace Arabia & Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyor (RICS); Marcus Taylor, Partner, Taylor Sterling, and Hrvoje Cindric, Director – Middle East Planning Lead, Buro Happold.
The session was followed by a presentation from Thinkproject’s Yazan Alshalan, which was titled ‘Unleashing Technology’s Potential for Smart Construction and Operations in Giga Projects’.
The Driving Giga-Project Success panel was split into two parts, with the first focusing on data and the shape of project success. The session was moderated by Paul Godfrey, with speakers including: Allison Wicks, Quality Integration Specialist, Qualitaz; Ben Jackson, Head of Project and Development Services for the Middle East & Africa, JLL; Cary Kopczynski, CEO & Senior Principal, CKC and Nivine Issa, Founder & Managing Director, Terra Nexus.
Polypipe Middle East’s Adam Smith then engaged in a fireside chat with Paul Godfrey on the topic of advanced water management in today’s mega-projects. The session looked at the innovation in drainage and water management that has accompanied the growth in scale of KSA’s projects.
The second part of the second panel discussion, which focused on cost and supply chain then took part. This segment was moderated by Mohamed Moussa, Member of the RICS Engagement Group – KSA / Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, KSA, with speakers including: Ahmed Abdelrazek, Senior Consultant, TBH; Darren Burke, General Manager, ALEC Engineering & Contracting; Fernando Freitas, Director, Omnium International Limited; Mitesh Bavdekar, Director, KPM Engineering and Wees Abraham, VP – Operations & Strategy, Shade Corporation.
Following the lunch break, another fireside chat took place. Here, Paul Godfrey spoke to Paul Sweeney, Development & Program Director at Compass Project Consulting about the key initiatives and focus areas that businesses need to invest in, if they are to successfully drive forward challenging giga-project timelines and deliver the complex matrices of project management.
The final panel discussion of the day took a deep dive into ‘Sustainable Infrastructure’ in the Kingdom. The session discussed the current state of urban infrastructure development within the Kingdom’s giga-projects and how some of the issues that have arisen have been tackled; what has been planned in terms of sustainable energy and water infrastructure and what has been delivered; the development of next generation mobility solutions including air taxis, and more.
The session was moderated by Karie Akeelah, Partner, Trowers & Hamlins with speakers including: Ahmed Sayed, Middle East Business Development Manager, ACCIONA; John Shenton, Chair of Dubai Hub at CIOB; Michael Marriott, Infrastructure Manager – KSA, KEO International Consultants, and Kamal Farah, Director, Desert Board.
The final presentation of the day was delivered by Jens Otterstedt, General Manager, Al Masaood Bergum on modular construction and how it is enabling dramatic improvements in the speed of construction and brings many advantages, and can also provide significant advantages in terms of sustainability.
The 2023 Construction Intel Summit KSA was supported by:
Strategic Content Partner: ALEC Engineering & Contracting
Silver Sponsor: AECOM, AtkinsRealis, Desert Board, KEO, K Tech Consulting,
Bronze Sponsor: Thinkproject
Supporting Partners: Al Masood, Climatize, Compass Project Consulting, Cundall, JLL, Omnium, Polypipe, TBH Consultancy
Endorsed by: Chartered Institute of Building, American Concrete Institute |
