Review of the year

A further busy year of growth for FIDIC

Notwithstanding the 2021-22 year under review being affected by the global pandemic, FIDIC has continued to operate effectively on all fronts and represented the industry and its stakeholders over the past 12 months. The organisation has been busier than ever and continues to grow its influence across the global industry.

September 2021 got off to a strong start with the launch of the FIDIC Global Leadership Forum, a new influential grouping bringing together industry leaders from across the globe to discuss the key issues facing society and the wider infrastructure sector. The forum will play a key role in helping FIDIC and the industry address key global challenges and the launch was supported by more than 50 CEOs from around the world.

Also in September, former chairman of Cardno Group and past president (2003-05) of FIDIC, Dick Kell was awarded the prestigious Louis Prangey Award, the highest recognition for outstanding service to FIDIC and the global industry. The month closed with the launch of the latest FIDIC State of the World report, Building sustainable communities in a post-Covid world, which looked at what sustainable communities will look like in a post-Covid environment.

October saw construction professionals from around the globe attending a well-attended webinar organised by FIDIC’s contracts committee to discuss the latest addition to FIDIC’s contract suite, the FIDIC Short Form of Contract (Green Book) 2nd Edition. More than 400 people turned up, keen to hear about the new contract, its features and also the changes from the first edition. The month also saw the announcement by FIDIC of a major new training collaboration agreement with the Maldives National Association of Construction Industry, which will see the two organisations working more closely together and collaborating on training-related and other matters of mutual interest over the next two years. A special FIDIC climate webinar in October discussed FIDIC’s position on the key issue of climate change and highlighted the soon-to-be-launched FIDIC Climate Change Charter.

Towards the end of the month, the World Wildlife Fund and FIDIC signed a landmark three-year memorandum of understanding to support the two organisations’ ambitions to promote approaches to sustainable infrastructure planning, design, development and delivery. October closed with the launch of the fifth FIDIC State of the World report, Net zero – what next?, at a webinar which discussed the kind of ambitions the engineering sector and society should be looking to achieve going forward.

The month began with the launch of the FIDIC Climate Change Charter, a transformative plan of action for the global engineering industry to decarbonise as it sets about turning COP26 climate change ambitions into outcomes on the ground. November also saw King’s Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution deliver the first FIDIC Summer School on FIDIC contracts and their practical use. The intensive course was FIDIC’s first training contract collaboration with a European

university. Also in November, the latest event in FIDIC’s webinar series, organised by the FIDIC international financial institutions committee, discussed how FIDIC, its member associations, stakeholders and the various international financial institutions and the private sector can work better together.

The month also saw FIDIC announce the signing of a major agreement with the Asian Development Bank that will see the international funding organisation adopt the use of six FIDIC standard contracts for the next five years and November closed with the unveiling of the shortlist for the 2021 FIDIC Contract Users’ Awards.

December opened with the Official FIDIC International Contract Users’ Conference 2021 which took place online and was delivered in-house by FIDIC over three days. The event, targeting the global contract users’ community internationally, gave delegates a unique opportunity to share progress on the application and use of FIDIC contracts internationally and across different regions.

Continuing the contract theme, the much-anticipated 2021 update of the FIDIC Green Book was also launched in December and the month also saw the winners of the FIDIC Contracts Awards 2021 unveiled at a virtual awards ceremony, with winners announced in three categories – Project of the Year, Legal or Professional Services of the Year Award and Trainer of the Year Award.

Closing a busy month, FIDIC Credentialing announced the strengthening of its management board with three new appointments - Luis Villarroya Alonso from Spain, Dan Yang from China and Grace Bema from Zimbabwe – and the year was brought to a close with the publication of the latest issue of the FIDIC Contract Users’ Newsletter.

The year opened with an upbeat New Year message from FIDIC’s CEO in which he expressed the earnest hope that the FIDIC Global Infrastructure Conference 2022 would be taking place as an in-person event in Geneva in September and that the planning of the event was going full steam ahead.

January also saw the announcement of the setting up of 16-strong advisory board of international industry and business leaders for the FIDIC Global Leadership Forum to help drive forward the forum’s work.

February saw the unveiling of the first tranche of high-profile speakers lined up to appear at FIDIC’s annual Global Infrastructure Conference in Geneva and the announcement of the conference theme, Building a better tomorrow, by investing today: Sustainable infrastructure development to improve community wellbeing, which will focus on how the industry and society engineers a sustainable future in a way that benefits communities worldwide.

March opened with the latest event in FIDIC’s annual series of webinars, Using design thinking to increase diversity and inclusion, which was organised to coincide with International Women’s Day and looked at using an integrated design approach and processes to create flexible diversity and inclusion solutions that are both fit for purpose and relevant to local conditions.

The month also saw FIDIC issue a statement on the war in Ukraine, condemning the action as totally contrary to FIDIC’s objectives and values its members stand for and uphold and expressing solidarity with Ukraine’s people and all those who are suffering and calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities.

The month began with the launch of a new FIDIC Digital Transformation Committee to monitor and identify changes in digital technology and techniques to help futureproof FIDIC’s products and services delivery, such as for FIDIC contracts. The new committee will also Identify issues or trends in the digital space that could be potential disruptors to FIDIC and or its members and the wider industry. April also saw FIDIC further responding to the situation in Ukraine by urging its stakeholders, where they are able, to support two important appeals - from RedR International and the International Committee of the Red Cross - which are attempting to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis in the country.

FIDIC’s sixth State of the World report, Digital disruption and the evolution of the infrastructure sector, was also launched in April while another webinar, organised by FIDIC’s integrity management committee, saw more than 400 global construction and infrastructure sector professionals gathering to discuss the topical issue of Integrity in Infrastructure Delivery during Times of Corruption and Conflict.

The month closed with another well-attended webinar, organised by FIDIC’s risk, liability and quality committee, examining the always-topical issue of Essential requirements for managing contractual risk.

May was a particularly busy month for FIDIC’s contracts community. The month began with a webinar from the FIDIC contracts committee on Greening FIDIC’s rainbow contract suite – let’s do it! which looked at integrating net zero clauses and embedding sustainable performance criteria in the FIDIC rainbow contract suites. The month also saw three Official FIDIC Contract Users’ Conferences being held online across three regions – Africa and the Middle East, the Americas and Asia-Pacific – where hundreds of industry professionals shared progress on the application and use of FIDIC contracts around the world.

May also saw FIDIC host an important online briefing session on the risks of the use of forced labour in global supply chains supporting the rise of renewable energy and energy storage. The exclusive event for key stakeholders was attended by the World Bank and discussed the ongoing industry efforts to mitigate those risks to protect workers globally supporting the energy transition.

Also in May, FIDIC hosted an outstanding online event organised by its Future Leaders Advisory Council - Around the world in 90 minutes - changes and future trends in the delivery of consulting engineering services – which offered a unique and revealing glimpse into the future of the consulting engineering industry through the insights of the young professionals that will shape it over the coming years.

The month closed with the launch of the first phase of the new FIDIC Ambassadors programme which saw the appointment of 11 key industry figures from around the world who have been confirmed as the first FIDIC Ambassadors who will help to expand FIDIC’s footprint across the globe and help to achieve the organisation’s objectives more efficiently.

June began with the first main meeting of FIDIC’s new Global Leadership Forum, a well-attended online session, which comprised around 60 global leaders from the engineering, construction, infrastructure, finance, technology and economic sectors. The meeting, which was held under Chatham House Rules, was addressed by leading speakers from the international banking and financial sectors. The month ended with a webinar organised by the FIDIC business practice leadership committee which offered important and topical insights into some of the ever-evolving practices for the selection of engineering consultants. The event heard from speakers who stressed that correctly selecting an engineering consultant will have a major bearing on the value delivered, quality, whole-life project cost and the timeliness of delivery of projects.

Shortlists for three of FIDIC’s key awards programmes were unveiled in July, with the nominees announced for the FIDIC Projects Awards, MA Excellence Awards and the Future Leaders Awards. July also saw the successful stepping up of the marketing effort for the FIDIC Global Infrastructure Conference to be held in Geneva, with all the signs that the event is likely to be sold out or pretty close to it.

Towards the end of the month, FIDIC announced the appointment of Michael Broadley as the first general manager of the FIDIC Academy, the new brand under which FIDIC organises all its training activities to enable better promotion of its courses and training to the wider engineering, construction and infrastructure sector.

August saw a flurry of activity as the FIDIC team focused on the arrangements for the Geneva Global Infrastructure Conference to ensure that the return to an in-person event is a successful one. Members of the team also had time for a special visit to Geneva Airport, which is where the majority of delegates to the conference will be arriving in September.

All in all, another busy year for FIDIC that has seen the organisation grow its influence and reach across the global engineering, construction and infrastructure sector.