Convention slated for collaborative project management

The Alliancing Association of Australasia (AAA) and the Lean Construction Institute have combined forces to present a convention that will address the future of relationship contracting in infrastructure throughout Australasia.

Industry leaders will gather in Brisbane this October to explore how collaborative methods can meet productivity challenges in the current market.

“Despite the ambiguity that has arisen around alliancing in the regulatory climate over the last two years, collaborative contracting methods have the potential to widen procurement options for large or complicated infrastructure projects. They can also leverage project-based innovation to mitigate risks and costs,” said Alain Mignot, AAA’s co-founder and executive director.

He said collaboration could add value to sectors such as minerals, health, power and energy where effective delivery of infrastructure is constrained by market resources and procurement practices.

“The industry needs to innovate and overcome issues with skills shortages, project approval delays, government procurement constraints and issues with private sector funding,” he added.

The program for the AAA’s fifth annual convention, themed ‘Collaboration with 20/20 vision’, has been designed to:

• Tackle the challenges affecting future collaborative procurement
• Explore the people, roles, leadership and talent alliancing needs
• Focus on potential threats to collaboration and the solutions
• Examine the latest developments in collaborative contracts and their suitability across industries.

“Discussion at the convention will seek to clarify the applications of collaborative contracting in this changing industry environment and explore how we address opportunities in the future,” said Mignot.

Added to the standard two-day event on 18-19 October, this year’s program also includes the Public Infrastructure Agencies Forum and the Alliance Manager’s Forum on 17 October, and the inaugural conference on Lean in Public/Private Infrastructure (LIPPI) over 20–21 October, presented by the Lean Construction Institute.

For more information on the associations, please see the Alliancing Association of Australasia or Lean Construction Institute websites.

To view the 2011 program and its presenters, go to Collaboration with 20/20 Vision & LIPPI.