Photo by: Duane Daws
Capital project owners, government agencies, contractors, suppliers and academia within Africa’s project management and construction industry will soon be able to leverage the knowledge database and processes of the US-based Construction Industry Institute (CII) as a South Africa chapter is established.
The international consortium, based at the University of Texas at Austin and boasting more than 130 engineering contractor and supplier firm members from both the public and private sectors, aimed to launch the branch during the first quarter of this year at the University of Pretoria’s Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM).
“The purpose of CII is to measurably improve the delivery of capital facilities … and to enhance the business effectiveness and sustainability of the capital facility lifecycle through CII research, related initiatives and industry alliances,” said GSTM project management senior lecturer Dr Giel Bekker in a statement.
The CII–South African Chapter would provide a platform for Africa-based members to undertake research and benchmark their activities, as the improvement of project and project management performance on capital projects were increasingly a strategic focus for both the public and private sectors.
Bekker noted that the local chapter would, in turn, contribute to CII’s offering in knowledge management through the participation of executive-level personnel in the institution’s core processes, including research, implementation, education, benchmarking and metrics, breakthrough strategy and globalisation, besides others.
CII, which would offer local membership at a substantial discount to the US rates, said a number of Southern Africa-based companies were already members of the international chapter and had benefited from activities such as research, yearly conferences, communities of practice and benchmarking.