APM Conference 2013: HS2 chairman confirmed as speaker

Chairman of the highly publicised and debated rail network High Speed 2 (HS2) has been confirmed as the first speaker for the APM Project Management Conference 2013.

Doug Oakervee CBE (pictured) will be taking to the podium on Thursday 13th June at the award-winning Kings Place venue situated around the corner from King’s Cross station in London.

With a long and distinguished career working on major infrastructure projects Doug is in a ideal position to answer the question being asked at the APM Project Management Conference 2013; what now for project management?

The conference, called simply Adapt!, reflects on 2012 as the coming of age year for project management and asks; what now? During APM’s 40th anniversary year the profession saw the successful delivery of the London 2012 Olympics; the completion of Europe’s tallest building, the Shard; the successful testing of Europe’s largest hybrid for the world’s first 1,000mph car, Bloodhound; the start of tunnelling for Crossrail; introduction of the 4G telecommunication network in the UK; and completion of the TV Digital switchover programme. All significant projects, with a global impact, delivered largely by British project professionals.

And so to 2013; what now? The APM Project Management Conference 2013, which has been setting the professional project management agenda for 7 years, will call on the profession to adapt its thinking to address the growing expectations of society. A society that has a growing intolerance to failure and that expects a world in which all projects succeed.

Adapt! will focus on themes of flexibility, resilience and evolution. Themes that reflect the new benchmarks that 2012 set, the growing demands of customers and the “more for less” culture which is challenging how we think and act.

With these themes in mind Doug Oakervee CBE, APM Honorary Fellow and chairman of HS2 Ltd, the company set up by the Government to deliver the high speed rail network between London and the North of England, will look at the challenges of delivering this controversial mega project in the face of an uncertain economic climate, global competition and a vocal lobby protesting against its construction.

Book today to save
With bookings now open delegates can save up to £185 by taking advantage of the specially discounted early bird rates that are available until 31st March 2013. Along with Doug Oakervee the programme, created again by conference chairman Professor Darren Dalcher, will build on the conference’s reputation for attracting some of the world’s most influential and thought provoking speakers including Sir Peter Gershon, Prof. Eddie Obeng, Dr. Edward Hoffman, Richard Noble OBE and Jeremy Beeton.

Building on the success of 2012, where 94% of attendees said they would look to attend in 2013 and with delegates describing the conference as “a source of inspiration, innovation and new ideas”, the conference will feature an expanded capacity exhibition.

To see why the APM Project Management Conference has a long-held reputation for agenda setting content featuring the country’s most innovative and groundbreaking projects watch interviews with speakers from last year’s conference including Virgin Galactic, London 2012, NASA and Crossrail.