Global Construction Summit 2024

Delivered by the Chartered Institute of Building and Global Construction Review, the Summit features high-quality speakers drawn from across the global built environment sector.

The Summit comprises webinars, which include presentations from industry leaders, panel discussions and Q&As. The Summit webinars are free to watch and each one qualifies for an hour’s CPD credits for those that complete them live. The webinars are subsequently made available to watch on demand.

This year’s Summit kicked off with a session focusing on women in construction (see below).

The Summit’s partners include Buildots. A panel discussion in partnership with Buildots, focused on performance-driven construction management, took place on 21 February (see below).

Last year’s Summit attracted more than 1,500 construction professionals. The speakers were drawn from the likes of Aecom, Ferrovial Construction, the Get It Right Initiative, Gleeds, Hickok Cole, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the World Green Building Council.

Breaking down barriers: women succeeding in construction – watch on demand

The women who enter construction and survive and thrive will more than likely have overcome opposition from teachers and even family. They probably found a lack of information about access and opportunity. They may well have had to overcome occasional discriminatory behaviour.

But, there are growing numbers of women in construction (albeit from a very low base), and that is reflected in the growing numbers of women in senior positions, in professional institutions, companies and importantly in client bodies.

In this opening webinar, you’ll hear from some of them. They’ll discuss not only how they have built their careers, but the barriers they see facing construction and how they might be resolved.

Speakers:

Performance-driven construction management through the power of AI – watch on demand

Tired of the mounting delays, systemic inefficiencies, budget overruns, and constant changes that have become the accepted norm in construction?
Discover how advancements in technology and artificial intelligence can empower the industry to foster a culture of continuous improvement, constructive collaboration, and proactive management.
In this webinar, speakers from some of the UK’s leading construction businesses will explore how to embrace a more performance-driven approach to construction management.

Speakers:

More 2024 webinars will be announced very soon.

Sandi Rhys Jones OBE

Sandi Rhys Jones began her career in construction, property and engineering as a journalist, working for a variety of technical organisations before forming her management and marketing business. She has worked for contractors, consultants, suppliers, representative organisations and government, both in the UK and overseas. An advocate for construction and its contribution to society – housing, workplaces, infrastructure – Sandi brings her experience both as employer and non-executive director to help organisations find innovative ways to improve performance and develop new business, including market and customer research, staff recruitment and retention, culture change, talent management and public and political engagement.

She developed and delivers a cross-disciplinary national mentoring programme at Women in Property and leads on Public Affairs, representing the organisation on two All Party Parliamentary Groups. She was appointed OBE in 1998 for her work in promoting women in construction. Sandi is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, a Fellow of the Women’s Engineering Society and trained as a mediator after completing an MSc in Construction law.

Sandi became CIOB President in June 2023.

Raj Singh

Raj is prison infrastructure team, principal project sponsor – construction lead at the Ministry of Justice. She is a property professional with almost 25 years’ experience, now leading a £900m capital portfolio for the new prisons in construction. From humble teaching beginnings to now revelling in the most rewarding and challenging role of her career, she is responsible for the time, cost and build quality, taking into account technological and construction advances without impacting programme.

Raj is an ambassador for achieving great social value impact in the local communities affected, leaving a lasting, positive legacy for many years to come.

Rachael Jones

Rachael is director/lead transitions of JLL MENA. With more than 10 years’ of property management experience in the UK, she decided to embark on a new adventure and left London to travel to the Middle East. Having arrived in the UAE in 2011 and spending eight years working within the facilities and property management sector covering a range of service offerings for clients located in Abu Dhabi, a change of scenery was required.

She decided to travel to Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and to embark a new journey into the construction and project management field. This opportunity provided her with a totally different perspective from both service delivery, design, construction, to delivery and handover onwards to the occupation and transition into a well-oiled asset. Having been in KSA for almost five years, she is excited to see where this new journey takes her.

Kelly McClellen

Kelly is the co-chairperson of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Sisters Leadership Committee, and secretary of Heartland Women In Trades in the USA.

She began career in construction in 1996 with IUOE Local 101. By 2016, I began doing tradeswomen’s advocacy for Heartland Women In Trades and is now secretary.

She also sits on the steering committee for the National Taskforce on tradeswomen’s issues and is a founder of Tradeswomen Building Bridges connecting with tradeswomen globally.

Emma Ayesu-Koranteng

Emma Ayesu-Koranteng is a chartered construction manager, and senior lecturer and head of department – Building and Human Settlement Development at Nelson Mandela University.

Andy Steele

Andy Steele joined Buildots in mid-2021, initially serving as a mentor to the founders before transitioning to the role of Chief Strategy Officer. With a career spanning nearly four decades, he brings an extensive blend of expertise from both the construction and legal sectors.

Prior to joining Buildots, he held the position of Group CEO for a top 40 UK-based construction group. This diverse group was involved in various segments such as development, construction, off-site manufacturing, infrastructure, and even managed the world’s largest social media construction channel.

Andy’s commitment to enhancing productivity in the construction industry is evident from his past roles. He has made significant contributions as the Chairman of the UK’s largest construction trade federation, focusing on industry-wide improvements. More recently, he has been involved in integrating construction technology to further advance the sector.

Paul Drayton

Paul has the pleasure of leading the Digital team across the European hub within Laing O’Rourke, helping accelerate the adoption of a broad range of digital processes, capabilities, and technologies to improve delivery certainty and make colleagues’ lives easier.

Passionate about driving sustainable change, Paul brings a proven track record of building and leading teams who deliver a step-change in the organisational, operational and financial performance improvement across complex programmes, working at all stages of the end-to-end process and delivering multi-million pound savings to the bottom line.

Paul Bamforth

Paul has more than 30 years of experience of running and advising software companies servicing the UK construction industry. Throughout his career, Paul has built a strong understanding within both the infrastructure and building sectors, with a particular emphasis on the benefits of digital technologies to construction sites, to drive much needed improvements in productivity and efficiency.

As Head of Global Strategic Accounts, Paul’s role is focused on ensuring that the partnership between a client and Buildots delivers what the client needs, with a major focus on how the data gathered can lead to improved processes and facilitate improved margins and business growth.

The built environment’s journey to Net Zero – watch on demand

21 February 2pm GMT

Wherever you are in the world and whether you’re a client, designer or contractor, sustainability must be at the top of your agenda. This session will focus on the process of sustainability – carbon measurement and its impact, and the need and benefit of carbon skills, for example. Our speakers will draw on their experience of embedding sustainability into the built environment.

Speakers:

Making the most of new digital technology: implementation best practice – watch on demand

22 February 2pm GMT In association with PlanRadar

In order to achieve the gains that digital construction technology promises, it must be successfully adopted by your team. What’s the best way to do this? What mistakes can you avoid and what quick wins can you make?

Our panel of speakers are well-versed in implementing new technology and will share their experiences.

In particular, representatives from Aecom and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will explore some of the ways in which they are delivering a three-year digital transformation programme with the collective endorsement of people, from senior leadership to early career professionals.

Speakers:

Sharing the lessons learned from accurate monitoring of 64 different project – watch on demand

23 February 11am GMT In association with Buildots

Poor usage of sites, subcontracted work unfinished and sequence deviations: in this webinar, Buildots will share the lessons from its analysis of 64 construction projects worldwide.

Using data collected via hard hat-mounted 360-degree cameras, Buildots has analysed the performance of 64 different projects between 2018 and 2022. Buildots co-founder and CPO Aviv Leibovici will share the results of its analysis.

Joining him will be Cliff Smith, executive director of the Get It Right Initiative, the not-for-profit membership organisation that has adopted a multi-disciplinary approach to tackling errors in construction. He will discuss the impact of focusing on improving productivity.

And Monika Skirewska, a civil engineer at Ferrovial, will discuss how productivity is monitored and optimised on the central section of the Thames Tideway Tunnel project.

Speakers:
• Aviv Leibovici, CPO & co-founder at Buildots.
• Cliff Smith, executive director of the Get It Right Initiative.
• Monika Skirewska, civil engineer at Ferrovial.

Guilherme Almeida

Guilherme Almeida is director of sustainability and high-performance design at architects Hickok Cole. He led design on the net-zero renovation of the American Geophysical Union headquarters in Washington, DC – the first such headquarters renovation in the greater Mid-Atlantic region of the US. He’s been with Hickok Cole since 2009, starting as a senior associate before being promoted to his current role in 2021.

Porie Saikia FCIOB

Porie Saikia FCIOB is head of environment, energy and sustainability at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York, responsible for moving 8 million people a day. Her task is to develop strategies to meet its commitment to the Paris Agreement’s Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi).

She was awarded the Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Excelsior Award, given once a year to a public architect.

Matthew Black

Matthew Black is programme coordinator for World Green Building Council’s global Advancing Net Zero programme.

In this role, he works across the programme’s various global and regional activities and leads on the recruitment and delivery of the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment.

He started his career in communications, previously working in Brussels for both the UN and a media company focused on sustainability, where his clients included: the UN, the EU Commission, Horizon 2020 research programmes, and a number of other international initiatives such as Cities4Forests.

Richard Steer FCIOB

Richard Steer FCIOB is the chairman of Gleeds Worldwide. He has held the position since 1999 and is senior partner. He first joined the board of Gleeds in 1981 with a mission to develop the business into a leading global brand, representing and promoting best practice in the management of the construction of buildings worldwide.

Under his stewardship, Gleeds has grown from a £31m turnover UK-based business with 480 staff under 10 wholly-owned overseas offices, to a £200m turnover business with almost 2,000 people based in 71 offices across the world.

Michael Yam FCIOB

Datuk Seri Michael Yam is the president of the Chartered Institute of Building and a veteran developer with more than 35 years of experience in real estate development and investments in residential, commercial, retail, hotels and mixed use assets.

He chairs InvestKL, a government investment promotion agency of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Malaysia.

Wes Beaumont MCIOB

Wes Beaumont is associate vice president, digital transformation leader at Aecom’s US East and Latin America division. He is a certified construction manager, speaker, author, coach and manager of people and business change. He is experienced in construction delivery, program management and business transformation consulting.

Prior to joining Aecom, he spent six years with a global design, engineering, and management consulting company, where he managed large-scale infrastructure programs, advised on business change strategies, and led the digital transformation of the firm’s global program management. He began his career as a construction and project manager in the UK, later focusing on change management and process improvement projects.

Sadia Janjua

As the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey chief of digital transformation & innovation, Sadia has over 18 years of executive experience in project delivery, design and construction. She has executive experience in strategy and innovation, driving cost reductions with the utilisation of change management initiatives and business performance improvements.

She has led the research, development, and deployment of cutting-edge solutions that improve and transform the built environment with a philosophy of purposeful innovation that is customer-centric and human-orientated. She has led numerous enterprise-wide organisational change initiatives that have allowed her to enjoy a career of continuous learning that has led to the accumulation of a diverse and wide-ranging set of expertise that offer insights into the future and the ability to position the Port Authority to capitalise on it.

Cliff Smith

Cliff Smith is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has more than 40 years’ experience in the construction industry working for contractor Sir Robert McAlpine and subsequently as a consultant offering specialist engineering and technical support, project and design management and strategic quality leadership.

He has been a director of the Get it Right Initiative since 2017 and was involved in the development of the GIRI Design Guide and a number of research reports on the use of technology in the construction industry – all of which are available to download from the GIRI website. He leads an agile GIRI delivery team covering administration, communications, finance and research.

Aviv Leibovici

Aviv Leibovici is one of the co-Founders and the chief of product at Buildots, a company that solves one of the biggest challenges in construction management using an AI-based approach. 

Aviv comes from a background of data-heavy cyber security systems and leads the company’s product development and the relationship with the British construction industry.

Monika Skirewska

Monika Skirewska is a civil engineer working on the central section of the UK’s largest water project, the Thames Tideway Tunnel. She first joined the project and Ferrovial Construction in 2020 to contribute to the construction of the Connection Tunnel and Combined Sewer Outfall Drop Shaft at the Chelsea Embankment Foreshore site.

She has swiftly progressed her career, and is now in charge of all above ground structures and coordination between disciplines.

To become a Global Construction Summit 2023 partner, please contact:

For more information, please contact Justin Stanton at [email protected]

The Global Construction Summit is organised by Atom Media Partners Limited, publisher of Global Construction Review, Construction Management, and BIMplus.

Diversity & inclusion – the way forward for construction: watch now

Hear the first-hand experience of construction business leaders pioneering efforts to open their organisations to all, including:

Speakers:

Diversity & inclusion – the way forward for construction: watch now

Driving safety performance improvements: watch now

In association with PlanRadar

Building safety: no matter what the legislative regime, improving site safety is a priority for clients and contractors alike – and the understanding of standards and the development and deployment of technology are both key. Our speakers from Laing O’Rourke, the Chartered Institute of Building and PlanRadar will address both.

Speakers:

Driving safety performance improvements: watch now

Clients’ evolving priorities: watch now

Find out what matters most to clients with big plans amid covid-19 and supply chain pressures, including:

Speakers:

Clients’ evolving priorities: watch now

Proving the benefits of information management: watch now

In association with Trimble Viewpoint

Every country is at a different point of the BIM curve, so what lessons can the swiftest and most successful adopters pass on to the rest of the international community? 

Our expert speakers will debate the challenges to adopting building information management, how can they be overcome, and exactly where and when the benefits of investing in BIM accrue.

Speakers:

Proving the benefits of information management: watch now

BIM beyond 3D: implementing 4D and 5D: watch now

In association with Glodon

Moving BIM beyond 3D into 4D and 5D can deliver significant benefits in both time and cost. This session will present case studies of both: how 4D was implemented on a UK project, and how 5D helped deliver the Beijing Winter Olympic Village.

The speakers from Glodon, JN Bentley and Freeform will highlight how 4D and 5D can:
• create more secure project schedules;
• improve safety planning and communication;
• identify and mitigate risks; and
• enable more informed, collaborative decisions to be made.

Speakers:
• Pierpaolo Franco, vice president – international business development at Glodon
• James Bowles, founder of 4D specialist Freeform
• Declan Mawson, operations manager at JN Bentley

BIM beyond 3D: implementing 4D and 5D: watch now

Stacée Barkley

Stacée Barkley is the global diversity, equity, and inclusion leader at DPR Construction. DPR Construction is a privately held, employee-owned commercial general contractor and construction management firm, specialising in highly complex and technical building. In her role, Stacée leads the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy for the organisation, working to embed the principles and practices of DEI into business strategies, with an emphasis on the employee experience and lifecycle.

Stacée is an accomplished leader with more than 30 years of senior management and executive experience. She has been a staunch advocate and vocal supporter of the employee experience and the importance of DEI as an imperative in the value proposition of companies.

Stacée has worked globally to advance cultural literacy and fluency, DEI and social justice. Prior to joining DPR, Stacée spent 12 years in the medical device industry; championing employee resource groups, integrating DEI in talent management processes and accelerating access to therapies in underrepresented and marginalised communities.

Stacée holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice & Criminology, and an MBA.

Alison Mirams

Alison Mirams is the founding CEO of boutique tier one construction company, Roberts Pizzarotti. The company was founded in January 2017 and within the first three years had a workbook of more than $1bn. Alison is deeply passionate about addressing the systemic issues that exist in the construction industry and attracting and retaining more women in the industry

Alison has worked in the construction industry for 25 years. Prior to establishing Roberts Pizzarotti, she led the NSW/ACT regional business unit for Lendlease’s Building business for nearly three years. Prior to joining Lendlease, Alison enjoyed a successful 16-year career at Multiplex, rising from contracts administrator to regional director.

Alison is a director of the UNSW Foundation Board, a member of the TAFE Commission Board and is on the Advisory Board for Aero PM. Alison was previously a director of the Australian Steel Institute and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Property Industry Foundation.

Alison received the Laing O’Rourke Business Woman of the Year award at the 2018 NAWIC NSW Awards for Excellence.

Alison holds a Bachelor of Building (Construction Economics) and a Graduate Diploma Urban Estate Management from UTS.

Caroline Gumble

Caroline Gumble is chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). She is responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the Institute, and is responsible to the Trustees for overseeing all operations of the Institute. She has extensive business leadership experience in the UK and overseas, within the automotive and capital goods sectors gained with Lucas Industries, Ransomes Sims & Jefferies, Textron Inc and membership organisation leadership within EEF Ltd / Make UK. She is also a Director of the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Export & International Trade.

Creating diverse, high-performing business environments is a passion for Caroline with a focus on skills development and lifelong learning.

Luis Lugo Jr.

Luis Lugo Jr. is senior vice president, business development Americas at Hill International. He has more than 30 years of experience in program, project, and construction management as well as operations and maintenance.

He works with Hill’s regional leaders and sales teams to expand Hill’s customer base, identify and secure opportunities, and develop the company’s business development goals and strategy for Hill’s work in the US and Latin America.

Prior to his current role, Lugo served as Hill’s senior vice president and regional manager for the Southeast US & Latin America, as senior vice president responsible for managing Hill’s Claims Consulting Services practice in the Northeastern US, and as president/COO of PACO Group, Inc., an engineering consulting firm headquartered in New York City with offices in Florida and Colombia.

His experience also includes positions as vice president of business development for Hill’s Northeast Region. Before joining the construction consulting industry, Luis spent 20 years with the US Army as an infantry officer with assignments worldwide.

He holds a Master of Arts in Business and Organisational Development from the University of Phoenix in Arizona and a Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York at Albany.

In addition to serving on the DRCA Board, he is an active member of several industry organisations, including the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, the National Transportation Diversity Council, the American Public Transportation Association, and the Construction Management Association of America.

Stephen E Browning

Stephen E Browning is senior vice president, program manager for DOE Nevada test sites at Navarro Inc. He has more than 30 years of experience in federal project management, including serving as senior vice president, national federal market lead with Michael Baker, program executive, DOE legacy management program with Navarro Research and Engineering, and chief of military programs and senior executive service for USACE.

Highlights of his career include leading the reconstruction of national infrastructure across Iraq under the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq’s $12.6bn reconstruction program. Browning’s leadership of the program was recognised by the “Service To America Award for National Security and International Affairs.”

Browning has worked with Hill International’s US regional leaders to capture and execute program and project management assignments for US federal government agencies, including long-term Hill clients such as the General Services Administration, Department of Energy, and US Army Corps of Engineers, among others, as well as cultivate relationships with new federal clients.

His responsibilities included partnering with agencies and owners, identifying market trends, assessing staff and teaming capabilities, and overseeing Hill’s services for federal clients.

Browning holds a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado. He is also a graduate of Harvard University Business School’s Advanced Management Program and Johns Hopkins University’s National Security Studies Program. He is a Senior Executive Fellow of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a registered Professional Engineer in Minnesota.

Ian Williamson

Ian Williamson joined the Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) as chief development officer in October 2017 and he is responsible for leading development and delivery of the planning, design and construction of the project.

As an executive and board director for more than 25 years, Ian has undertaken both strategic and operational roles, developing a leadership style that enables his colleagues to reach their potential.

Earlier in his career, he worked with Sainsbury’s for a decade, as a senior member of the development team, responsible for marketing, finance, store planning, and project management.

He later acted as senior vice president between Aecom Europe and Aecom Middle East, where he directed projects on both continents for more than 15 years.

Prior to joining TRSDC, Williamson served as MD at Arcadis Middle East.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from Cass Business School, London, UK, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with Mathematics from the University of Reading, UK.

Michael Yam

Michael Yam is the senior vice president of the Chartered Institute of Building. He is a veteran developer with more than 35 years of experience in real estate development and investments in residential, commercial, retail, hotels and mixed use assets.

He took early retirement in 2008 and now serves as an independent director of several listed companies and until recently a global bank in Malaysia. He is also the chairman of InvestKL, a government investment promotion agency of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Malaysia.

Dave Peacock

Dave has worked in the UK construction and property sector for 25 years, with a focus on BIM & digital services for the last 14 years. He joined TÜV SÜD in 2021 from Royal HaskoningDHV, an international engineering consultancy, where he was BIM & digital lead for Europe.

Starting his career in 1997, Dave subsequently led the 3D modelling and BIM processes for the 2012 London Olympic Broadcast Centre project. He has also previously led successful corporate accreditation to BIM Level 2 – Tier 1.

He is a member of the UK BIM Alliance’s ISO 19650 Guidance Review Committee, which supports individuals and organisations to understand the standard’s principles and follow best practice. He is also chair of the East Midlands UK BIM Alliance and co-chair of its Midlands group. In 2017, Peacock achieved BRE certification as a BIM Informed Professional, enabling him to lead BIM Level 2 projects.

David Throssell

David Throssell is the head of digital construction for Skanska UK with responsibility for the implementation of BIM across operations in the UK. David is a chartered civil engineer with broad experience of civil and structural permanent works design.

He has managed single and multiple discipline design teams and Government funded R&D data management projects. He has particular expertise in BIM standards, methods and procedures.

Ben Wallbank

With more than 30 years experience in the construction industry, Ben brings a wealth of knowledge to Trimble Viewpoint where he works as BIM strategy & partnerships manager.

He has advised contractors, consultants and client bodies on management, organisation, workflow, and business process associated with BIM deployment.

Steve Coppin

Steve Coppin MSc, BEng (Hons), FCIOB, CFIOSH, FIIRSM, FaPS, CIWFM, PIEMA, MInstRE is an experienced and qualified mechanical engineer, construction manager, design risk advisor with a Master’s in General Engineering.

He is currently chair of the Chartered Institute of Building’s health, safety and wellbeing special interest group, and active on the Health & Safety Executive’s BIM4 working group, on which is focus includes 4D planning, Construction (Design & Management) regulations, temporary works and new the building safety legislation.

His career includes stints at Arcadis, Rider Levett Bucknall, Vinci and Lend Lease.

He is the author of HSE BIM4 working group’s Clients’ Guidance for EIRs and currently for PIRs.

Robert Norton

Robert is UK senior account manager – fire, health and safety at PlanRadar. He is responsible for new business and existing client relationships at PlanRadar, leading the UK’s focus on health and safety, and in particular fire safety.

He has more than ten years’ experience in the construction industry, having worked as an engineer before joining PlanRadar three years ago.

Pierpaolo Franco

Pierpaolo Franco is vice president – international business development at Glodon. Under his leadership, Glodon is accelerating its entrance into global markets and growing global recognition.

With his knowledge of the built environment, Glodon is developing more business intelligence assets and contributing to the digital transformation of the construction industry.

Franco also endeavours to break the silo approach of the building industry and emphasises connection and cooperation with other key players in the field.

Before Glodon, he was the MD of Greater China at the RICS. He also has extensive global working experience in heavy industry, advisory services as well as universities. He is also a special advisor to the CBD Beijing Special Administration.

James Bowles

James Bowles is a specialist in 4D modelling and planning. He is the founder and projects lead at Freeform, building 4D models and working with project teams to improve performance.

He has worked on more than 600 projects in various sectors of the built environment, with a total value of over £150bn.

He currently chairs a cross-industry 4D modelling group that he co-founded in 2012 – the 4D Construction Group. The group runs technical workstreams related to 4D, publishes articles, podcasts and runs an annual conference.