PMI Bangalore India Chapter celebrated the first anniversary of the Engineering & Construction (E&C) Forum recently, with the launch of a monthly knowledge-sharing program, E&C PM Footprints. The E&C Forum is a focused interest group that aims to bring about advancements in the industry through the advocacy of project management standards and best practices. The E&C PM Footprints in on the lines of the chapter's flagship program, PM Footprints.

At the launch ceremony on 26 August, T V Sesha Sai, E&C Forum chair and vice president — projects and initiatives, PMI Bangalore India Chapter, and Basu Dutta, chapter president, spoke about the chapter’s initiatives. Around 150 professionals from the industry attended it. Nejeeb Khan, founder and managing director, KGD Architecture, spoke about the need for the construction industry to adopt innovative architectural designs, construction methodologies, and new-age construction technologies. He said the industry needed to imbibe professionalism, get faster clearances for construction projects, and adopt environment-friendly construction methods. He envisaged a future in which the industry would use self-sustaining construction methods to reduce dependencies on external factors.

Vineet Sharma, regional head – architecture, engineering, and construction, Auto Desk, spoke on new technologies in construction. He said currently the construction industry devotes a mere 1.2 percent of investments to technology, whereas the manufacturing industry spends 3.3 percent on it. He made a case for the industry to move towards digital technologies such as building information modelling, which is an intelligent 3D-model-based process that provides data and insights to those involved in the construction process, ensuring better project management.

The chapter also organized a panel discussion on how to prepare to embrace disruptive change. The panelists were Anil Muthalik, vice president – projects, Bharthiya City Developers Pvt.Ltd.;Hareesh M V, COO, projects & development services, Jones Lang LaSalle; and S J Vijay, chairman, Salmon Leap Associates India Pvt. Ltd. The moderator was Vijay Pandey, chief consulting officer, Management Consulting Services.