Dear Practitioners,

I’m happy to present to you a special issue on our recently concluded third PMI India National Conference in Bangalore that was a remarkable success. The theme for the conference, Architecting Project Management for Nation-Building, provided us the opportunity to deliberate on and hold discussions on a wide range of topics.

The main highlight of the three-day conference was our keynote speakers who were inspirational, thoughtprovoking, and insightful. We look up to these individuals for their contributions to nation-building, like Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, our former president; Mr. Sam Pitroda, the man credited with envisioning the telecom revolution in the country; Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys and probably the biggest brand in Indian IT industry; and Mr. Arup Roy Choudhury, chairman and managing director, National Thermal Power Corporation. We also saw how ancient wisdom from Chanakya applies to today’s corporate world. Senior bureaucrats and industry leaders, with their depth of knowledge and wealth of experience, also added immense value to the conference. I’m confident practitioners received both food for thought and handy tips on how to manage teams, achieve organizational goals, meet project targets, prioritize work, and much more from these sessions.

PMI India has been advocating project management with the government. The high level of participation from the public sector this time goes to show our success in making inroads in this sector. The special track on “Project Management in e-Governance” saw the participation of several senior bureaucrats and policy makers and opened a debate on the need for project management for more success in public-sector projects.

The panel discussions offered delegates divergent views on topics of interest to the community. This year, we introduced pre-conference workshops and case studies, both of which were well-received. We released the Hindi translation of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) and a report, Project Management in e-Governance: Issues & Challenges in Navigating to the New Normal.

I commend the role that PMI Bangalore Chapter, our team of volunteers, and the PMI India team played in making the conference a grand success. They overcame logistical challenges with panache and gave us a memorable experience. I’m grateful to Mr. Mark A. Langley, president and CEO, PMI, and Mr. Ricardo Triana, director, PMI Board, for their support. I thank our sponsors and hope to see their continued support in the years to come.

The fourth national conference will be held in Chennai and will be jointly hosted by PMI Chennai Chapter and PMI Kerala Chapter. We will take forward the lessons learned during this conference to bring more value to you in next year’s conference.

Best regards,

Raj Kalady
Managing Director, PMI India