PMFORUM Breaking News

Renate Prantner has been named an International Correspondent for PMForum in Vienna, Austria. Renate is a research fellow for project management at the PROJEKTMANAGEMENT GROUP at the University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna where she has worked since 2004.

At the PROJEKTMANAGEMENT GROUP Renate has been part of the programme office in the research programme project orientation [international], of the project team in project orientation [austria II] and project orientation [sk-at]. She is coordinating the international project “PM CAT” to develop a web-based tool for competence assessment and coordinates the international network PMUni, which aims at promoting professional education and research in project and process management.

Renate has a Masters degree in International Business Administration from the University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna, where she is currently writing her doctoral thesis on the subject of “Change Management – Project and Process Orientation”.

Vienna (German: Wien) is the capital of Austria and Austria's primary city; with a population of about 1.7 million (2.3 million within the metropolitan area). It is by far the largest city in Austria as well as its cultural, economic and political centre. Vienna lies in the very east of Austria and is close to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an Economist Intelligence Unit study of 127 world cities ranked it third for quality of life. Full of former palaces, museums and historical buildings, Vienna is easily one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Vienna has a long and colorful history. Founded around 500 BC, Vienna was originally a Celtic settlement, becoming a Roman frontier city in 15 BC. During the Middle Ages, Vienna was home of the Babenberg Dynasty and in 1440 became primary residence of the Habsburg dynasties. Vienna grew to become the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and a cultural centre for arts and science, music and fine cuisine.

In 1805, Vienna became capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European and World politics, including hosting the 1815 Congress of Vienna. In 1867 Vienna became the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, Vienna became capital of the First Austrian Republic. Between 1938 and the end of the Second World War, Vienna lost its status as a capital to Berlin. After 1945, Vienna again became the capital of Austria.

In the 1970s the Vienna International Centre, a new area of the city, was created to host international institutions. Vienna is now the seat of various United Nations (UN) offices, international institutions and global organizations, including the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Additionally, Vienna is the seat of the UN Commission on International Trade Law's secretariat (UNCITRAL). Alongside the international and intergovernmental organisations, there are dozens of charitable organisations based in Vienna that provide relief and assistance to disadvantaged children and needy people in developing countries.

Vienna has been synonymous with music for centuries, and was home to Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Johann Strauss. Today the Wiener Philharmoniker is one of the world's top orchestras, the Vienna Boys' Choir is triumphant wherever it tours, and the Vienna Conservatorium has produced innumerable international award-winners in all musical disciplines.

Austria (officially the Republic of Austria) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. Austria is a largely mountainous country due to its location in the Alps. Of the total area of Austria (84 000 km² or 32,000 sq. mi), only 32% is below 500 metres (1,640 ft).

Austria is one of the 10 richest countries in the world with a well-developed market economy and a very high standard of living. Until the 1980s, many of Austria's largest industrial firms were nationalized; in recent years, privatization has reduced state holdings to a level comparable to other European economies. Next to a highly-developed industry, international tourism is the most important part of national economy. Austria became a member of the European Union in 1995, but retained its constitutional neutrality.

Germany has historically been the main trading partner of Austria, making it vulnerable to changes in the German economy. Since Austria became a member of the European Union (EU), it has gained closer ties to other EU economies and reduced its economic dependence on Germany. Membership in the EU has also drawn foreign investors attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and proximity to EU aspiring economies. Growth in GDP reached 3.3% in 2006. Austria's population in October 2006 was 8,292,322. Other than Vienna, no other Austrian city has more than 250,000 inhabitants.

(Vienna and Austria facts are courtesy of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org)

Renate Prantner is currently working to advance the Project Management profession throughout Austria and Europe. She lives in Vienna and can be contacted at Renate.Prantner@wu-wien.ac.at. We at PMForum want to welcome Renate to our Global Correspondents Network in support of www.pmforum.org, PM World Today and the world of professional project management.

In August 2006, PMForum announced the formation of a global network of International Correspondents to provide news and information from around the world of project management. PMForum now has correspondents in over 15 countries. More information about this program and about other international correspondents can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/index.htm#5.

Established in 1995, www.pmforum.org was the world’s first website devoted to professional project management and continues to be one of the world’s most popular sources of project management news and information. PMForum is a company formed to operate and administer the pmforum.org website. PMForum also produces the monthly online PM World Today eJournal where articles, case studies, papers and viewpoints by leading PM authorities from around the world can be found; free subscriptions are available at www.pmworldtoday.net