PMFORUM Breaking News

The International Project & Program Management Symposium Tokyo 2008 was held during 10-11 March 2008 at Tower Hall, Funabori, Tokyo, Japan. The sponsor of the two-day project management conference was the Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ).

PMForum was represented at the conference by Managing Editor David Pells, Master of Ceremonies for the opening session. The Chair of the IP&PMS Tokyo 2008 was Hiroshi Tanaka, President of PMAJ, (shown in photo at podium).

Here are some highlights from Day Two:

• Keynote presentation by Dr. Edwin Andrews, Director of Academic and Educational Programs and Services for the Project Management Institute (PMI). According to Dr. Andrews, the world’s total fixed capital formation was valued at $7.5 trillion in 2004, or around 21% of the world’s GDP (public investment only). The increased number of projects around the world need PM. He presented some PMI statistics and reviewed the mandate for his academic programs at PMI, which include research.



• Keynote address by Mr. Adesh Jain on the subject of the “Global Project Management Landscape and its implication to Asia.” Adesh delivered another impassioned and enlightening speech about project management as the new economic infrastructure in Asia. According to Adesh, “the ultimate access to knowledge while seeking the freedom to innovate” is leading to this new “quantum of change!”


• Keynote address by Dr. Prof. Motoh Shimizu of the Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan, and Dr. Prof. Christophe Bredillet , Dean of Postgraduate Studies at ESC Lille, France, on the topic of “P2M, the PM Methodology that Support the Construction of the Business Infrastructure in the Age of Global Economy.” Dr. Shimizu described P2M (Project & Program Management for Enterprise Innovation), one of the world’s first guidebooks for program management developed in Japan and now being recognized and used worldwide. Professor Bredillet discussed the global perspective on P2M, some of the strengths of P2M, and how ESC Lille is now using P2M in their graduate project management programme.


• Keynote address by Mr. Peter Melville-Brown of Fujitsu on “The Role of Effective Programme Management in Public Services Transformation” in the UK. Peter reviewed some of Fujitsu’s projects and programme’s in the UK, which are touched by around 98% of UK citizens, including the Postal Service and the National Health Service.


• Presentation and discussions led by Dr. Christophe Bredillet (ESC Lille, France) and Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka (PMAJ, Japan) on the topic of “Addressing Complex Project Management – French + Japanese ways.” This was followed by a presentation on “Project Management Education & Research at ESC Lille” by Professor Bredillet, Dr. Tanaka and Sara Ross.



• Presentation on “Project Management Development and Implementation in International Experience: Russian Experience,” by Professor Vladimir Voropajev, Alexander Tovb and Grigory Tsipes of SOVNET in Moscow. (Alexander Tovb on left with Professor Voropajev in photo)


• Presentation by Professor Xue Yan of China on the topic of “Establish the Result-based Monitoring and Evaluation System for Key Projects in The Public Sector in China.” Professor Yan’s paper was based on her work for the Asian Development Bank in China.



• Presentation on “Project Management in Korea – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” by Mr. Young Min Park (pictured) of the Korean Project Management Association (KPMA). Author of the book “Enterprise Project Management” in Korea, Mr. Park has been active in the international PM community for many years and now runs his own company, PMsoft Korea.


• Presentation on “Project Management in Singapore” by Seah Choo Meng, President of the Society of Project Managers in Singapore.


• Presentation on “The Future of Project Management in Myanmar: from Tribal PM to Competency based PM” by Christopher Chit Tun and Ohnmar Tun Pe of Myanmar. Mr. Tun is a technology consultant at BearingPoint, Inc. and an MSPM graduate of Boston University. Ms. Pe is a graduate student and a successful woman entrepreneur in the Myanmar IT sector.


• Presentation on “International Development Project Management – the Alaska Permanent Fund and Norway’s Natural Resources Trust Fund as examples of Sustainable Development” by Dr. Paul Giammalvo and Suryani Suratman of Indonesia.


• Presentation on “Virtual Team Communication – Successfully Speaking a Common Project Language Worldwide” by John Patton, CEO of Cadence Corporation, a US-based project management consultancy. Other presentations included “Neusoft Development Process Management” by Zhang Xiubang from China; “Project Management at GE” by Takayuki Otsuka from Japan; “Sharing Project Management Experience and Know-how in Developing Countries” by K. R. Umesh of India & Japan; “Success Factors for PM Global Roll out” by Nobuo Yuasa of Japan; “OW Model – a Key to Profiling Management for Innovation and Positive Value Capture” by Kosei Watanabe of Japan; and “On the way to 4th Generation Construction PM – Construction 3K P2M in the New Japanese Market” by Koji Ota of Japan.

The day was capped with cruise of Tokyo Bay for international guests, followed by dinner at a wonderful restaurant in downtown Tokyo.

The “International Project & Program Management Symposium Tokyo 2008 – In pursuit of organizational project management value,” was held in Tokyo, Japan during 10-11 March 2008. The symposium at Tower Hall, Funabori, Tokyo, Japan, was sponsored by the Project Management Association of Japan. The Project Director and Chairman for the IP&PMS Tokyo 2008 was Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka, president of PMAJ.

The national Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ) was born in 2005 thorough the integration of the Japan Project Management Forum (JPMF – pioneer of Japan’s project management society) and Project Management Professionals Certification Center (PMCC). PMAJ has 3,000 individual and 110 corporate members from all branches of the Japanese industry and governmental agencies. PMAJ offers its own standard “The Guidebook of Project and Program Management for Enterprise Innovation – P2M” and P2M based certification system. For more information, visit http://www.pmaj.or.jp/.