#PQS2030 begins transatlantic shift at NAR2023
"the need for greater 'diversity of thought' not only exists and remains desirous in the workplace, it should also translate into policy work and ensure 'equity' in public-procurement too.
Since the Civil Rights Act [1964], the US have maintained a lead in this critical area and since August 2000, I've been committed to developing the requisite policy and other legislative tools in the UK"
_ Bola Abisogun OBE, Founder & Chairman, DiverseCity Surveyors
The event took place at the ICE [next door to RICS HQ in Parliament Square, London] and was seamlessly hosted by Frances Moffett-Kouadio who is also a Fellow [FICE] and true ambassador for the Engineering profession. However, the commercial opportunity for RICS Members remains gargantuan, particularly for those who are seeking new international markets and commercial opportunities.
In fact, as seen [here] in a previous, but not to distant post talking up the ‘value creation’ facilitated by Supplier Diversity, amidst his wider work as a Board Member at the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Bola continues to challenge existing ‘public sector’ processes in the UK further articulating “that the UK has so much to learn from the well documented US success story called ‘Supplier Diversity' [aka affirmative action] and more recently referred to as ‘Equity in Procurement’. I make no apology for shining a light on an inclusive and scaleable process, that is genuinely designed to create intergenerational wealth for all.”
As far back as 2003/04 when he decided to start his first professional services firm, specialising in the Disability Discrimination Act [2004], Bola now wishes to dedicate this gesture to the commendable work of the late Judith Heumann, who passed away yesterday [04.03.23]. Judith, a native New Yorker, was a force to be reckoned with and her legacy of challenge, reform and structural change, will continue to live on through the Americans with Disabilities Act [1990]. Having set up his own firm [Regulated by RICS] in 2000, Bola went onto follow in the footsteps of Judith, though with increasing frustration at the lack of progress made [in the UK] on such key and critical issues. Bola's work also caught the attention of RICS and in September 2005 - based in the London Borough of Hackney, his place of birth - Bola was featured as one of only two (2)* Black owned surveying firms operating 'on the high street', across the London region, [*known to the RICS] at that time.
The #NAR2023 event in London kicked off with a welcome note by Dame Maria Miller MP......
_ and swiftly followed by a Keynote from Emma Wade-Smith OBE .....
The era of #digitalconstruction has arrived and the conversation about information management, a longstanding, patient challenge for Bola and a few like him, has once again received national attention in the UK, particularly in a post-Grenfell world; just as the so-called era of the Golden Thread and 'safer homes' via the Building Safety Act ...... begins to take off.
Based on the statistics [shown above and] shared by colleagues from PwC, the size of the commercial 'export' opportunity [in Construction] is immense ....... and the 'age-old' debate about the 'true value' of BIM has arisen again in 2023, which according to Bola and due to the legislative enforcement of the Building Safety Act [2022], "is the year that everything changes in the UK".
Building upon his vast body of work, in his role as a founding Committee Member of the LCCI-BBA ...... all with a focus on Public Sector procurement and commercial contract opportunities / improved Supplier Diversity goals .....
and Bola's ongoing membership of the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, continues to afford seismic opportunities on their accredited Cost Management offer [using Digital Twins via #PQS2030] .....
It is now well over a decade since any meaningful research was carried out by the Surveying profession itself, although movement in the period has not been as significant, as one would have hoped some thirteen years later .....
In fact, on reflection, the industry / profession has largely been stagnant, and the fear is that the industry on both sides of the Atlantic will be unable to meet and service the growing need for professional services and contractor led supply chains, in an era of decarbonisation enroute to a net-zero / carbon-neutral future.
With the ongoing challenge of 'human versus machine' it really is time for the QS to relinquish control of that battle. It is time for the value proposition of the PQS to be deconstructed and completely rebuilt. As a profession who has largely carried out her function in largely the same way for over [one hundred and fifty] yes, 150years, in the ear of the Digital Twin, it is time for the PQS to step up the challenge of 'self-disruption'; that is the ambition of #PQS2030, birthed in 2019, with the kind support of Alan Muse FRICS [now retired] ......
Solid, long term relationships have already been forged across the USA, with a number of credible learning institutions, some of whom have undertaken 'knowledge share' insight trips for their student cohorts, in seeking to further develop the international perspective........ including Texas A&M University, who maintain close links with our Chairman and RICS.
But a plethora of 'blockers' / 'structural' and 'cultural' challenges prevail and all must be suitably and tangibly addressed, on both sides of the Atlantic ......
New, agile, #data-driven business models will also be required; technology will not wait for our profession to adjust. As projects become increasingly complex and fragmented across both a vertical and horizontal eco-system of stakeholders and actors, global risk pools will need to be 'continuously' administered and monitored with 'resultant risk' factored into our 'real-time' client facing report writing. In seeking to mitigate 'unintended' uninsurable insurance risk(s), age-old below line caveats and/or exclusions will need to be evidenced in the requisite detail and/or extinguished by the presence of an informed decision tool ..... enter the digital twin.
The introduction of new technologies and critical tools [for the PQS] was presented at the last RICS QS & construction Conference [last year July 2022] and candidly discussed by Bola, who managed to engage with his peers, in an impactful way.
The evidence as disclosed within the 2022 report below; is conclusive - we urgently need to remove the blockers, but the cultural [people-centric] challenge will be much more difficult to achieve, measure and monitor ...... across the globe.
And the final word with and from Fiona Macleod-Henschel, a true industry ally and formidable representative, on behalf of the British Consulate-General [New York] was reassuring and inspiring CCC...... so, in the infamous words of our Chairman [Bola], "watch this space"; #ItsTime 🚀🚀🚀🚀
