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WBC 16 Update #5: Finale or Finaali

Normal sleep continues to elude me, but we soldier on, don't we? I decided on my first session of the final day to support John Hughes (no, not that John Hughes), whose brogue has become a welcome and familiar presence throughout the week. His presentation centered on the concept of concurrency, or how two or more events can influence delays and additional costs for construction projects in arbitration. I certainly hope not to need his expertise, but I'm also glad to know who to call if it comes to that! Other presentations in the session covered BIM's suitability to achieving client and contractor visions, heightened duties in IPD projects, and two separate presentations on contract and contractor issues in Turkey. After coffee, I went to a session on BIM and information management. The actual topics varied a bit, but I was particularly interested in the data-mining methodology for construction administration that Vincent Kuo presented. I think there's a lot of potential in that area, maybe even to get some predictive analytics.

 The final keynotes came from Wim Bakens, whose name was familiar from my literature review, and Helena Soimakallio the new chair of CIB. They talked about the role of the research community in the coming years and how to best connect with industry and political leadership. One of the purposes of this conference is to establish and revise roadmaps for future research. With so few practitioners attending, I wonder how well anyone can expect researchers to anticipate the needs of industry. If we really want relevant and actionable research, we (practicing architects, engineers, and construction managers) need to be involved in that map making process. Our clients also need some form of representation to ensure real needs are met. I think that's my final thought so far as the conference itself is concerned. Overall, it was a really interesting and informative experience. WBC 2019 will be in Hong Kong. I can't tell you the probability of my being there, but I certainly hope more active practitioners decide to participate.
Brunnsparken Helsinki

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