PMI Announces Scott Berkun as Keynote Speaker for PMI Global Congress 2010—Asia Pacific

Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading professional membership organisation for project managers, announced best-selling author and renowned presenter Scott Berkun as the keynote speaker for PMI^® Global Congress 2010—Asia Pacific. PMI’s Global Congress allows experts and professionals at all levels to network, discuss trends in project, program and portfolio management, and achieve professional development.

Author of The Myths of Innovation and Making things Happen, Berkun identifies both innovation and project management as crucial aspects of business success. As a former program manager at Microsoft^® for Internet Explorer, Windows and MSN, Berkun will lend insight into technological triumphs and the role project management played in those successes. He will explore the lessons project managers can learn from great innovations, as well as what great innovators can learn from the key principles of project management. Attendees will also have the ability to pose questions to Scott live or through PMI’s Facebook and Twitter sites for greater interaction before and during Global Congress.

“I’m a big believer in the idea of project managers as true team leaders,” says Berkun. “A strong project manager possesses not only an understanding of the key tenets of project management, but also the soft skills needed to usher breakthrough ideas through an organisation. All project managers have the ability to become innovators just by introducing something new. The trick, however, is widening your perspective on what qualifies as new, as it’s often very easy to find connections today between what we call ‘new’ and ideas from the past.”

The Asia Pacific region is increasingly embracing innovation, as seen through Australia’s creation of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, and is further recognising project management principles as key to the region’s success, as evidenced by the Victorian Government’s Gateway Review Process as a component of the Gateway Initiative. The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research is committed to developing policies and delivering programs to provide lasting economic benefits and ensuring Australia's competitive future, the success of which is dependent upon successful project management.

One successful initiative in Australia continues to be the water authority for the Wimmera, Grampians and Mallee region, which serves 70,000 customers over 62,000 square kilometres, about 20 percent of the area of the State of Victoria. The Wimmera Male Pipeline Project is the largest of its kind in the world and is steadily replacing 18,000 kilometres of earthen channels with 9000 kilometres of pipeline, more than 30 pump stations and 53 water storage facilities. Originally started in 2006 and slated to be completed over 10 years, the pipeline project had to be fast-tracked due to the severity of drought conditions in the region and is now set to be completed in just three years, by early 2010. Along the way, the project has incorporated new standards in environmental management, technical innovation, engineering excellence and project management.

“As the Asia Pacific’s economy continues to experience diversity and growth, the region is well-positioned at the forefront of business innovation,” said Gregory Balestrero, president and chief executive officer of PMI. “The need for innovative project managers will continue to exist in the region in the future, and Scott Berkun is paving the way through his many thought-provoking perspectives about how we think of project management and business leadership.”

PMI^® Global Congress 2010—Asia Pacific will take place from 22-24 February 2010 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

About Project Management Institute (PMI)

The world’s leading professional membership organisation for project managers, PMI shares knowledge with nearly 500,000 members and credential holders in over 185 countries. Since 1969, PMI has impacted more than one million practitioners, businesses, governments, students and training organisations. Today, PMI’s products and services range from world-class standards for project, program and portfolio management to five professional credentials, including the gold standard Project Management Professional (PMP)^®. PMI’s exclusive Global Corporate Council and European Corporate Networking Group engage large multinationals and government organisations in endorsing the value of project management. The only project management association with an established academic research program, PMI has invested more than US$14 million in support of dozens of research projects since 1997. Learn more at PMI.org.