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Blended E-learning and Experiational Programme (BEEP)
The memorandum aims at kick-starting the development of large-scale power generation in sub-Saharan Africa, with particular focus on hydro-power resources. The agreement was signed by South African Energy Minister Dipuo Peters and her counterpart Gilbert Tshongo. South Africa’s power utility Eskom and the DRC’s Société Nationale d'Électricité Société a Responsibilité Limitée National, or SNEL, will also enter into an agreement to facilitate the execution of the project. The dam on the Congo River will ultimately be the biggest hydro-power project in the world and will not only benefit the people of Congo but the African continent at large. The hydro-electric scheme could generate up to 40 000 megawatts, almost the equivalent to South Africa’s current installed base, and would be able to supply electricity to 500 million people. As well as fuelling the DRC’s economic growth, the Grand Inga project now has an increasingly important place in the long-term provision of clean energy for many African countries. It could save up to 100 Mega tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. The biggest challenge to Grand Inga is a lack of strong political
leadership. The DRC has presidential elections on the go and the country will then have to be stabilised. It will also require strong political support
from all the countries involved and co-ordination among the stakeholders for the project to succeed. Project: Deliver a water-supply public works project in response to a drought
With the city of Aurora, Colorado, USA facing a major water shortage after a two-year drought, time was of the essence for the Prairie Waters Project. The city’s water department partnered with engineering and program management service provider CH2M Hill to deliver one of the largest water-related public works projects in the state. The project plan called for a pipeline, three pumping stations and a treatment plant that will meet the city’s water needs through 2030. “It was a very large project for us to undertake,” says Larry Catalano, manager of capital projects for the City of Aurora. “We hadn’t done anything of this magnitude ever. Plus, with the critical nature of the drought situation that we were in, we didn’t know how long it was going to continue. So it was of paramount importance to bring it on line when we said we would.” The project spanned six local governments’ jurisdictions. Obtaining permission to construct in these areas required 18 months of complex negotiations and more than 400 permits. Mr. Catalano worked to minimize permits whenever possible, but designed the project to meet all requirements. In one instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the project team that to avoid a permit it had to tunnel a creek crossing that Mr. Catalano thought was “fairly dry and innocuous.” He convinced representatives for the Corps of Engineers to inspect the site. They eventually determined that the creek could be crossed using the open cut excavation method, which doesn’t involve digging a tunnel – saving the project time and money. "We questioned everything to try to keep costs down but also comply with all permit requirements,” Mr Catalano says. One of the project’s goals was to minimize impact on the environment. Mr. Catalano’s team worked with the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Division of Migratory Bird Management and many other jurisdictions as required to secure necessary permits. Team members also held training exercise for each of the contractors to help them recognize what to do when they encountered environmental issues. The megaproject closed ahead of schedule and a whopping US$100
million under budget.“Where we were really able to achieve our savings was through aggressive project management, attention to detail, partnering and continuous value engineering,” Mr. Catalano says. “Our
construction managers, project managers and the contractor worked together to look for ways that did not affect the integrity or the design of the project to find ways to save money,”
Researchers said that rare but high-impact problems, the so-called Black Swan events, were often to blame. It found that there was a tendency among top managers to ignore low probability but high-impact risks to project plans. This in turn, had led to catastrophic results for businesses looking to implement large IT projects. Recent examples of ‘black swan blindness’ include well-known brands such as Kmart and the UK’s second largest car glass company, Autowindscreens, the report said. It added that many other large organisations have been on the brink of collapse because of out-of-control IT projects. Professor Bent Flyvbjerg from Oxford’s Said Business School’s BT Centre for Major Programme Management said IT projects are now so big and touch so many aspects of business that “this poses a singular new challenge for top management”. Professor Flyberg and his team are now looking to develop tools that help IT managers avoid out-of-control projects. Fellow researcher Jürgen Laartz from McKinsey added: “The results are a wake-up call for top managers considering significant IT projects.” The study follows a recent Government report which set out plans to
reduce the risk of IT project failures. The Government ICT Strategy will look to simplify or ‘chunk down’ complex and lengthy IT projects. It said the government would look to move away from large and expensive ICT
projects, with a presumption that no project will be greater than £100 million.
British fire safety experts said the emphasis must now be about constructing towers which stand long enough to evacuate people. Barbara Lane, Arup’s UKMEA fire engineering practice leader who has worked on The Heron Tower (230m) and The Shard (due to be the European Union’s tallest building when completed next May), said: “There’s been a switch from evacuating only two-three floors. Total evacuation is now possible. It’s a lot about buying time. It’s also about well -informed management teams on the ground understanding and managing buildings being able to switch into evacuation mode immediately. When Piers Morgan was Daily Mirror editor he even contemplated kitting out his staff – perched high up in the Canary Wharf tower – with parachutes in the wake of the 9/11 catastrophe. Glen Forrest, Buro Happold senior fire engineer, said: “You’re never going to design skyscrapers to structurally withstand that sort of incident (9/11). It wouldn’t be economically viable. The more sensible approach is new builds incorporating enhanced vertical egress, including utilisation of lifts, and better access for fire-fighters.” Recommendations in the wake of 9/11 include additional and widened stairways; fire-resistent functioning lifts to assist fire-fighters; more water supplies and enhanced sprinklers The new 102-floor One World Trade Centre (due to open in 2013) will see its life-safety systems – emergency stairs, communication cables, ventilation shafts and lifts – being encased in a core wall of super-strength concrete almost a metre thick. Firefighters will have their own personal stairway. In the USA a $25 million fire research lab to study how structures respond to fire under load is being built. Design engineers are contemplating bridges that connect skyscrapers. With the threat of terrorism showing no sign of abating and experts
predicting the first towers exceeding 1000m before long, such reassurances can’t come soon enough.
The result of the vote was: Participating member countries voted 28 in favour out of 30 or 93 % in
favour. The required minimum percentage is 66.66%. There were two negative votes from France and USA. This means that once the comments on the Draft International Standard (DIS) have all been
addressed and by the ISO/PC236 workgroup during January 2012 in Paris, the new standard will be issued. Read More
A group of Project Management Professional (PMP) candidates are juggling their ProjectPro prep workshops on Saturday mornings at the Bateman offices in Bedfordview, Johannesburg with following the World Cup rugby in New Zealand. Hopefully the Springboks and the PMP wannabees will both pass their final test. Boeing Delivers First 787 Dreamliner Years Late and Way Over Budget
The Dreamliner is expected to open up new routes, provide huge fuel savings (20 percent more fuel-efficient than planes it replaces) and offers travelers more comfort. The innovative carbon-fibre 787 was scheduled to be launched three years ago, but was delayed by production and design problems, probably due to the fact that it was 80% outsourced. There is a big demand for the new jet, with airlines ordering more than 820 of them, which is well above levels for previous new jets. The first one goes to Japan's All Nippon Airways, There was a delivery ceremony outside the 787 factory in Everett, Washington, USA, whereafter the airline flew the jet back to Tokyo. The jet is the first midsize airplane capable of flying short- and long
-range routes, which enables airlines to open more non-stop routes. The 787 will be stiff competition for the Airbus A350 which is still on the drawing boards in Europe.
Terry Deacon, eNews editor,
visited Nairobi towards the end of June and took the above photograph of a building under construction. The entire supporting scaffolding comprised of wooden sticks, not steel acroprops as one would expect. Read more
Spektr-R will scan the fringes of the
universe for black holes, mysterious quasar radio sources and also the fast-rotating stellar remnants known as pulsars. The instrument, dubbed the “Russian Hubble” after the iconic
US space telescope is many thousands of times more powerful. It will give astronomers new opportunities for looking billions of light-years back in time to the young universe and unlocking the mysteries of black
holes. Read more
A long, very large hose used to transport fuel hundreds of metres from ship to shore at Macquarie Island, Antacrtica was left behind on the dock in Hobart. It wasn't until the specialist re-fuelling crew of about half a dozen got settled on this Southern Ocean voyage that they realised it was missing. It was scheduled to off-load cargo at Macquarie Island and while that was happening it was supposed to supply fuel to the sub-Antarctic station, home to about 40 expeditioners over summer. The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) passed the buck by releasing a statement saying it is responsible for the logistical service but "the preparation and loading of cargo for the Aurora Australis is a process jointly managed by AAD, Capital P&O Logistics and P&O Polar. The refuelling hose which was inadvertently left behind, was delivered to Macquarie Island some 40 days later. The moral of the storyose was left on the dock. or the investigation and
disciplining of the engineers concerned is very simple: Use a checklist.
Every five to seven years, PMI conducts an RDS for each of its
credentials based on the role within program management that the credential serves. This ensures that the credential examinations continue to assess what is most relevant in the day-to-day work of project and
program managers as the profession evolves over time. Read More
Presently pilot candidates can access the application forms online at www.PMI.org
PMI have been contacted by over 6 000 interested Agile pilot participants . ProjectPro intends to offer Agile exam peparation courses in South Africa in the near future. Contact training@projectpro.co.za to express your interest and for more information. To stay up-to-date on the PMI Agile Certification, visit the Agile certification home page. Two decades ago Terry Deacon, while hiking in the Magoebaskloof forests, made a watershed decision to start a national project management magazine, which resulted in the establishment of one of South Africa’s leading project management training and consulting companies. Terry, then a project manager with BKS Consulting Engineers, had no
experience in publishing, marketing, journalism, editing, typesetting or printing. However, he applied project management principles to this daunting endeavour, and started compiling a business case. This
indicated a need for marketing skills so Terry went back to University for the third time, to do a marketing course at Unisa. For his assignment he
did a survey to determine if there was a market demand for a project management magazine. The result was a resounding YES. Read more
Unlike Branson's other projects, the public will not be able to purchase a seat on one of the deep diving subs. The explorations are a part of an initiative to learn more about our planet's oceans. Branson believes it is ironic that a planet like Earth which is inhabited by 'intelligent' beings has, in the 21st century, physically explored zero percent of its deepest points and mapped only three percent of its oceans by unmanned craft, when 70 percent of that planet's surface was made up of water. Only 10 percent of the life forms inhabiting that unknown world are known to those on the surface. Fellow explorer Chris Welsh is set to make the first dive later in 2011 into the Mariana Trench using one of Branson's vehicles, which is a whopping 11 000 m deep – a depth that has yet to be reached by mankind. The craft, which will cruise at a max of 3 knots and can dive 100 m per minute, is expected to take a total of five hours to go to the bottom of Mariana trench and back. At these depths, each individual part of the submarine must be able to withstand enormous pressures – about 1,500 times that of an airplane. Full pressure testing of the submarines will be conducted over the next three months. The other four dives will be scheduled over the next 24 months. Branson plans to pilot the second exploration, which will go into the Puerto Rico trench (8 500 m deep). Virgin Oceanic is working with various scientific institutions to collate data
and catalogue life forms that will never have been seen and are unknown to science. In addition, the expedition will also be partnering with Google Earth, where the dives will be recorded and publicly viewed
on the site. When the 2011 Rugby World Cup kicks off in a few months time, there will be a lot of scrumming going on, with the most agile teams sprinting for the try line. But what’s all this talk about agile project managers scrumming and sprinting? As far back as 1986, Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka described a new approach to commercial product development that would increase speed and flexibility, based on case studies from manufacturing firms in
the automotive, computer, photocopier and printer industries. They called this the holistic or rugby approach, as the whole process is performed by one cross-functional team across multiple overlapping
phases, where the scrum (or whole team) "tries to go the distance as a unit, passing the ball back and forth". Read More. Project management is full of confusing and esoteric terms. From time to time ProjectPro eNews will discuss the meaning and implications of such terms. Burn rate is an indicator used to show how the project is performing with
regard to meeting the budget. The burn rate of the project is simply the rate at which the project budget is being spent. Faster than the plan? Slower than the plan? Or exactly to plan? Read More
PMI have explained how this will affect PMP exam candidates after 31
August 2011, which is the last date on which the “old” exam may be taken. Read more Do you know what UDFy-38135539 is? A strong password maybe? Actually it’s the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) classification for a galaxy which (as of October 2010) has been calculated to be 13 billion light -years away from Earth. It’s the most distant object in the universe that has been observed from Earth. It was discovered by three teams using sensitive infrared Hubble Space Telescope images and first reported in the Astrophysical Journal, and the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. These teams independently identified this source as a likely extremely distant galaxy due to it having no measurable light at visible wavelengths, by reason of absorption by hydrogen gas along the line of sight. Following the discovery of this candidate distant galaxy, another team targeted this object with ground-based spectroscopy to confirm its distance, and the measurement of a red-shift is formally detailed in the 21 October 2010 article in the journal Nature. Considering that the Universe is estimated to be 13,7 billion years old,
the UDFy-38135539 galaxy must have been formed just 700 million years after the Big Bang.
ProjectPro offers preparatory training for obtaining these sought-after credentials. The examinations may be taken at Prometric Testing Centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town. IceCube Telescope Below Polar Ice Cap Looking to study some of the least-understood and most elusive particles
in the universe, a team led by the University of Wisconsin launched a project to construct a super-powered telescope. But unlike most telescopes, this one points downward and is buried deep within the ice at
the bottom of the Earth. Read More
In response to this demand for after -hours Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) workshops ProjectPro will hold a series of nine PMP / CAPM Workshops on Saturday Mornings in Pretoria, Gauteng. The workshops will be based on Project Management Body of Knowledge 4th Edition which is provided as part of the course documentation. Candidates will also receive a comprehensive manual containing a study guide and hundreds of typical exam questions and answers. The workshops will be held from 09:00 to 13:00 on Saturday mornings
from 5 May to 20 June 2012. Register from our website or contact 012 346 6674 for more details.
Perhaps projects are more science than art. To complete a project on deadline, the project manager compiles a network diagram and uses the critical path technique to calculate the activity float. This can be done manually but these days scheduling software makes monitoring and controlling the activity progress a breeze. The science of time management is well understood. Read More
As a discipline, project management developed from different fields of
application including construction, engineering, defence, etc. The forefather of project management is Henry Gantt, called the father of planning and control techniques, who is famously known for his use of
the Gantt chart as a project management tool. He was an associate of Frederick Winslow Taylor's theories of scientific management, and for his study of the work and management of Navy ship building. His work is the
forerunner to many modern project management tools including the work breakdown structure (WBS) and bar chart. Read more The purpose of a Business Case is to justify the project expenditure by
identifying the business benefits you're going to deliver. Here's how to create a Business Case in 4 simple steps : Read More
The responsible person is tasked to do a job, but the
accountable person is answerable (or in a negative sense, blameworthy) for the performance of the responsible party. One sometimes hears about being made “Primarily responsible”. To my mind this is the
same as being accountable Read more A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical approach to define project work components. The top level of the WBS is the total project or programme. Each descending level breaks the project work into more manageable pieces. The lowest level of the WBS is referred to as a work package. On very
large projects, work packages may be handed-off to other project managers. Read more This weblog may be used to interact with Terry Deacon, ProjectPro's experienced PMP workshop facilitator, or with others that are preparing to sit for their PMP® exam. Featured also is the e-News and e-Zine weblogs where you can respond and launch topics of interests. To access the weblog on our website click here or at the bottom of the
left hand sidebar, click the PMP Weblog and sign up. Confirmation will be emailed to you. Groups of project managers around the world are developing a new
global standard for project management for the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). Terry Deacon is part of the South African contributors who meet at the SABS headquarters in
Pretoria. He would like to invite our readers to respond with their comments on how project success should be defined. Read More Everyone has a need to be recognized and rewarded for their actions.
This need will vary in degree of importance among individuals. It is also important to celebrate, recognize and reward overall team efforts, keeping in mind that a team is a group of people with
complementary skills that work together to achieve a shared goal. Read more
The distinction between a project, program and portfolio is generally not well understood. However, it is important to know the difference because each has a special role to play. They need to be managed differently if the organisation’s strategy is to be successfully transformed into reality. Read more |
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0n 12 November 2011 President Jacob Zuma witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the Grand Inga Hydro-Electric Power project in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Budget: US$754 million
A study by Oxford University and McKinsey shows that one in six IT (information technology) projects are ‘mismanaged’ with
average cost overruns of 200 per cent and delays of 70 per cent.
Equipping skyscrapers to withstand everything the modern terrorism-threatened world can throw at them is a tall order. Are
today’s skyscrapers safe from another Twin Towers-style attack? That’s the challenge faced by architects, engineers and project managers of the superstructures of tomorrow.
The result of the recent ballot on whether to promote ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management to IS (International Standard), have been
announced by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).
Four people were confirmed dead, after a six-storey building under construction collapsed in Nairobi in June 2011.The incident saw the six
floors of the building collapse in what was alleged to be the use of substandard materials in its construction.
Russia has launched into space its Spektr-R radio telescope, the most powerful ever. It is the first deep-space observatory sent up by
Russian space agency Roskosmos.
Global Competitiveness rankings published by the World Economic Forum have emphasised the South African first
-world / third-world situation. South Africa's best and worst rankings out of 139 countries in 2010 are evidence of this split. 
A costly blunder forced Australia's Antarctic flagship MV Aurora Australis to make an unscheduled and embarrasing return voyage to Hobart
incurring an additional cost of over $500 000 after someone forgot to pack a vital piece of equipment.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is revising their Program Management Professional (PgMP)® credential
examination effective January 2012. This results from the recently completed Role Delineation Study (RDS).
ProjectPro Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Adventurer Sir Richard Branson plans to take a single-person submarine to the deepest points in each of the world's five oceans, the first
time such a feat has ever been attempted. Branson's Virgin Oceanic submarine aims to make five dives over a two-year period and set up to 30 Guinness World Records. It plans to venture to the bottom
of Mariana Trench (Pacific Ocean), Puerto Rico Trench (Atlantic Ocean), South Sandwich Trench (Southern Ocean), the Diamantina Trench (Indian Ocean) and the Molloy Deep (Arctic Ocean). Adventurer Sir
Richard Branson plans to take a single-person submarine to the deepest points in each of the world's five oceans, the first time such a feat has ever been attempted. Branson's Virgin Oceanic submarine aims to make
five dives over a two-year period and set up to 30 Guinness World Records. It plans to venture to the bottom of Mariana Trench (Pacific Ocean), Puerto Rico Trench (Atlantic Ocean), South Sandwich Trench
(Southern Ocean), the Diamantina Trench (Indian Ocean) and the Molloy Deep (Arctic Ocean).
The Project Management Institute (PMI) conducts Role Delineation Studies (RDS) for the Project Management Professional (PMP
)credential every five to seven years to ensure the credential reflects contemporary practice and evolves to meet current needs in the profession, and to comply with the PMP’s accreditation under the ISO 17024
standard.
Many project managers have their work cut out to meet the demands of their projects by working long hours from Monday to Friday. They feel that
there is just no time for attending full-time courses on weekdays. ProjectPro has good news for busy project managers who would like to attend workshops to become internationally
certified outside normal office hours.
Project management is both an art and a science - the art of project management being the “soft” aspects, the science being the “hard”.
“The buck stops here” said American president Harry Truman. In other words he was unequivocally saying, “I am accountable”
The terminology used in project management can be confusing. Even project management has multiple meanings. In the past it was only
associated with projects, but two decades ago that began to change. Today the term project management is understood to include program management and portfolio management.
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Free PM Challenge
eLearning sacrifices nothing compared to traditional classroom courses - you still get opportunities to interact with knowledgeable course facilitators and other students in real time via blogs, study groups, webinars or face-to-face during Skype sessions. Research has shown that, on average, study material must be reviewed three times before it becomes embedded. With eLearning you can review the material as many times as you need to. Modern technology enables the eLearning approach to involve and challenge learners using video clips, narrations, animations, creative quizzes and realistic case studies to inculcate the theory and assess the understanding. Try our free PMP framework challenge online at www.projectpropm.com and see if you can pass the multiple-choice knowledge assessment at the end of the sample module. If you want to sit for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam set by the Project Management Institute (PMI) it would be wise to do ProjectPro’s PMP prep eLearning course first. The PMP is the most recognised project management certification in the world. Hundreds of thousands of project managers around the world presently hold this sought-after credential. ProjectPro offers online- or CD-based versions of the eLearning PMP prep course. Both versions earn learners the 35 contact hours of project management education required for sitting the PMP exam at a Prometric testing centre. Even those who are not intending to sit for the PMP exam will find the
course invaluable to gain an insight into the knowledge required for successfully managing projects.
The 2-day PgMP workshop is sufficient preparation, provided candidates do the necessary study after the workshop and have all the Project Management Professional (PMP) knowledge fresh in their minds when they sit for the PgMP exam. ProjectPro does not repeat all the PMP Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) knowledge during the PgMP workshop. If you would like to include a PMP PMBOK refresher course in your study plans ProjectPro offers a discounted combo comprising a 2-day PgMP workshop and a PMP online eLearning course. The latter is discounted by 50% for this deal, and is only available for PgMP candidates. Try the PMP demo at www.projectpropm.com The combo fee is R 5 999 + 50% x R 5 500 = R 8 749 incl VAT. Register now for 23-24 January 2012 at www.projectpropm.com or email suppot@projectpropm.com for more details.
As projects become more complex with pressures to reduce timelines the need for competent project management scheduling specialists continues to grow. This growth is the driving force behind the need for a specialized, internationally recognised certification in project scheduling. The purpose of scheduling is to provide a ‘‘roadmap’’ or barchart that represents how and when the project will deliver the products defined in the project scope by the project stakeholders. The dynamic nature of a project’s execution is best served by a tool that allows for modeling of the plan and analysis due to the impact of progress and unforeseen developments. Step 1: Attend the ProjectPro 2-day Introduction to Microsoft Project course (next course 27-28 March 2012 in Gauteng). Step 2: Attend the ProjectPro 2-day Advanced Microsoft Project course (next course 29-30 March 2012 in Gauteng). Step 3: Attend the ProjectPro 2-day PMI Scheduling Professional Exam Preparation Workshop (next course 3-4 April 2012 in Gauteng). Depending on the delegate’s experience in scheduling they may come in at any step. The PMI Scheduling Professional exam is not based on knowledge of any particular product e.g. MS Project. PS Next, Primavera, etc. Employers can trust PMI-SP credential holders to possess the skills, knowledge and experience to contribute directly to their crucial projects and to impact their organization’s bottom line. This global credential supports organizational needs; organizations can be confident in hiring capable, experienced project scheduling practitioners. Organizations can offer career paths and encourage individuals to pursue a career in the valued role of a project scheduling practitioner. Contact ProjectPro on 012 346 6674 or training@projectpro.co.za for more details. You may register from our website Parliament May March to Pretoria
During question time in the National Assembly, a senior ANC MP, Vincent Smith, proposed that the viability of the seat of government in Cape Town had to be “urgently” investigated. “The [original] decision to house the executive, the legislature and the judiciary in separate places was the result of a political settlement by a white government in 1910,” said Smith, who is the chairman of the portfolio committee on corrective services and lives in Gauteng. He said the historic decision has led to unnecessary costs in terms of travel, housing and productivity. Smith asked if, seventeen years after democracy, it was perhaps time to relook at this decision. “Money spent on moving and housing could better be spent elsewhere where it is more needed.” Graham McIntosh, a Cope MP, said should parliament move to Pretoria, the buildings in Cape Town could be used by the Pan-African Parliament. Pravin Gordhan, minister of finance said just the travel costs from April to October this year amounted to more than R5 million. The ramifications of moving parliament to Pretoria, or Tshwane as it may
soon be called, are far reaching and must be thoroughly analysed before a final decision is made. A program management approach, with an emphasis on up-front planning, should be adopted to align the dependent
projects with strategic objectives to ensure the benefits are achieved.
The US$1,2 billion Kingdom Tower will raise the stakes for tall buildings when it tops out at about one kilometre. The exact height is being kept secret, but it will dwarf the current record holder, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The world's tallest building has never been about making the maximum financial return. It's about ego. It's about atention. It's about making a statement." So says Antony Wood, executive director, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, based in the USA. Such a massive structure presents a number of obstacles in the planning and construction phases. The building’s elevators will be high-speed, but their rate is limited because the rapid change in air pressure as they rise could make passengers feel uncomfortable. And the distance the elevators can travel is constrained by the mass of their cables, so passengers heading to the uppermost floors will have to transfer at least once.
The tower, which will contain a hotel, offices, luxury residences and viewing platform, is scheduled for completion in 2016. Helicopters will be required to complete construction on the upper levels, proving that, for ambitious project teams, not even the sky is the limit. Source: PM Network®
Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration confirmed the identity and location of the Gairsoppa and cited official documents indicating the ship was carrying some 219 tons of silver coins and bullion when it sank in the North Atlantic ocean some 490km off the Irish coast. The salvage team has accomplished the first phase of this project, the location and identification of the shipwreck, and now they are planning for the recovery phase, said Odyssey senior project manager Andrew Craig. "Given the orientation and condition of the shipwreck, we are extremely confident that our planned salvage operation will be well suited for the recovery of this cargo", he said. After a tender process the British government awarded Odyssey an exclusive salvage contract for the cargo, and under the agreement Odyssey will retain 80% of the treasure salvaged from the wreck. The 125m Gairsoppa had been sailing from India back to Britain in
February 1941, and was in a convoy of ships when a storm hit. Running low on fuel, the Gairsoppa broke off from the convoy and set a course for Galway, Ireland. It never made it, succumbing to a German U-boat's
torpedo. Of the 85 people on board, only one survived. The Gairsoppa came to rest nearly 4 700m below the surface, making recovery quite a challenge. However, the shipwreck is sitting upright, with the holds open
and “easily” accessible using remotely operated vehicles.
The cost of the Cape Town Stadium (previously known as the Green Point Stadium) which exceeded its budget by a massive 175% is clearly proving to be an embarrassment to the city council. The stadium was handed over in December 2009, but ProjectPro could not obtain a copy of the final cost report, notwithstanding many emails and telephone calls to the relevant authorities and invoking the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA). Our application was refused in early 2011 on the grounds that the project team is still in the process of collecting outstanding invoices from contractors and professional claims. The latest communication from the council’s legal department informs ProjectPro that “The draft 2010 WC Close-Out Report was submitted to the Executive Management Team (EMT) meeting on 20 June when it was agreed it that it should be submitted to a the Strategic Mayoral/EMT meeting scheduled for 3 August 2011 to obtain guidance on the publication and dissemination of the report”. ProjectPro will keep you informed. Related articles
The incident saw the six floors of the building come down in what is alleged to be the use of substandard materials in its construction. Eight of the workers were injured and after being pulled from the rubble were rushed to the Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment. The rescue operation was led by the government response team and Red Cross Kenya. One side of the building that is situated near the pipeline estate in Embakasi, fell towards an adjacent building raising fears that it too might collapse. The incident adds to the grim statistics of the ever rising statistics of collapsed buildings that have left death and destruction in their wake. At the scene of the collapsed building, hundreds of curious and shocked onlookers milled to witness the ugly turn of events as police and paramedics made frantic efforts to rescue workers believed to have been trapped in the debris. It was not immediately clear what caused the building to collapse but
speculation points at poor workmanship and use of substandard materials as the probable causes. It may take years before the investigation report becomes available, while questions continue to linger
as to the quality of the entire construction chain and who is to blame for both the human and material loss.
Civil wars in Africa, tornados in the USA, floods and run-away fires in
Australia, earthquakes and tsunamis in countries near the ring of fire are common occurrences these days. Constructing infrastructure in frigid sub-zero temperature or blistering 50oC heat wave is not for sissies. These
hostile environments are uncomfortable, risky and even life threatening for construction project managers to operate in. Read More South African courts seem to be bogged down with matters that should
never end up in court. Julius Malema, ANC Youth League President should find something to sing that does not cause offence, or sing what he likes, but in the privacy of his shower (Jacob Zuma will attest to the
benefits of a shower). Jackie Selebi, former head of the SA Police and Interpol should accept his fate gracefully and not play for time by appealing. Ditto to Mrs Sheryl Cwele, wife of the Minister of State
Security, convicted to 12 years in jail for drug dealing. There are many other instances of this wasteful practice. Read More The Project Management Institute (PMI) has introduced a new, simplified
structure for their Professional Development Units (PDUs) necessary for credential holders to maintain their certification. Research has shown that people did not fully understand the PDU categories and how to
appropriately report their PDUs using that structure, so it has been made more user-friendly to better serve the certification holders. Read More
There are striking similarities between the ISO 21500 Guidance on
Project Management to be published by ISO in 2012, and the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)TM 4th Edition which is published by the Project Management Institute (PMI)
based in the USA Read more
Organizations who use Agile techniques in managing projects have
documented the value they obtain from its use: Read more
Few clues as to the destruction of flight AF447 are evident from initial photographs of the wreckage, but discovery of the wreckage may provide reasons for the crash which killed all 228 people on board. While the precise location has not been disclosed, the wreck lies on a mid-Atlantic abyssal plain just north of the last confirmed position transmitted by the Airbus A330-200 before it disappeared en route to Paris on 1 June 2009. AF447's debris was located about nine days after the specialised vessel Alucia arrived on 25 March 2011 to begin comprehensively mapping the ocean floor at depths exceeding 3 500m - the fourth dedicated mobilisation of resources aimed at finding the missing aircraft. Initial data suggests the three previous searches only narrowly missed the crash site. The latest search focused on systematically scanning every unchecked region, beginning with a full sweep inside a 37km circle centred on the aircraft’s last known position. France's investigation agency has identified structures including the wing, main landing-gear, and the General Electric CF6 engines. There was no indication that the search had located the rear fuselage. The flight recorders, or so-called “Black Boxes”, crucial to understanding the accident sequence, are installed behind the rear pressure bulkhead. Airbus and Air France co-funded the latest search project and
confirmation of the recorders' location will result in a fifth phase being launched to recover them
Capital Gate has been designed to lean 18 degrees westwards - more
than four times that of the world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. It earned a Guinness record after rigorous evaluation by the Awards Committee since January 2010, when the exterior of the 160 metre high,
35-storey tower was completed. Capital Gate was designed by international architecture firm RMJM and is adjacent to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre within ADNEC’s Capital Centre. Capital Gate’s shell comprises a super-strong exo-skeleton called the
diagrid that carries all the weight of the floors while also providing an unobstructed floor plate precluding the need for pillars or internal beams.
Other high-profile buildings that use diagrid technology include New York’s Hearst Tower, the Swiss Re building (‘The Gherkin’) in London and Beijing’s CCTV tower.
A new British designation designed to raise the
standards of professional project management, has been announced by the Association for Project Management (APM). Following the completion of the first pilot of the new APM Registered
Project Professional standard, 28 candidates were awarded with their certificates at a presentation in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, London. Read more
The project was $2 million under budget and three weeks ahead of schedule. The total budget was $3,5 billion and the project life cycle was 13 years. NIF uses powerful lasers to heat and compress a small amount of hydrogen fuel to the point where nuclear fusion reactions take place. NIF is the largest and most energetic ICF device built to date, and the first that is expected to reach the long -sought goal of "ignition", producing more energy than was put in to start the reaction. Read more Bloodhound stays on the Scent of World Speed Record in RSA
Engineers designing the world’s fastest car believe they now have a solution to keep the vehicle touching the ground. Bloodhound SSC is being built to smash the world land speed record by topping 1,000mph. Initial iterations of the car’s aerodynamic shape produced dangerous amounts of lift at the vehicle’s rear. But the latest modelling work indicates the team has finally found a stable configuration. “At Mach 1.3, we’ve close to zero lift which is where we wanted to be,” John Piper, Bloodhound’s technical director, said. By playing with the position and shape of key elements of the car’s rear end, the design team has now found the best way to manage the shockwave passing around and under the vehicle as it goes supersonic. To claim the record, Bloodhound will have to better the mark of 763 mph set by the Thrust SuperSonic Car in 1997. The team plan to mount their assault on the record in late 2011, driving
across a dried up lakebed known as Haksteen Pan, in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Time Magazine has listed what they consider to be the top 10 worst
environmental disasters in the world prior to the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. When the BP saga is finally put to bed it will be interesting to see where it ranks in the top 10. Read More.
A recent 2010 survey of Microsoft Project scheduling application users shows some interesting and, sometimes surprising, results. If you wish to join one of ProjectPro’s introductory or advanced MS Project courses, please visit our website www.projectpro.co.za or call 012 346 6674. Next intro course is on the 26 - 27 March and advanced on 28 -29 March 2012 in Gauteng. Here are the results of the survey: Read More Six would-be cosmonauts have entered a sealed facility at a medical
institute in Moscow where they will spend 18 months with no windows and only e-mail contact with the outside world. The men are taking part in the Mars 500 project, which aims to simulate a mission to Mars.
Scientists say the project will help them understand how humans would cope on a long journey to another world. Read more
This is not the same as creating life. It is more accurately described as "mimicking life". Given the complexity of achieving even that task (the very simple form of life Dr Venter copied has more than a million chemical "letters" in its DNA code), Dr Venter has certainly pulled off something substantial. It may turn out not to have any significant applications at all, but we said the same thing about the laser beam when it was invented. It might be possible to use Dr Venter's technique in the production of vaccines, or to manufacture a form of algae which could absorb CO2 and produce oil. If it works for the cells of bacteria, it should work for human cells too. We have 25000 genes in each of our cells, as opposed to the 500 that control the reproduction of the bacterium that Dr Venter used – but the mechanisms are the same. The differences are a matter of quantity, not quality. However, Dr Venter thinks that using his technique on any cells other than the most primitive forms of bacteria is "a long way off". For the foreseeable future, it cannot be used on human cells, or even on more complex bacteria. So unlike stem-cell research, which hopes to find ways to make damaged human organs, nerves and tissue repair themselves, it does not hold out the promise of cures for dozens of presently untreatable diseases. "This is transforming life totally from one species into another by
changing the software," said Dr Venter. Whenever we make an assumption, we take a risk. What are the consequences if the assumption is not reasonable and turns out to be untrue? We need to understand the critical role of stating and validating assumptions on projects. The title of this article is a play on the word assume (ass-u-me). Making
unreasonable assumptions can lead to embarrassing situations. To assume blindly, arrogantly, without checking out and validating what we are holding to be ‘true’ for planning purposes is very likely to result in
you, or others looking ‘ass-like’ – like the supposedly unintelligent and stubborn animal from the horse family. Read More
For decades, humans have pushed the boundaries of
space exploration. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sent more than 120 missions into space. Twelve astronauts have walked on the moon. And Voyager 1, launched
three decades ago, continues to explore deeper and deeper into space. Read more It should not be too hard to answer the question "What is the biggest risk
in your project or business?" Most of us know what keeps us awake at night, either worrying about what could go wrong (threats), or getting excited about possible improvements (opportunities). But how do we
decide which risk is the "biggest"? Is it just an intuitive feeling, or are there measurable parameters we can use? Read More What Does the Law Say?
How does the management of your projects stack up against the world leaders? What are the best practices that your organisation should implement to generate a stream of consistently successful projects? Read More Using Milestones The purpose of a milestone schedule or chart is to communicate important project dates to project sponsors, customers, functional managers and the outside world. Almost every project needs a milestone schedule. A milestone is defined as a significant achievement at a point in time. Read more Earned Value Management: Now available as a one-day workshop to earn PDU’s
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Program managers can obtain a PgMP credential from the Project Management Institute (PMI). This sought after credential is the highest presently
awarded by the PMI. ProjectPro offers an intense PgMP exam preparation workshop on 23-24 January 2012 in Gauteng for R 5 999 incl VAT.
ProjectPro now offers a 3-step approach towards obtaining the sought-after Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)SM credential.
The ANC has again proposed relocating parliament from Cape Town to Pretoria.
A skyscraper proposed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia overlooking the Red Sea is taking project management to new heights – literally.
A computer-controlled damper will counteract sway in the upper stories, caused by high winds, and two mini
-towers at the base will provide more stability.
Traditionally, mentoring has involved the most seasoned professionals offering best-practice advice to their junior
counterparts. But today, some organizations engage in reverse mentoring programs in which younger practitioners teach new tools and insights on process improvements to the veterans. 
Today, few projects are limited to the confines of an office. A project team could consist of members located across the world or from multiple
functional areas and offices within an organization. It could even be made up of members from different companies. Such dispersed teams allow project managers and organizations to use the
best talent no matter where it is found. 
Four people have been confirmed dead, after a six-storey building under construction collapsed in Embakasi in June 2011.
The International Standards Organisation (ISO) is developing a new standard entitled ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management. The Draft
International Standard (DIS) was issued to members of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) Technical Committee (TC) 236 on 15 April 2011 for comment. ProjectPro’s Terry Deacon, a TC member, reports on the
progress made so far and the contents of the draft document.
After a frustrating 672-day search project, the illusive wreck of the ill-fated flight Air France flight AF 447 has been found
4km below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
New credentials for project managers are regularly popping up all over the world.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF), a laser-based inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research device located in Livermore,
California has won the Project management Institute’s 2010 Project of the Year award.
No single factor caused the BP oil-spill tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. Rather, a sequence of failures
involving a number of different parties led to the explosion and fire which killed 11 people and caused widespread pollution in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year. 
Science is making astounding advances that border on playing God. The Large Hadron Collider, an underground atom-smasher, is on the
threshold of discovering the Higgs-Boson, the so-called “God particle”. Now scientists have announced a bold step in the quest to create artificial life. They've produced a living cell powered by man-made DNA.
What is the future of project management? What changes can we expect and how should we plan for growth? Editors 
ProjectPro is publishing a series of watershed court case findings that have important contract management implications. 
Imagine a technique that’s like switching on the floodlights to illuminate your entire project. If you
spot any warning signs, this technique allows you to focus a spotlight on the problem area. If that isn’t enough, turn on the Cost Performance Index which is like a crystal ball to predict what your final
project cost is likely to be. This enlightening performance measurement technique is called “Managing with the lights on” or Earned Value Management (EVM). 