2021 GII Summit
Agenda
Times displayed are in EDT (UTC -4)
Tuesday, April 06
WELCOME AND FRAMING
Hosts:
Steffen Fuchs, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company; Co-chair, GII
Shannon Peloquin, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Co-chair, GII
DELIVERING THE PROJECT OF THE FUTURE
Global industry trends—such as digitization, industrialization, vertical and horizontal consolidation, and rising technology investment—are poised to dramatically disrupt all stages of the project life cycle. Rather than having independent project stages, the project of the future could operate as a single production system where technology will be integrated from design, procurement and planning through to construction, commissioning and operations. In a post-COVID world, how do we prepare for the projects of the future and manage the inevitable disruption?
Panelists:
Shaun Kenny, President of Infrastructure, Bechtel
Janno Lieber, President & Chief Development Officer, New York MTA
Mark Thurston, Chief Executive Officer, HS2
Moderator: Shannon Peloquin, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Co-chair, GII
ACCELERATING TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION
While most infrastructure owners and contractors recognize the potential for digital transformation, there are few examples of successful transformations at scale. Too often, organizations fail to progress further than individual pilot projects. Why is digital transformation in this sector so difficult and what can we do to accelerate adoption? What mechanisms are required to quantify, capture, and distribute the financial benefits? How do roles, skillsets, industry standards, and organizational cultures need to change to accelerate technology adoption?
Panelists:
Gregory Bentley, Chief Executive Officer, Bentley Systems
Heather Chalmers, President & CEO, GE Canada
Marie-Claude Dumas, Global Director, Major Projects & Programs, WSP
Moderator: Prakash Parbhoo, Partner, McKinsey & Company
RETHINKING ASSET MANAGEMENT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Global leaders are increasingly aware that the delivery and management of critical assets must include robust resilience and risk reduction planning, accounting for cybersecurity, resource scarcity, inequity, natural disasters, and extreme weather events. What should investors, owners, contractors, and operators be doing to manage these issues? How can we adapt economic models to address current and future vulnerabilities?
Panelists:
Dr. Christine Altendorf, Chief of Engineering and Construction, US Army Corps of Engineers
Charles Harrington, Chairman & CEO, Parsons
Michael McGhee, Founding Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners
Moderator: Aaron Bielenberg, Partner, McKinsey & Company
KEYNOTE DISCUSSION
Panelists:
Charles Emond, President and CEO, CDPQ
Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure, Canada
Moderator: Andrew Pickersgill, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
CLOSE DAY 1
NETWORKING
Wednesday, April 07
WELCOME BACK
Hosts:
Steffen Fuchs, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company; Co-chair, GII
Shannon Peloquin, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Co-chair, GII
USING INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Investing in infrastructure is a critical tool to create jobs, drive economic recovery, and position our economies for sustainable growth. Due to the immense COVID-19 fiscal burden, governments will need to prioritize infrastructure projects, deploy stimulus funding in an impactful way, and leverage other sources of funding—including private capital. What tangible steps can governments take to broaden their role and help catalyze projects? How will governments and the private sector ensure that projects deliver on both economic and community criteria? What lessons can be learned from public–private partnership financing?
Panelists:
Gerrard Bushell, Executive Chair, The New Terminal One at JFK
Marie Lam-Frendo, Chief Executive Officer, Global Infrastructure Hub
Sadek Wahba, Chairman and Managing Partner, I Squared
Moderator: Rob Palter, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
INSPIRING IDEA: TAPPING INTO THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORT WITH THE HYPERLOOP
As cities grapple with the existential crises of population growth, climate change, and rapid urbanization, the case to embrace mass transit is clear. Delivering a sustainable system that converges the personalization of cars, with the capacity of mass transit, and the speed of air travel, could create the tipping point for mass adoption. This session explores the potential for hyperloop to transform cities by transporting tens of thousands of passengers per hour, on-demand, and directly to their destination, with no direct emissions.
Presenter: Josh Giegel, CEO and Co-founder, Virgin Hyperloop
DEVELOPING A WORKFORCE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Shifts in digitization, industrialization, and consolidation are transforming the industry, requiring a renewed focus on leadership, culture, organizational structures, and talent. What new skills and capabilities will be essential to shape and safely deliver and operate the projects of the future? How should companies plan for knowledge management and apprenticeship? What are the new expectations for attracting and retaining talent, and how do you build a culture of continuous improvement?
CLOSING
SWITCH BREAK
DISCUSSION SESSIONS
Participants select one of four concurrent pillar discussion sessions
CREATING COMMON DIGITAL PLATFORMS
Using advanced analytics to uncover critical insights from the vast amounts of data already being collected can improve both the quality and speed of infrastructure delivery and operations. To optimize these results, it is vital for all players to be able to collaborate on common digital platforms and to explore shared digital service business models. Should industry leaders come together to advance multi-ecosystem platforms and industry standards for digital collaboration? What can we learn from other industries that have done this successfully, and how do we quantify the ROI?
Discussion Leaders:
Patrick Hill, Executive Vice President Infrastructure, Jacobs
Rob Painter, Chief Executive Officer, Trimble
Amir Peleg, Founder, Takadu
Bill Ruh, Chief Executive Officer - Digital, Lendlease
Moderator: Jose Luis Blanco, Partner, McKinsey & Company
CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR COLLABORATION
Realizing collaborative project delivery requires certain conditions to be in place and a clear implementation roadmap. How do we overcome industry barriers to implementing collaborative approaches? What does collaborative delivery look like across different contract archetypes and projects? What changes are required to the business model, and what specific skills and capabilities are required by project leaders?
Discussion Leaders:
John Beck, Executive Chairman, AECON
Klaus Blachnik, Chief Procurement Officer, OMV
Tilly Chang, Executive Director, San Francisco County Transportation Authority
Kez Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, ALEC
Moderator: Jim Banaszak, Partner, McKinsey & Company
ATTRACTING AND DEVELOPING TALENT FOR THE PROJECT OF THE FUTURE
Over the next decade, project teams will be required to deploy technology-based solutions, new materials, collaborative practices, and use agile ways of working to deliver resilient projects faster, at lower cost, and with improved schedule predictability. How will owners and contractors find, develop, and retain new skills for their project teams? What current models of successful teams, including agile teams, can be applied to the projects of the future? How can we use analytics and technology to improve team performance?
Discussion Leaders:
Philip Hoare, President, Atkins
Gord Johnston, President & CEO, Stantec
Andrea Rutledge, President & CEO, Construction Management Association of America; Omar Shahzad, Group Chief Executive Officer, Meinhardt Group
Moderator: Antonio De Gregorio, Partner, McKinsey & Company
PLANNING AND OPERATING INFRASTRUCTURE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE
Over the past decade, storm events have cost the world nearly $2 trillion and impacted almost 4 billion people, and the frequency and severity of these events will increase from climate change. Looking ahead, our new and existing infrastructure needs to be resilient to this changing environment while addressing the causes of climate change through decarbonization. How should we define climate-smart infrastructure and cities? What role can technology and new materials play to increase resilience and decarbonize the industry? How do we deal with critical infrastructure that cannot adapt and how do we finance all that needs to be done?
Discussion Leaders:
Clare Burgess, Partner, Clifford Chance
Phil Duffy, Chief Executive Officer, Woods Hole Research Center
Laurent Germain, Chairman & CEO, EGIS
Scott Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer, Generate Capital
Moderator: Brodie Boland, Partner, McKinsey & Company
NETWORKING
Thursday, April 08
INFRASTRUCTURE SITE VISITS
Integral to the GII Summit program are three virtual infrastructure site visits. These will allow attendees to see first-hand how infrastructure is planned, financed, delivered, and operated at some of Montréal’s leading major projects. Please note that availability is limited.
CHAMPLAIN BRIDGE
The Samuel De Champlain Bridge is a 3.4 km twin cable-stayed bridge spanning the Saint Lawrence River between the Island of Montréal and the South Shore suburbs. Replacing the 57-year old original, the new bridge’s two-lane rail corridor for the Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM), six-lane corridor for vehicles, and multi-use corridor for cyclists and pedestrians are expected to serve 40-60M vehicles annually for the next 125 years. This complex project was completed in just four years by employing modern construction technologies and methods. www.newchamplain.ca
McKinsey Host: Matthieu Dussud, Partner, McKinsey & Company
Speakers: Richard Munday, Project Director, SNC-Lavalin
REM PROJECT
Réseau express métropolitain (REM)—a new, 67 km integrated public transit network under construction in Greater Montréal—is the largest public transit project undertaken in Québec in the last fifty years. The fully automated electric light rail network will feature 26 stations and link downtown Montréal, universities, South Shore, West Island, North Shore, and Montréal Trudeau airport. CDPQ Infra’s innovative approach to this megaproject has resulted in a 6-year timeline from conception through first operation. http://rem.info
McKinsey Host: Vince Bérubé, Partner, McKinsey & Company
Speakers: Jean-Marc Arbaud, President & CEO, CDPQ Infra
TURCOT INTERCHANGE
The Turcot interchange connects three major highways and serves over 300,000 vehicles per day. A 10-year, $3 billion project has completely replaced 145 km of four interchanges, delivered 35 elevated structures, and has relocated the nearby CN railway tracks while minimizing user disruption. As it nears completion, the logistically and technically complex project—described as “performing open heart surgery while running a marathon”—is still running on-time and on-budget. www.turcot.transports.gouv.qc.ca
McKinsey Host: Jim Banaszak, Partner, McKinsey & Company
Speakers: Eric Peissel, Executive Vice President, WSP Canada; Éric Vaillancourt, Director of Alternative Projects – Transport Québec, WSP
SECTOR ROUNDTABLES
GII will host six concurrent sector roundtables, giving participants an opportunity for an in-depth interactive discussion in their chosen sector.
ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, & BUILDING MATERIALS: Decarbonizing the construction industry
The construction industry, encompassing real estate, infrastructure and industrial structures, is the largest industry in the global economy and accounts for 13 percent of the world’s GDP. Due to its size and impact, this entire ecosystem has a major part to play in decarbonization and achieving sustainability goals. How do we establish a starting point and measure impact? Which specific decarbonization measures should we prioritize? How can stakeholders throughout the value chain collaborate to succeed?
Panelists:
Amy Bunszel, EVP of Architecture, Engineering and Construction Design Solutions Group, Autodesk
Chris Griffin, Chief Executive Officer, USG
Stephan Ritter, Group Executive Innovation & Transformation, Arcadis
Hosts: Tom Brinded, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Focko Imhorst, Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company; Maria Joao Ribierinho, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Erik Sjödin, Partner, McKinsey & Company
ENERGY AND RESOURCES: Reinventing capital project delivery
Over the past two decades, leading industries have slashed the cost and time of delivery by changing how they operate. Applying the same underlying principles to large capital projects in energy and resources could achieve a similar step change in performance, with the potential to reduce actual project cost and time by 30 to 50 percent. What changes are required to reinvent the project-delivery model in the energy and resources sector and how do we get started?
Panelists:
Pratik Agarwal, Managing Director, Sterlite Power
Antonio Cammisecra, Director of Global Infrastructure and Networks, Enel
Patricia Moore, Managing Director UK, Turner & Townsend
René Morkos, Founder & CEO, Alice Technologies
Hosts: Gerhard Nel, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Prakash Parbhoo, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Koen Vermeltfoort, Partner, McKinsey & Company
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT: Investing in infrastructure in a net-zero reality
With countries and companies committing to achieve net-zero by 2050 or earlier, there is an urgent need to invest to meet both the regulatory and other commitments. Concurrently, asset owners are striving to de-risk their asset base and supply chains, resulting in significant investment into clean energy, water and waste efficiency, digitalization, electric vehicles, and more. What steps do asset owners and investors need to take to manage risk and realize opportunities? How can investors incorporate climate intelligence into their decision-making? How can governments incentivize private capital to help them achieve their decarbonization agendas?
Panelists:
Raj Agrawal, Partner, Global Head of Infrastructure, KKR
Ehren Cory, Chief Executive Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank
Emmanuel Jaclot, Executive Vice-President and Head of Infrastructure, CDPQ
Additional panelist to be announced
Hosts: Aaron Bielenberg, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Marcel Brinkman, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Alastair Green, Partner, McKinsey & Company
REAL ESTATE: Resetting commercial real estate post-COVID-19
Commercial real estate has arguably been one of the hardest hit industrial sectors by COVID-19, with occupancies in certain assets dropping by up to 90 percent at the height of the crisis. Over a year into the pandemic, social distancing and lock downs continue to limit peoples’ ability to access physical space and working from home has become the norm for large parts of the economy. How are cities, owners, tenants, and the sector responding, and what will it take to regain the customer and tenant confidence?
Panelists:
Dan Labbad, Chief Executive Officer, The Crown Estate
Michael Turner, President, Oxford Properties;
Additional panelists to be announced
Hosts: John Means, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Rob Palter, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
TRANSPORT: Reimagining transit in a post-COVID world
Over the past decades, urban mobility has seen significant challenges with the growth of cities, changing user preferences, decarbonization imperatives, and fiscal constraints. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded these challenges for transit operators with ridership and fare revenue declining sharply, thereby imperiling their economic viability. What do the customers of the future want from transit and how do we get them into the system? How do we build agility into future transit systems and what are the investment implications?
Panelists:
David Reich, Director, Head of Transit, Uber
Guilherme Walder, Chief Executive Officer, MetrôRio
Additional panelist to be announced
Hosts: Carsten Lotz, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Shannon Peloquin, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Jules Seeley, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company;
URBAN MOBILITY: Developing the infrastructure to quadruple the number of EVs by 2025
Driven by policy, subsidies, and expanded consumer choice, the global electric vehicle (EV) market has seen incredible growth over the past decade, reaching a global fleet of over 11 million vehicles in 2020. EV infrastructure continues to be a bottleneck with the majority of the 7.3 million chargers (in 2019) being private light-duty vehicle slow chargers. What partnerships and actions are required now to quadruple the global EV fleet by 2025? This interactive session will explore tangible solutions related to policy, EV charging, production infrastructure, and financing.
Panelists:
Peter Mumford, Executive Director, Major Projects & CPM, Highways England
Cathy Zoi, Chief Executive Officer, EVgo
Additional panelist to be announced
Hosts: Andreas Breiter, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Eric Hannon, Partner, McKinsey & Company; Raphael Rettig, Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company; Shivika Sahdev, Partner, McKinsey & Company