Middle East BIM Summit declared a resounding success
More than 200 delegates gathered at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai for summit covering the ‘Future of BIM in the GCC’
More than 200 delegates from across the GCC gathered together on November 1, 2016, at the Jumeriah Beach Hotel’s Meyana Auditorium for the Middle East BIM Summit 2016 – organised by CPI Media Group.
Entitled ‘The Future of BIM in the GCC’, the inaugural summit brought together speakers and panellists from around the world to discuss and debate the issues and challenges facing BIM implementation in the region.
The full-day event was launched by Abdulredha Abu Al Hassan, Director of the Buildings and Facilities Department and Chairman of the RTA’s BIM Committee, who gave the keynote address and presentation to the assembled delegates.
Focusing on the RTA’s BIM Strategic Plan and Road Map, the keynote touched upon the authority’s achievements and future objectives for the implementation of BIM across all its projects.
“It is about implementing change across all industries. Another potential is its capability to lower the environmental impact of the construction sector, by reducing waste, cutting carbon footprint and improving energy performance and life-cycle management of the built assets. BIM is a key enabler [of this],” Mr Abdulredha Abu Al Hassan said during his speech, which outlined the RTA’s vision for Dubai and how BIM could help achieve it.
The Future of BIM Summit also hosted a number of other experts and executives from across the construction sector, with Richard Shennan, Mott MacDonald’s Group Practice Manager – Buildings and the Group BIM Champion, also presenting fascinating insights into the application of BIM for better business outcomes.
Three panel discussions were also held during the day, with each panel focusing on key aspects of BIM implementation and understanding. They were: ‘The Reality of BIM Implementation’; through to ‘The Future of BIM’ and finally; ‘BIM and MEP Engineering’.
Other notable presentations on the day were from Laura Smagin, Digital Information Manager Specialist in BIM, from Atkins, and from Charles Dunk, Associate Director, Immersive Technologies, UAE & Oman at AECOM.
Finally, the day was wrapped up with two CPD-certified workshops from RICS and CIOB. Attendees for these free-to-attend workshops gained an insight the pivotal technical issues that are influencing the way BIM is used in the GCC.
“For me, the resounding statement from today was that BIM is acting as a collaborator. We know that it’s the future. It’s not something that we’re not going to be able to do. It’s part of our industry now, and it’s a part of future,” said Chris Seymour, Chair of the ME BIM Summit 2016.
“In a way, it’s forcing us to finally collaborate as an industry, and I think that’s a really great thing,” he added in conclusion.
CPI Media Group would like to thank our partners and sponsors for the Middle East BIM Summit:
Mott MacDonald – Gold Sponsor
Autodesk, Egyptian Steel and Viewpoint – Featured Sponsors
CIOB, RICS, Dubai Economic Council, MEFMA, The BIM Hub and B1M – Partners
View video footage of ME BIM Summit 2016 here
