Plenary sessions to serve key role at 17th IRF World Meeting in Riyadh

Plenary sessions will set the stage for and are at the core of activities for the 17th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition. The opening session will celebrate the host country of Saudi Arabia, as well as the IRF’s first 65 years, including the federation’s many accomplishments throughout the decades and its commitment to professional training, education, road safety and the sharing of information and knowledge. This session will also remind those in attendance about the powerful links between a strong and stable transport infrastructure and the economy – informing attendees about what to expect in the years to come. And, for the first time in 3918 IRF Washington history, the Global Road Achievement Awards will be presented at the World Meeting, where winners will be honoured with these prestigious international awards.

Of particular excitement at the 17th IRF World Meeting is the addition of ministerial and mayoral sessions to the program. The ministerial session will be hosted by The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s minister of transport, Dr Jubarah bin Eid Al-Suraiseri, and will be moderated by the World Road Association-3141 PIARC (Permanent International Association of Road Congresses) president Oscar de Buen. The ministers will address questions such as: How to best finance transport infrastructure? What is the role of the private sector? What are the main paradigms of the global industry as we move deeper into the second decade of the 21st century? What are the new models for international and regional cooperation?

Additionally, delegates will want to be present for the new-to-the-program mayor’s interactive session. In this town-hall-style session, Eng Abdullah A Al-Mogbel, chairman of the IRF and mayor of Riyadh, along with local government leaders, will explore issues affecting urban transportation. With the continued acceleration of population movement from rural to urban areas, the importance of managing municipal transport challenges is taking on a new importance. Delegates will have the exclusive opportunity to learn from the distinguished speakers as they seek to improve services for users.

IRF president and CEO C. Patrick Sankey will moderate the Highway Modal Administrator roundtable session. This session will seek to inform the industry about the diverse and innovative approaches as well as solutions that senior leading highway government officials from around the world are applying to solve their challenges. Issues discussed will include low-cost and cost-saving innovations (that is, doing more with less), human resource (HR) challenges, intranational cooperation among central, provincial and local governments, and cross-border and regional cooperation among nations. Two additional plenary sessions will address procurement and projects delivery, as well as road asset management. The former session, presented in partnership with PIARC, will cover risks and ethics in contracts, while the latter session will feature an open discussion of road asset management experiences from different perspectives.

The closing plenary session will provide summaries of the 11 themes, presented by their respective track chairpeople, including a question and answer period.

Additional details of all plenary, executive and special sessions can be found in the preliminary program, available on the IRF World Meeting & Exhibition website.

WORLD MEETING FAST FACTS:

New This Year

• MINISTERIAL AND MAYORS’ PLENARY SESSIONS and moderator-led discussions from both this and other industries
• PANEL ROUNDTABLES and moderator-led discussions from both this and other industries
• KEYNOTE CELEBRITY SPEAKERS who share IRF members’ passion to improve roads and save lives
• GLOBAL CHALLENGES faced by the industry will be incorporated into the program
• NON-INDUSTRY SESSIONS and activities developed especially for political leaders who are not industry experts
• PARTICIPATION BY EXPERTS from outside of the industry, such as public relations, finance and economics, who can solve some of our greatest industry challenges
• INTERACTIVE, POSTER-BASED SESSIONS offered to all technical and scientific speakers
•  INNOVATION FORUM in the exhibition area – the ideal venue for commercial presentations outside of the technical program
• REAL-TIME MULTIMEDIA broadcast of plenary and special sessions, including key messages to the broader industry
• Global Road Achievement Awards (GRAA) CEREMONY honouring the best in innovative projects
• POST-EVENT ACTIVITIES to ensure maximum impact and long-lasting benefits (for example, conclusions and recommendations report to decision-makers within and outside of the industry and UN Decade of Action regional and individual