By Laura Edwards
Until now, there has never been an event that focuses on the information technology needs of facility managers, especially in regard to working on government projects. On December 13-14, 2005, the inaugural fm/IT Federal Conference invites facility management professionals to assemble in Washington, DC to participate in a strategically crafted program, offering information strategies and solutions for government, public, and private sectors.
Facilities are a major asset for organizations, second only to staff costs. FM technologies are an essential component for reducing structural costs and improving efficiencies. IT management has become a core competency issue for many FM organizations. Dave Jordani, FAIA, president, Jordani Consulting Group, describes the industry need for this event: “In the new era of facility management, you’re only as rich as your data. Digital information is your most valuable currency. Leveraging it through common process across the enterprise has enormous potential to fortify mission responsiveness and improve the quality of facility management. Today’s realties demand that facility managers provide consistently accurate information about facilities to management across the enterprise.”
fm/IT Federal experts will share best practices and techniques to:
- Leverage information and electronic data to improve FM processes
- discover which technologies can have the most meaningful impact on enterprise collaboration
- Understand how information standards are defined and shared
- Find the resources required to make efforts successful
This two day conference, sponsored by FMLink and International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) Information Technology Council (ITC), is an excellent learning and networking opportunity. Jordani explains, “At fm/IT Federal, attendees will hear about the latest initiatives and lessons learned from organizations that are leading the pack in deploying and integrating FM technologies. Facility executives, managers, service providers and IT professionals can learn in two days what has taken other organizations decades to develop.”
The Conference program offerings include topics such as:
- Enterprise Wide Facilities Management: Vision to Reality
- A Strategy for Developing the Facilities Information Technologies Plan
- An Owner’s Perspective: Building Information Modeling for Asset Lifecycle Management
- Facilities Management Information Technology: Lessons Learned from the Government
- Bridging the Gap: Breaking Down the Barriers Between FM and IT Professionals
An added benefit to the program is fm/IT Federal’s strategic co-location with AEC-ST Federal 2005 conference and exhibition which helps attendees increase productivity and profits throughout the project life cycle by maximizing the benefits of information technology. Design and construction professionals will learn to unlock the gateway to clarity of collaboration in their enterprises.
Complete conference and travel information for both fm/IT Federal and AEC-ST Federal is available at www.aecstfederal.com.
fm/IT Federal is managed by, RCG Productions LLC of Exton, Pa., and event management organization specializing in producing conferences and exhibits for the design and construction industry. With over 20 years of event planning expertise, the RCG event portfolio includes Ecobuild America, AEC-ST, Ecobuild Federal, and AEC-ST Federal.
[Editor's Note: AECnews.com Editor-in-Chief Randall S. Newton is Conference Director for AEC Science and Technology.]