SPI Insights

Upcoming conferences shine spotlight on public-sector opportunities, trends

Industry leaders and public officials are gathering for a July 19-20 conference in California to work on ‘best practices’ related to infrastructure and collaborative initiatives. The objectives of the P3 Airport Summit will be to provide information, guidance, and networking opportunities to public owners and private sector contractors and investors.

The primary focus of this conference will be public airport projects and planning initiatives, but in the next few months there will be similar conferences for collaborative initiatives related to higher education and government at large. The upcoming conference will be held in San Diego with future conferences planned later in the year as well.

Although most citizens support the infrastructure bill that is pending in Congress, both industry leaders and government officials fear that realistically the bill cannot provide all the funding that will be required for the country’s most critical infrastructure needs.

Transportation funding to cover roads and bridges will likely be the largest allocation in whatever bill is passed, but the fear is that funding allocations for water, power, airports, broadband, technology modernization, public safety, ports, and infrastructure security may be inadequate. That will leave only two options for government leaders – either they will be forced to continue to ignore critical needs, or they will have to seek collaboration with private-sector funding sources.

The upcoming airport conference offers dozens of sessions that will provide public officials guidance about best practices related to entering public-private partnerships, hiring advisers, and obtaining legal recommendations for crafting contracts designed to last for many decades. Sessions will be available for public officials to speak to their counterparts from other states and jointly receive information from advisers associated with various aspects of a large initiative with multiple stakeholders. The overall objective is to ensure successful collaborations so that citizens and taxpayers are assured of the greatest benefit.

Information about the upcoming conference follows along with information about future conferences scheduled for 2021. I will be speaking at the California conference which will be an in-person event. However, conference organizers are also offering virtual participation.

The 2021 P3 Airport Summit is from July 19-20 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

Keynote speaker Lucian Niemeyer, chairman of the board at Building Cyber Security and former defense adviser, will open the conference with his presentation on Cyber Security and Safety in Smart Infrastructure.

Other sessions include project delivery fundamentals, project delivery workshops, and best practices sessions.

Additional P3 conferences this year include:

• P3C Conference & Expo 2021 – September 13-15 at the Sheraton Hotel in Dallas.
• 2021 P3 Higher Education Summit – October 25-26 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.
• 2021 P3 Government Conference – December 7-8 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.

Conferences such as these offer unique opportunities for staying abreast of industry trends and upcoming projects.