Good news (Sagrada Familia, R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine),
Nuclear news (SSN-AUKUS submarines, Small Modular Reactors),
Small Projects, High Speed 2, Sizewell C Rewilding and
the King’s Series of National Nature Reserves
REPORT
By Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
Last month was the official Silly Season, it spawned a welter of party political conferences, posturing and particularly irritating claims by people who should know better. In this sea of trivia, a particularly concerning announcement emerged – the cancellation of Europe’s largest engineering project. This is an event of major project management importance and I will cover this shortly.
October was not all bad news, though, and there is some news on the nuclear front, completion of another long running project (but not in UK), pharma success in Africa and more conservation news.
GOOD NEWS
First up is news of another long running ecclesiastical project. Although this event took place in Spain, it echoes, to some extent, Last month’s opening story so I make no apology for noting that the Sagrada Familia has passed a milestone with the completion of four towers. This project has taken rather longer than the restoration project at Salisbury Cathedral and longer than planned as it has taken 141 years since the first stone was laid.
Each tower represents one of the four evangelists, and the final sculptural pieces have been set in place: Matthew is an angel and John an eagle. They join Mark and Luke, in the forms of a lion and an ox.
Sagrada Familia – Image: Getty Images
According to press reports, the focus will shift to the final and tallest tower, dedicated to Jesus. The schedule claims this will be completed, and the church’s construction will be finished, by 2026.
More good news comes with the approval by the World Health Organisation of a cheap malaria vaccine developed by Oxford University. The R21/Matrix-M treatment, in combination with other measures, has, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) officials, marked a big step towards “a malaria-free world” and is expected to save the lives of millions of children. Malaria is estimated to have caused 627,000 deaths in 2020. Most of these deaths are of young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the annual global death toll has roughly halved since 2000, this decline has slowed in recent years. Professor Sir Adrian Hill, director of Oxford’s Jenner Institute, who led its development, said: “The vaccine is easily deployable, cost-effective and affordable, [and] ready for distribution in areas where it is needed most.”
More…
To read entire report, click here
How to cite this report: Shepherd, M. (2023). November 2023 UK Project Management Roundup, report, PM World Journal, Vol. XII, Issue XI, November. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pmwj135-Nov2023-Shepherd-UK-Regional-Report-2.pdf
About the Author
Miles Shepherd
Salisbury, UK
Miles Shepherd is an executive editorial advisor and international correspondent for PM World Journal in the United Kingdom. He is also managing director for MS Projects Ltd, a consulting company supporting various UK and overseas Government agencies, nuclear industry organisations and other businesses. Miles has over 30 years’ experience on a variety of projects in UK, Eastern Europe and Russia. His PM experience includes defence, major IT projects, decommissioning of nuclear reactors, nuclear security, rail and business projects for the UK Government and EU. His consulting work has taken him to Japan, Taiwan, USA and Russia. Past Chair and Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM), Miles is also past president and chair and a Fellow of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). He was, for seven years, a Director for PMI’s Global Accreditation Centre and is immediate past Chair of the ISO committee developing new international standards for Project Management and for Program/Portfolio Management. He is currently Chairman of the British Standards Institute project management committee. He was involved in setting up APM’s team developing guidelines for project management oversight and governance. Miles is based in Salisbury, England and can be contacted at miles.shepherd@msp-ltd.co.uk.
To view other works by Miles Shepherd, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/miles-shepherd/.
