‘‘Resilient Infrastructure – Improving Life’’
FIDIC is pleased to announce that this year’s international infrastructure conference will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 1-3 October. The conference theme is «Resilient Infrastructure – Improving Life». Threats and challenges caused by political turmoil, climate change, population growth, urbanization and inadequate infrastructure investment are challenging engineers to consider resilience and adaptive strategies to address infrastructure needs.
Designing resilient infrastructure systems will require collaborative efforts by engineers, working in teams with social scientists and other professionals, using increasingly sophisticated tools to properly advise their clients, many of whom are overwhelmed by the complexity of the infrastructure challenges they face.
Urban societies depend heavily on the proper functioning of infrastructure systems, many of which are invisible or taken for granted. However, this reliance becomes painfully evident when infrastructure systems fail during disasters. Moreover, because of the network properties of infrastructure, damage in one location can disrupt service in an extensive geographic area. The societal disruptions caused by such failures can therefore be disproportionately high in relation to actual physical damage. Numerous recent natural disasters have unfortunately demonstrated this phenomenon.
One of the world’s greatest megalopolises, Jakarta is a dynamic city of daunting extremes that’s developing at a pace that throws up challenges and surreal juxtapositions on every street corner. An organism unto itself, this is a town in the midst of a very public metamorphosis and, despite the maddening traffic, life here is lived at an all-out pace, driven by an industriousness and optimism that is palpable...
Indonesia, at the heart of South East Asia, has the third largest global population (256 million), and is the fourth largest Asian country. It consists of 5 large islands and 13,677 smaller islands – an enormous challenge for infrastructure. Add to that its strategic location in the belt most affected by climate change – storms, cyclones, tsunamis and similar natural disasters, Jakarta is a logical choice to explore the significant challenges and opportunities surrounding the need for more resilient infrastructure.
People are inimitably resilient, but not so their infrastructure! When inadequate and inappropriate, it impacts severely on people’s quality of life.
World renowned speakers from a variety of fields are being invited to Jakarta to help improve our understanding of, and approaches to, the challenges we face in providing the appropriate levels of resilience to the infrastructure needs of clients and communities. FIDIC, ASPAC and INKINDO warmly invite industry leaders, decision makers, funding agencies, construction experts, and all those with an interest in infrastructure development, to participate in this unique event taking place in Jakarta from 1-3 October 2017.
We look forward to seeing you there.
