The second half of the PPP Days conference in London was devoted to country presentations of priority PPP projects, and a few projects – those most likely to be brought to market in the next six to 12 months – were showcased in detail. It was an inspiring example of collaboration for the greater good, proving that PPPs’ potential is limited only by our imagination. (OK, and budgets. And elections. And good structuring. And the presence or absence of natural disasters. But it all starts with imagination and commitment.)
PPP Days participants also exchanged ideas today with people around the world who are engaged in the ongoing Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on public-private partnerships, via the first-ever PPP MOOC Google Hangout. This was an unprecedented opportunity for the over 23,000 people from more than 190 countries now taking the course to ask their most pressing PPP-related questions to officials and experts attending PPP Days – and for these officials and experts to learn from those in the field.
The PPP MOOC Google Hangout was facilitated by Laurence Carter, Senior Director of the World Bank Group’s PPP Group. Panelists included Julia Prescott, Chief Strategy Officer, Meridiam; Thomas Maier, Managing Director for Infrastructure, EBRD; and Pradeep Singh, CEO of the Mohali Campus and Deputy Dean of the Indian School of Business.
The rest of day two, part of which covered new PPP initiatives, was equally inspiring. I introduced and demonstrated the PPP Knowledge Lab, an online “one-stop shop” for PPPs that launched yesterday, exploring some of its most useful features with the group. During this portion of the day, the EBRD demonstrated its Interactive Platform, a social network for PPP practitioners under development, and the International Infrastructure Support System (IISS), a cloud-based platform to support a standardized, template-based approach to project preparation to be launched in November, was also presented.
Before PPP Days adjourned, we also spent time discussing the changing landscape of standards. As we know, capacity building at the local level is widely understood to be key to unlocking government’s ability to act as equal counterparts with the private sector. The need for standardization of approaches is also important for the private sector to be able to prepare bids from country to country, and the underlying legal frameworks are critical to the successful tendering of PPP projects. So before we scattered to our respective corners of the globe, we learned about initiatives like the Global PPP Certification Program, the PPP Legal Transition for Eastern Europe, and the PPP Standards for Sustainable Development Goals.
This and other knowledge shared during PPP Days will help all of us as we try to “do more, and do better” during our regular, office-bound PPP days.
PPP Days participants also exchanged ideas today with people around the world who are engaged in the ongoing Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on public-private partnerships, via the first-ever PPP MOOC Google Hangout. This was an unprecedented opportunity for the over 23,000 people from more than 190 countries now taking the course to ask their most pressing PPP-related questions to officials and experts attending PPP Days – and for these officials and experts to learn from those in the field.
The PPP MOOC Google Hangout was facilitated by Laurence Carter, Senior Director of the World Bank Group’s PPP Group. Panelists included Julia Prescott, Chief Strategy Officer, Meridiam; Thomas Maier, Managing Director for Infrastructure, EBRD; and Pradeep Singh, CEO of the Mohali Campus and Deputy Dean of the Indian School of Business.
World Bank Group #PPPMOOC Google Hangout
The rest of day two, part of which covered new PPP initiatives, was equally inspiring. I introduced and demonstrated the PPP Knowledge Lab, an online “one-stop shop” for PPPs that launched yesterday, exploring some of its most useful features with the group. During this portion of the day, the EBRD demonstrated its Interactive Platform, a social network for PPP practitioners under development, and the International Infrastructure Support System (IISS), a cloud-based platform to support a standardized, template-based approach to project preparation to be launched in November, was also presented.
Before PPP Days adjourned, we also spent time discussing the changing landscape of standards. As we know, capacity building at the local level is widely understood to be key to unlocking government’s ability to act as equal counterparts with the private sector. The need for standardization of approaches is also important for the private sector to be able to prepare bids from country to country, and the underlying legal frameworks are critical to the successful tendering of PPP projects. So before we scattered to our respective corners of the globe, we learned about initiatives like the Global PPP Certification Program, the PPP Legal Transition for Eastern Europe, and the PPP Standards for Sustainable Development Goals.
This and other knowledge shared during PPP Days will help all of us as we try to “do more, and do better” during our regular, office-bound PPP days.
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