PM Network - April 2015

standpoint, such buildings create risk and uncertainty, because the structure hasn’t been done before—in that shape, with those materials or for this purpose,” Mr. Morgan says.

The demand for an airport that’s also an architectural marvel speaks to another challenge facing these high-profile, politically sensitive initiatives: the management of stakeholders, whether sponsors or the public.

Community opposition stymied the LAX modernization project for more than a decade. “Airports aren’t necessarily the best neighbors,” says Roger Johnson, deputy executive director, Los Angeles World Airports, the owner and operator of LAX.

Ultimately, to get the project approved by local and federal agencies, Mr. Johnson’s team had to focus on improving existing structures and had to cap new gate construction, framing the project as modernization rather than expansion.

Getting Right With Regulators

Airports’ myriad safety and other regulations also pose significant challenges: Consider the case of the Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Berlin, Germany.

A month before a scheduled partial opening in 2012, a problem found in the airport’s fire safety and suppression system led to a delay—just one of many in a project beset with technical glitches and cost overruns. Its budget has ballooned to US$5.8 billion—US$1.6 billion more than planned.

“You have to think through the risks and
uncertainties at the outset of a project and try to
mitigate the risks, especially when it comes
to regulators, approving authorities and gov-
ernments,” Mr. Morgan says. That means
putting together teams experienced in airport
projects so that they’re familiar with the regu-
latory issues at play, he adds.

Team performance and data forecasting should be reviewed, preferably by an external organization, throughout the project, he says, to ensure accuracy and counter optimism bias. That way change, while inevitable, can still be manageable. —Liz Logan GLOBE-TROTTERS

Source: World Tourism Organization

International tourist arrivals have increased steadily around the world

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 950 million

900
million
1
billion
1. 5
billion

94 0mi l lio n

98 3m il l ion

1. 04bi l li on

1.09 bi l lion

1.1bi l lio n

Projects worth US$70 billion are now underway or planned around the world to build new airports.

CROSSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

In high-tech global hot spots, the Internet has transformed nearly every aspect of daily life. But for more than 60 percent of the world’s population, the digital revolution remains out of reach. To get more people online—and spur Internet-enabled growth—developing countries and global organizations are prioritizing IT infrastructure projects.

About three-quarters of the world’s offline population lives in just 20 countries—and these people are disproportionately rural and low-income, according to McKinsey. In these areas, obstacles to Internet adoption involve infrastructure, affordability and local levels of digital literacy.

To overcome these challenges, the government of the Philippines is sponsoring a program to significantly expand Internet access. Launched late last year, the US$31 million Free Wi-Fi Internet Access in Public Places initiative will help connect citizens to online public services, such as health and education.