FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Danette Ward
512.494.5254
ward@fiatech.org

Industry Identifies Homeland Security Issues, Identifies Technological Gaps, & Launches Implementation of a National Technology Roadmap

AUSTIN, TX, December 11, 2002--Representatives from industry met last month to address new security challenges and critical technology needs that crosscut all sectors of the industry and to identify requirements for focused research and development to meet those challenges. The Workshop, held in Lansdowne, Virginia, built upon the draft Capital Projects Technology Roadmap (CPTR) document that was created by industry earlier in the year. The revised document will be available in early 2003 and will outline a strategic plan to identify technological and business goals that must be met to realize the industry’s vision for the future as well as specific project plans requiring implementation.

“We’ve made a lot of progress with the CPTR and I’m very excited by the degree of participation and buy-in we’ve received from owners, operators, contractors and suppliers from all across industry, government and academe who see this as an opportunity to coalesce industry input around a technological vision for the future,” explains Ric Jackson, FIATECH Director. “The CPTR is a tool that we can use to reduce fragmentation within the industry, including associations that represent specific industry segments. We hope to use this tool to leverage resources, work together more effectively, and piece together a national initiative to increase investments in technology to improve industry’s bottom lines.”

Working in teams, participants identified specific industry challenges and goals related to major phases of the capital projects life cycle, including planning, design, management, procurement, construction, operations and maintenance support. Specific concerns and issues that were addressed included: education, training, and culture; standardization; business incentives for action and compliance; globalization; physical technology solutions; information technology solutions; risk analysis; categorizing security levels; legal; asset management; intelligent design and construction; and decision-making processes.

The Workshop included keynote speakers whose organization’s supported and endorsed the CPTR initiative and included: Jack Snell, Director, Building & Fire Research Laboratory, NIST; John Voeller, CKO, CTO, Senior VP, Black & Veatch; Robert Prieto, Chairman, Parsons Brinckerhoff; and Dwight Beranek, Chief, Engineering & Construction Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, the CPTR incorporates results from other industry initiatives such as The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP), the National Alliance on Building Regulatory Reform in the Digital Age, and the OSTP Critical Infrastructure Protection Priorities Workshop, which recommended specific actions to streamline the nation's building regulatory process through the use of information technology.

Hosted by FIATECH, the Workshop was sponsored by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Advanced Technology Program and Building and Fire Research Laboratory , the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Research Council of Canada (NRCC). Furthermore, the Civil Engineering Research Foundation (CERF), the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA), the Federal Facilities Council (FFC), The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP), the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards (NCSBCS), and the National Institute of Building Science (NIBS) endorsed the event.

An executive summary of the CPTR can be obtained at www.fiatech.org or by calling Liz Landeros at 512-232-9669 or landeros@fiatech.org . The revised document will be available in early 2003.