Consulting and engineering company leaders gathering in Madrid in April for FIDIC’s third annual Global Leadership Forum Summit are set to benefit from the insights of keynote speaker Prof Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, former deputy chief medical officer for the UK and a leading public health specialist with a clinical background in emergency medicine, anaesthesia and infectious diseases.
Van-Tam is well known for his leadership role during the Covid-19 pandemic and during his keynote address he will explore how, in a global crisis, actions were achieved at a pace previously unimaginable. The insights and experiences he will share with around 100 of the world’s most influential infrastructure leaders will offer key learnings to the sector to help it speed up progress in areas such as climate change, growth, AI and addressing the sector skills shortage.
An expert on respiratory viruses and pandemics, Van-Tam was senior strategy advisor in medicine and health sciences at the University of Nottingham and his career has also taken him to Public Health England, the World Health Organisation and the pharmaceutical and vaccine industries. He was seconded to the UK Department of Health and Social Care as deputy chief medical officer and during the Covid crisis he was known for his straight-talking, no-nonsense, communication style from the podium at number ten Downing Street and for the acquisition and rollout of vaccines and antiviral drugs in the UK. Following stepping down from the Department of Health and Social Care, he returned to the University of Nottingham as its pro-vice-chancellor for medicine and health sciences and he has now also taken on a part time role advising vaccine manufacturer Moderna.
FIDIC’s Global Leadership Forum Summit will see leaders from across the consultancy and engineering sector gathering in Madrid from 10-11 April 2025 for two days of talks, debates and discussions with industry leaders and opinion formers on the key challenges and opportunities facing the engineering, construction and infrastructure sector. The invitation-only event has been specifically designed to provide a forum for leaders in the global infrastructure sector to connect with peers from around the world to share knowledge and to discuss solutions to major issues facing them, their leadership teams and organisations.
Having Sir Jonathan Van-Tam as the keynote speaker at the summit is sure to set the tone for a brilliant event bringing together global industry leaders, including CEOs and c-suite executives from the global infrastructure community, including those working in government, finance, consulting engineering, construction, professional services, supply chain, construction products manufacturers, merchants, academia, trade associations, asset owners and clients.
As an industry that needs to move fast as it seeks to address some of the world’s existential challenges like climate change, the race to net zero, skills challenges, AI implementation and the urgent need to provide cost-effective and sustainable infrastructure, Van-Tam’s insights on change and moving at pace to solve key challenges at the summit are sure to be keenly anticipated by those senior industry leaders gathering in Madrid in April.
Other issues to be addressed at the summit include the role of Artificial Intelligence in infrastructure and its potential to transform the sector by optimising processes, reducing costs and enhancing safety in infrastructure projects and an update on the next phase of the work of the Global Leadership Forum’s Carbon Collaboration Initiative, which is being spearheaded by the CEOs from some of the world’s largest consulting engineering firms with the aim of developing a common, replicable and standardised process of calculation and disclosure of embodied and operational CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions related to infrastructure projects.
Advance registration is essential for the invite-only event, so to avoid missing out make sure you reserve your place today.
