FIEC Newsletter – 19 Νοεμβρίου 2019

On 13th November, Mr. Pierre Benning (from the French Federation of Public Works – FNTP) gave a presentation on behalf of FIEC. He talked about the implications of digitalisation in the construction industry, and in particular BIM (Building Information Model/Modelling/Management). This presentation took place in the European Commission Experts Group on Electronic Procurement (EXEP) in which FIEC has been a participant since its creation in 2014.
Mr. Benning explained the huge opportunities linked to digitalisation in our sector, but also a number of legal issues regarding data policy.
In particular, he advocated for using open standards, for protecting contractors’ intellectual property and know-how and for remaining independent from US software editors.

The next FIEC General Assembly will take place on 29/11 in Paris. It will focus on the EU Green Deal, announced by President elect Ursula von der Leyen as one of the first priorities of the new European Commission, and in particular on the opportunities and challenges for the construction sector.

As special guest FIEC has invited Mr Brice Lalondea as the keynote speaker.

After having been Minister for Environment in the Rocard and Cresson governments in France, he gave an international dimension to his commitment for the environment. Amongst other things he chaired the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) round table on sustainable development. He was also appointed French Ambassador for Climate Change and was heavily involved in multilateral climate change negotiations before becoming Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Since 2017 he has been the President of the French association “Equilibre des Energies”.

His engagement in the environment and his international perspective will provide an extremely valuable framework and input on the role of the construction sector in achieving the ambitious EU environmental goals.

#EUGreenDeal

At the bi-annual meeting of the European Council for Construction Research, Development and Innovation (ECCREDI) last week two new Vice-Presidents were elected. They are pictured here: on the left is Veronika Schröpfer, Head of EU Projects at the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) and third from the left, Ralf Pasker, Managing Director at the European Association of External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (EAE).

Also, in the picture are Sue Arundale, ECCREDI President and Director of Technical and Environmental Affairs at FIEC and Johan Vynke from the ECCREDI Secretariat and Director of Research at the Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI). Both new Vice-Presidents will serve at least one two-year term. During this period, they will support ECCREDI’s growing membership at a particularly important time, as discussions about Horizon Europe are at a critical stage.