May 30, 2003—The International Facility Management Associations (IFMAs) inaugural World Workplace in Asia attracted 5,000 delegates from more than 15 countriessome from as near as China, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore and others from as far as Germany, Sweden, UK, Canada and the United States.
The event was held jointly with Japan Facility Management Promotion Association (JFMA) March 18-20 in Yokohama, Japan.
Three keynote speeches, 33 educational sessions and four panel discussions were presented, all relating to the conference theme “FM Value in the Knowledge Age.” Taichi Sakaiya addressed business community during the opening keynote on Tuesday, March 18, later followed by Tadasu Ohes talk on the FM, IT and architecture industries. The closing keynote by C. W. Nicol on Wednesday focused on community and the co-existence of people and nature.
Some of the more popular concurrent educational sessions included “Learning from Failure: How In-House Facility Managers Can Benefit from Pitfalls” by Yosaku Akai, CFM; “Project Management Outsourcing Model in Japan” by Young Kim; and Kiyohiro Yamamotos “Building Performance Consulting Model.”
The Expo featured a variety of international facility products and services from 88 exhibiting companies throughout 134 booths. Twenty-seven sponsor companies also contributed to a valuable conference experience.
Representatives from Kyoto City Office, Japan Postal Services Agency and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport were among several Japanese agencies and ministries in attendance at World Workplace.
For more information, contact IFMA.
