The 8th International Forum on Project Management, hosted by China International Talent Exchange Foundation and co-organized by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) was successfully held in Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center on April 15, 2019. Xia Mingjiu, Member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Wan Jinfa, Deputy Director of the China International Talent Exchange Foundation, Michael DePrisco, Vice President of PMI®, Edward J. Hoffman, former Chief Knowledge Officer of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), PMI® Strategic Advisor, and Academic Director of Information and Knowledge Strategic Planning at Columbia University School of Professional Studies, Jin Hong, Director of the Research Management Office of the National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy, and Ding Ronggui, Professor of the Shandong University School of Management, were invited to attend the forum. More than 600 people from government departments, enterprises, universities, registered education and training institutions as well as practitioners and enthusiasts related to project management participated in the Forum. The Forum thrown open to the public via webcast, with a total of more than 130,000 viewers by the end of the Forum.

As part of the Talent Attraction Section of the Conference on International Exchange of Professionals, the “International Forum on Project Management” has been successfully held for eight consecutive sessions. This Forum retained the feature of previous forums in form, namely, bringing together Chinese and foreign guests and project management professionals to build an international exchange platform for exchanging project management experience and tracking the latest development of project management. In terms of content, the Forum combined the new development trend of breaking the original consensus and increasingly promoting the integration among disciplines, between science and technology, among technologies, and between natural science and humanities and social sciences in the exploration process of strategic adjustment, optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure of enterprises in the international community today. In this regard, the Forum, themed by “Innovation Driving, Integrated Management” invited senior professionals and authoritative experts and scholars in project management at home and abroad to discuss on the innovative application of project management methods in the context of current economic development situation and enterprise transformation, in a bid to jointly explore the best practices for improving project management ability of enterprises through scientific project management knowledge, tools and methods, so as to promote the reform and innovation of enterprises.

Xia Mingjiu, Member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Science and Technology, affirmed the achievements made in the cultivation of international talents at the Forum, and pointed out in his speech that scientific and technological innovation has become a decisive force in improving China’s overall national strength and international competitiveness, and its position and role in the overall development of the Party and China have become more prominent. We have entered an era of unprecedentedly intensive and active global scientific and technological innovation. A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation has been reshaping the global innovation landscape and the global economic structure. Amidst the background, the competitions in talent, science, knowledge, innovation governance and innovation environment has become more intense, the importance of talent has become increasingly prominent at the national strategic level, and the demand for introducing, cultivating and attracting internationalized professional talents with global vision has been increasing. We should continue to actively explore and strive to open up a new situation for talent attraction, so as to provide strong support and guarantee for the scientific, technological and economic and social development.

Mr. Michael DePrisco, in his speech titled “Project Management Career Transformation: Interpretation of PMI’s Latest Report”, explained how project management practitioners and organizations could adapt to future work under the wave of disruptive technology. The future work would be increasingly project-oriented. In addition to traditional factors, the Project Management Technology Quotient (PMTQ) would also be a key factor to the success of the project. Only individuals and organizations with better PMTQ would be prepared to respond to changes, according to him.

In his keynote speech, Dr. Edward J. Hoffman expounded the fact that in today’s world, we were constantly changing the philosophy and model of our entire work and delivering work results in the form of projects. This model was agile, flexible, high value, fast and professional. Individuals, teams and enterprises should constantly adjust their working styles for the most efficient output in implementing tasks and corporate strategies. They would also face a variety of known and unknown upgrading challenges.

In her speech titled “Do the Right Thing vs. Do Things Right”, Dr. Jin Hong explained that “Do the Right Thing” was to do the thing that has a great impact on the society, human beings, national economy and people’s livelihood, and to initiate projects and allocate resources for bright new ideas according to the strategic fit and technological advancement; “Do Things Right” was to carry out research and development work in the most efficient way by leveraging the most effective tools and methods.

Professor Ding Ronggui introduced in his speech that in the VUCA environment, enterprises would face the dilemma of talent shortage or surplus, while talents might also face the contradiction that those who were loyal to the enterprise might be abandoned by the enterprise, whereas those who were not loyal to the enterprise may feel insecure. The relationship among Management by Project, Project Management, Management for Project and De-Project Management would impact the growth of enterprises, and a new unity of opposites was being forged among enterprises, projects and talents.

This Forum shared the new pattern and new ideas related to the innovative development of project management methods from the perspectives of theory, hotspot and application, and the successful experience from the best practices of enterprises, bringing a unique thought feast for the guests.