The Concept Symposia

Bi-annually, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and the Concept Research Program welcome specially invited participants from governmental agencies, academia, consultancy firms, and project management associations. Participants are selected resource persons from all over the world with particular experience related to the specific symposium topics.

Concept Symposium 2010: Decision makers, doers and advisors
- Joining forces to enhance utility of investments

The Concept Symposium 2010 on Project Governance will be held at the historical Oscarsborg Fortress just outside Oslo, Norway on September 16th - 17th, 2010. An informal get-together will be arranged on the evening on September 15th.

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Concept Symposium 2008: Governance of Major Investment Projects

The Concept Symposium 2008 focused on the failure of many large investment projects to meet expectations in terms of producing anticipated long-term benefits has highlighted the need for improved project governance during the last few years.

The 3rd Concept Symposium zoomed in on this phenomenon from four different angles contributing towards an understanding of this complex issue:  
- The overall national public management perspective
- Experience with governance regimes in selected countries
- The business case and lessons from initiatives to improve quality at entry
- Recent research findings from the Concept research program
 

The topics covered in the Concept Symposium 2006 were: What are the current procedures applied in different countries and agencies - and what are their effects? What would it take to develop more effective governance regimes at international, government or corporate level to ensure maximum utility and return on investment for society and investors? What would be the optimal mix of regulations, economic means and information in improved governance regimes for major investment projects?

The Concept Symposium 2003 aimed to facilitate an arena where researchers and representatives of owners of large, public investment projects could exchange experiences and focus on answers and solutions to improve quality-at-entry of major public projects. The basic idea was to bring together a rather select, but diverse group of specially invited persons to enable targeted discussions and working sessions. The Concept Research Program wanted to share insights into the law-enforced Norwegian government scheme for front-end management of such projects, and understand what measures are taken in other countries. Further, to initiate fruitful discussions that could be of use to researchers and practitioners in their future work as well as spark ideas for future research and improvement work in this important field.