David
K. Foot, Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto, is co-author
of the best-selling books Boom, Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming
Demographic Shift and Boom, Bust & Echo: Profiting from the Demographic
Shift in the 21st Century. These books reflect his research on the
relationships between economics and demographics and on the resulting
implications for both private and public policies.
Following his undergraduate degree in Australia and his doctorate in
economics from Harvard University, Professor Foot's research involved
projections of the Canadian economy. Subsequently, he focused on Canada's
declining population growth and associated population aging as one of the
fundamental and often neglected determinants of the challenges to economic
performance and policy. His research has resulted in contributions to a
variety of specific fields such as marketing, human resource planning,
corporate organization, saving and investing, housing, health, education,
recreation and leisure, unemployment, migration, government expenditures,
and intergovernmental relations. A number of these themes are explored in
two of his previous books, Canada's Population Outlook: Demographic Futures
and Economic Challenges and The Over Forty Society.
As an outspoken and controversial demographics expert, Professor Foot can
bring to life demographic statistics and make the aging of society relevant
to any group. He contends that demographics explains two-thirds of
everything. Change can't be avoided, but it can be anticipated and managed.
With an understanding of demographics, a business, an individual or a
government has a strong foundation upon which to build an understanding of
the past and a vision for the future.
In addition to academic writings and contributions to professional journals
and to the popular media, Professor Foot's work in the area of public policy
has included research and submissions to many government commissions and
numerous consulting and conference assignments for both private and public
organizations. He is a recipient of a national 3M Award for Teaching
Excellence and is a two-time winner of the University of Toronto
undergraduate teaching award.
"Seldom is a book published that becomes required
reading for just about everyone - business executives, entrepreneurs,
policy makers, politicians, planners and educators ... It's a course on
the importance of demographics and how the patterns they reveal can be
capitalized on by forward-thinkers." - Marketing Magazine
"If you own a bicycle helmet you might want to wear it while you read
[this] engaging study... Otherwise you could give yourself a headache as
you periodically slap your forehead and cry out, 'Now why didn't I think
of that?' " - Edmonton Journal
Mr. Adesh Jain, M. Eng, CPP, MPD, immediate past president and
current Chair of the Council of Delegates for the International Project
Management Association (IPMA), has been named a global advisor for PMForum.
Mr. Jain is also Managing Director of the Centre for Excellence in Project
Management Ltd, President of PM Guru, Inc. (USA), Honorary President of
Project Management Associates (India) and Chair of the IPMA Nation to Nation
Forum. Adesh was named a Fellow of IPMA in 2006.
Adesh received his BS in Mathematics and BS in Electrical Engineering from
one of the foremost global institutes - the Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore. Later he went to Canada where he received his MS in Control
Systems at Carleton University, Ottawa. His thesis was under the supervision
of renowned MIT Professor Dan George on the subject of 'A dynamic control of
a system consisting of ship and ocean'.
Adesh’s career includes nearly 40 years of project-oriented work, beginning
with 2 state-of-the-art projects for Litton Industries in the early 1970s in
the USA. His first project was related to automatic landing of a flying
object and the second dealt with Artificial Intelligence for voice
recognition. Adesh next became a project manager for Control Data
Corporation, suppliers of the world's largest super computers.
In 1973, Adesh returned to India to help the country embark on major
computerization programs. As a foremost authority related to super and
mainframe computers, he was placed as No. 2 in one of the largest steel
plants in India in their management services department. In a short duration
of 1½ years he introduced Process Automation in the steel plant using IBM
Computers.
In 1975, Adesh was asked by Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited, the largest
Government of India engineering Undertaking, to head their IT and Project
Management services. He was the youngest CEO ever to head a division there.
He became the Chairman of the Heavy Engineering Group in 1982 comprising of
22 large Public Sector Undertakings. In 1991, the President of India honored
him with a Fellowship award for laying a strong foundation for the IT
industry in India and for bridging the gap between management
decision-making and IT processes. He has since been conferred with 6 major
awards in India, including the 'Gem of India' award.
In 1992, Adesh started the Centre for Excellence in Project Management with
a sole aim of strengthening project management in India and in the world.
His belief that general management is a subset of project management was
well accepted in 1995 when he gave a key presentation at the Project
Management Institute (PMI®) Conference in New Orleans, USA. In 1993, Adesh
founded Project Management Associates (PMA), India - a-not-for-profit
registered society, and was its first President. He was one of 6 project
management leaders elected to the Steering Committee for the Global Project
Management Forum in Boston in 1996.
Adesh received the 1997 Distinguished Contribution Award from PMI for laying
a strong foundation of PM globally. He was the first non North American to
receive this prestigious award. In January 1999, Adesh became the first
non-European to become a Vice President of IPMA and was re-elected as Vice
President two more times until December 2004. He was elected to serve as the
President of IPMA for 2005 and later elected to be the Chair of IPMA for two
years beginning January 2007.
Adesh Jain has addressed or trained over 50,000 people world wide. He has
given more than 40 keynote presentations on varied topics of project
management. He is author of the book “New Dimensions in Project Management”
(1992) and over 50 articles. He is the originator of such breakthrough
concepts as 'Project Mindset' and 'Project Thinking'. He has been invited to
talk on Project Thinking at major International Conferences and Seminars,
the first one in Stockholm, Sweden in August 1999.
Since he first visited China in 1999, Adesh has contributed significantly to
strengthening project management in China where he has trained over 2,000
professionals in IT project management and general project management. He
has been deeply involved with the China Project Management Committee (CPMC),
is Honorary Chairman of CPMC, and is the first non-Chinese to enjoy such a
privilege. For many years, he was the chair of the Jury to assess
International Outstanding Project Managers in China. In 2001, Adesh Jain was
invited to give a keynote presentation in the Great Hall of China at a
conference organized by UNIDO. His topic was the contribution of Project
Thinking in smoothing Mergers and Acquisitions.
For the 2005 Festival of Thinkers conclave organized in Abu Dhabi, he was
invited from India to attend and speak on the imperatives of project
management. Adesh was the organizer and manager of the 19th IPMA World
Congress held in New Delhi from 13-16 November 2005. It was the largest IPMA
congress ever held with over 1200 delegates from 70 countries and all 5
continents, 149 paper presentations, 8 major keynote speeches from captains
of industry, and 4 social evenings for networking and fun. The Finance
Minister for the country of India inaugurated the Congress, which also had
heavy participation from the Government of India and over 100 Indian
companies.
During Mr. Jain's IPMA Presidency, there were significant changes in IPMA.
In addition to the Certification Validation Management Board (CVMB), three
major new boards were created: the IPMA Awards Management Board, IPMA
Research Management Board and IPMA Young Crew Management Board. Two new
forums were also created – the IPMA Nation-to-Nation Forum and the IPMA
Academic Forum. During his term the IPMA competency Baseline (ICB) version 3
was released. Along with his colleagues, Adesh also brought significant
changes to the strategic direction of IPMA. He is also the President of
International Construction Project Management Union (ICPMU) and Sr. Vice
President, International Construction Project Management Association (ICPMA).
Adesh was a keynote speaker at the 20th IPMA World Congress held in
Shanghai, China in October 2006. He was the keynote speaker at the Nordnet
Conference in Stockholm, Sweden in November 2006. He was the keynote speaker
at the 1st International Project Management Conference in Istanbul, Turkey
in December 2006. He was the keynote speaker at an International Conference
in Phuket, Thailand in February 2007
Recently, the Government of India has appointed Adesh as one of the 6 top
most professionals to become a member of a high level task force to finalize
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 12 leading energy sector companies
in India. In short, Adesh Jain is a legendary figure whose passion and
dedication for strengthening project management is recognized worldwide. He
is a visionary leader who has helped to shape the PM profession globally,
who is known for his dedication and concern for the global community.
Adesh's humanistic approach has made him very popular amongst all those who
come in touch with him. Adesh lives in New Delhi, India, the capital of the
country.
"Seldom is a book published that becomes required
reading for just about everyone - business executives, entrepreneurs,
policy makers, politicians, planners and educators ... It's a course on
the importance of demographics and how the patterns they reveal can be
capitalized on by forward-thinkers." - Marketing Magazine
Mr. Adesh Jain, M. Eng, CPP, MPD, immediate past president and
current Chair of the Council of Delegates for the International Project
Management Association (IPMA), has been named a global advisor for PMForum.
Mr. Jain is also Managing Director of the Centre for Excellence in Project
Management Ltd, President of PM Guru, Inc. (USA), Honorary President of
Project Management Associates (India) and Chair of the IPMA Nation to Nation
Forum. Adesh was named a Fellow of IPMA in 2006.