Newcastle welcomes international delegates for international construction conference

Newcastle-based NBS hosted a global audience this week as they welcomed the 2017 International Construction Information Society (ICIS) conference to the city.

Delegates from Finland, Australia, Japan, Norway, USA and the Czech Republic were in Newcastle for the annual five-day conference.

And on Tuesday June 13, NBS held an exclusive industry event focusing on the Government’s Digital Built Britain strategy.

Keynote speakers on the day included David Philp, Global BIM/IM Consultancy Director at AECOM, Adam Matthews, Chair of EU BIM Task Group, Director of local architecture practice JDDK, Adam Vaughn and Design Manager Lee Jones from global bathroom manufacturer Ideal Standard.

Chief Executive of NBS, Richard Waterhouse, said: “It’s been a pleasure to showcase the region to our international delegates over the past five days.

“The conference itself was a great success especially as we, NBS, were able to add in and lead on an ‘Industry Day’ as part of the activities.

“To have external experts and NBS’ own industry experts all in one location, discussing and debating the different themes from the Digital Built Britain strategy was incredible”

The Digital Built Britain strategy is the next phase of the UK’s journey towards a new generation of smart infrastructure and construction.

Aside from the business talk, the 15-strong international delegation enjoyed a whirlwind tour of the region including visits to Alnwick Castle and Gardens, Tynemouth, Beamish, The Baltic and an architecture-led walking tour of Newcastle.

A membership association, ICIS members provide technical services to hundreds of thousands of construction professionals through national master specification systems, cost information or building product information for the construction/built environment industry.

Individual companies are representative of a single nation such as UK, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and meet to share ideas, debate issues, discuss new technologies and promote best-practice within the built environment.