By Nuru Soud and Fatma Said
The National Construction Authority (NCA) has announced the 5th International Construction Research Conference and Exhibition (ICORCE), scheduled to take place next month.
The three-day forum themed “Leveraging the Potential of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Technology for a Resilient and Sustainable Construction Industry” aims to showcase cutting-edge research, innovative technologies, and sustainable practices in the construction industry a platform for construction industry stakeholders to showcase their ideas via discussion papers, presentations, and exhibitions.
It will take place from September 25th to 27th, 2024 at Pride Inn Paradise Beach Resort.
Speaking on behalf of the Principal Secretary for Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, Architect Oliver Okello, Director of Kenya Buildings Research Centre, noted that ICORCE brings together all the players in the Construction industry including the Academia, developers, and contractors where they share ideas to maintain a sustainable built environment which can be useful to not only the present generation but also for the future generation.
“The theme of this year’s conference captures the essence of our collective aspirations and it reflects our commitment to build a construction industry that is not only resilient and sustainable but also inclusive of key players that drive our economy who are the Micro, small and medium enterprises,” stated Oliver.
In addition, he highlighted the sub-themes geared towards guiding the various discussions during the upcoming conference including Micro, Small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as a pillar of development, resilient infrastructure that is adapting to climate change, artificial intelligence(AI), automation in the construction industry as well as embracing diversity and inclusion in construction.
“While the sector has received policy attention since 1965, it is yet to achieve its full potential hence the development of this sector is central to the realization of National development goals anchored in Kenya Vision 2030 and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA),” reiterated Oliver.
However, he noted that the construction sector directly contributes to 24 per cent of the National GDP, constitutes 90 per cent of private enterprises, and accounts for over 90 per cent of jobs.
NCA Executive Director, Morris Aketch, highlighted that the conference will act as a host for at least 1,000 delegates, various exhibitors in the construction industry, manufacturers, banks, and contractors, innovators considering Ai as a sub-theme, MSMEs, and the Blue Economy.
“We call upon various construction stakeholders to register as delegates and to reach out as exhibitors to benefit from the richness of what we have put forward to showcase during the ICORCE 5th Edition,” urged the Executive Director.
NCA Vice Chairperson, who doubles up as acting Chairperson, Mercy Okiro, stated that the Agency has picked Mombasa County as the host of the 5th ICE Conference aiming to reach out to Mombasa Contractors in the comfort of their home as they have previously held the Conference in Nakuru and the 4 others in Nairobi County.
“Mombasa is strong on a round of issues of sustainable construction including the usage of local materials from the County hence alongside our building code that was launched last month we are hoping to hear from construction stakeholders in Mombasa County, especially regarding how they are realigning in terms of Climate Change, sustainability and affordable building materials,” noted the Vice Chair.
ICORCE is the Authority’s biennial flagship program which takes place every two years and is geared towards acting as a platform for the dissemination of research in the construction industry, collation of data, information and concepts about the development of Construction industry in the Country, profiling Kenya as a Center of excellence in Construction business in Africa and promoting research and innovation culture in construction industry.
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