Netherlands hosts International Consultancy Conference
On the 22nd and 23rd of September this year the ICMCI will host its annual ‘International Consultancy Conference’, a two-day congress about innovation, with the theme “Global examples, local effects”. The event will be hosted in the Netherlands and is set to attract consultants from around the world. Several experts and top consultants from the industry will provide a keynote or contribution to the programme, including culture guru Fons Trompenaars, Fiona Czerniawska and HRH Princess Laurentien.
The International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI) was founded in 1987 and has as its goal to provide a global standard for management consultants worldwide and to raise the maturity of the management consulting industry to a higher level.
Every year the ICMCI organises a congress for consultants – in 2014 the event was hosted in South Korea (Seoul) – and this year the honour to organise the so-called ‘International Consultancy Conference’ has been given to the Netherlands*. In the lead for organising the event are the Ooa (the Dutch association for consultants) and the ROA (the representative organ for consulting firms; the counterpart of the MCA). The event, titled ‘Innovation in Consulting - Global Examples, Local Effects', will take place on 22nd and 23rd September in Huis ter Duin, Noordwijk. Three themes stand at the heart of the agenda: Technological Innovation, Social Innovation and Value for the profession.
Day 1: 22 September
On day 1 the participants will dive into the theme of innovation, worldwide trends and disruption. Global trends are to be covered in the morning by keynote speakers Princess Laurentien van Oranje Nassau and KPMG partner Fons Trompenaars**. The event continues with several workshops and readings. Several international speakers are lined up, including Fiona Czerniawska (Managing Director of Source for Consulting, UK), Alfred Harl (UBIT, Austria) and renowned Dutch experts like Henk Volberda (Erasmus Strategic Renewal Centre), Marie-Pauline Lauret (Mazars), Rik Maes (Academy of Information Management) and Léon de Caluwé (Twijnstra Gudde). Rob Wagenaar, the co-founder of WagenaarHoes, will, with Ard-Pieter de Man from Sioo and ROA-chairman Michael van der Velden (partner at AEF), lead the session ‘Gamechangers in Consulting’. PwC’s Kenny van Ierlant will in turn provide a session about ‘Digital disruption’. The day is to provide “a rich palette that delivers inspiring and diverse perspectives from around the world,” says the Ooa.
The day will be concluded with a spectacular gala dinner in honour of the Ooa’s 75th anniversary.
Day 2: 22 September
The second day is dedicated to local effects. How do the global trends manifest in a local setting? To gain insight in key answers, the participants will visit renowned companies and institutes, with Deltares, De Nederlandse Bank (the Dutch central bank), Stage Entertainment and the ‘Vredespaleis’ (International Court of Justice) opening their doors to the congress. Participants will work on concrete issues faced by the companies for which the keen intellect and the resultant advice of the visiting consultants may prove ground-breaking, or at least valuable. Issues tackled will be related to innovation in government, manufacturing, high tech waterworks or international conflict mediation.
The International Consultancy Conference will this year be supported by several parties: the ROA and Ooa are organisational partners, while training firm Sioo, Vakmedianet, Management & Consulting, the Amsterdam Centre for Management Consulting, Ngi-NGN, PZO-ZZP, Achmea, KPMG, NVP and Consultancy.uk have also attached their support to the event.
* The decision for the Netherlands coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Ooa. The association has been part of the ICMCI since 1989.
** Fons Trompenaars is the co-founder of Trompenaars Hampden-Turner (THT). In February this year the firm was acquired by KPMG.
