Moderator Mark Johnson, President of the ICC Evaluation Service and Code Council Senior Vice of Business and Product Development said, "The goal of ICC is to really work with the global community in putting the I, in ICC."Ironically, Drew Azzara, ICC Vice President of Global Services and Business Development, was not physically in attendance, because he is working on behalf of the ICC in China this week, but was able to address attendees for the Forum by video tape. "There is a clear and growing market demand for better building construction," Azzara said. "ICC, for one, is taking a leadership role in this endeavor by engaging various regions and countries throughout the world in support of building safety by providing technical information and related programs."
Code Council CEO Rick Weiland appreciated the commitment of international delegates to make the trip to Charlotte to be in attendance, noting that global partnerships are a significant part of the ICC's mission. "Every time I see something tragic happen around the world that could have been prevented with good codes and good code enforcement, it just tells me that we have an unbelievable responsibility," Weiland said. "We really believe and are passionate in terms of what we have created here in this country and we would like to share it with the rest of the world."Now, we are not so arrogant to think that in that process we are not going to learn something in return," Weiland continued. "It becomes mutually beneficial. It's the kind of collaboration that we are looking for as we move forward."
Deputy Vice President of International Services & Business Rick Okawa noted that the common thread he saw in all the presentations was a desire for collaboration. "And in all areas," Okawa said. "Not necessarily just on a national level, like the governmental officials level, but also with the design community, the industry, the manufacturers. One of the things we try to do is cooperate with some of these entities that are providing some method of safety. That type of technical knowledge needs to be transferred. That is part of the collaboration effort."Speakers at the Global Forum included:
• Ali Bukair, P.E., Consultant-Policies and Regulation, Department of Municipal Affairs, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, "Development and Implementation of Abu Dhabi International Building Codes."
• Dr. Khalid El-Zahaby, Vice-Chairman, Housing and Building National Research Center and Professor of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Arab Republic of Egypt, "Case Study – Effect of IAS Accreditation on the National testing Laboratories of Egypt's National Housing and research Center."
• Evangelina Hirata, former Director of Mexico's National Housing Commission (CONAVI), "Towards a Green Construction Code in Mexico."
• A. Michael Wood, Project Coordinator for the Caribbean (Regional) Building Standards Project, CARICOM/CROSQ, "The Challenges of Developing and Harmonizing Building Standards for the Caribbean region in Cooperation with the ICC."
• Takashi Imamura, Director for International Building Codes Coordination, Housing Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), "International Collaboration: Update from Japan."
• Joseph Aryee, Lecturer, University of Technology, Jamaica, and Coordinator, National Building Code Training Programme, "The New National Building Code of Jamaica—A Partnership between Jamaica and the International Code Council."
• Mannie Withrow, CRBO, President, Alliance of Canadian Building Officials Association (ACBOA) and Lynn C. Balfour, CBCO, Immediate Past President, Ontario Building Officials Association (OBOA), "Ontario Building Officials Association – Developing Our Professional Building Officials" and "ACBOA Update."
• Jon Traw, P.E., Chair, Inter-jurisdictional Regulatory Collaboration Committee (IRCC), "International Collaboration on Performance-Based Codes."