Cost estimation is becoming an extremely important skill within government due to the ageing population in Canada and the lower economic growth rate. These factors are putting a lot of pressure on public sector finances, according to Peter Weltman, senior director of costing and program analysis at for the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. That is why cost estimation is evolving into such a crucial tool to better manage government finances.
Weltman is also the President of the International Cost Estimation and Analysis Association (ICEAA) Canada Chapter, an organisation that was created three years ago “to provide decision makers with better costing and budgeting information on complex military projects.” But ICEAA is not limited to military programmes only, other departments within government can benefit from this service.
One way that ICEAA is doing this is through their annual workshops. On May 1-2, ICEAA will host their 3rd Annual Training and Development Workshop at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa delving into what cost estimating looks like in the workplace and how is it used and secondly, what sort of team a manager needs to help manage analysis and complexity of projects through cost estimation.
To get a better understanding of this upcoming event, listen to the special CGE Radio podcast in which we’ve interviewed Peter Weltman.
The event also features different workshop sessions designed for various levels of cost estimation expertise starting from the very fundamental basic data collecting techniques, to basic estimating practices, to the more complex risk assessment and quantifying methods.
Speakers include Andy Prince, manager for the engineering cost office of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre, Murray Brewster, author, and senior defence writer for CBC News, and Roger Ermuth, Assistant Comptroller General of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). To see the full lineup of speakers and topics, click on this link. If you are interested in attending, there are a few seats still remaining. Register today.
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