The 22nd International Conference on Asset, Facility and Maintenance Management concluded its sessions, organized by the Arab Asset, Facility and Maintenance Management Council in partnership with government bodies and local and international organizations, under the patronage of Prince Khalid bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Emir of Makkah region. The conference was held at the Ritz-Carlton Jeddah over several days packed with sessions and discussions aimed at advancing innovation and digital transformation in facility and maintenance management.

The conference drew broad participation, with more than 100 expert speakers from 24 countries presenting their expertise and working papers across 16 sessions and panel discussions, in addition to two workshops and two training programs covering excellence in asset management and professional facility management. The conference also hosted the Asset and Facility Management (AFM) Expo, which brought together 60 exhibitors from leading local and international companies.

Key Recommendations

Based on the discussions and working papers presented, the conference issued a set of important recommendations, most notably:

  1. Advancing artificial intelligence: encouraging facilities to adopt AI applications in asset and maintenance management, while establishing mechanisms to protect cybersecurity and strengthen risk assessment to improve efficiency and cut costs.
  2. Digitizing assets: adopting the digital transformation guidance document for facility and maintenance management issued by the International Maintenance Association (IMA), and developing indicators to measure the impact of these transformations.
  3. Advanced training programs: preparing methodologies and guidance manuals to develop education and training programs in line with digital advances, with a call to organize diploma and executive master's programs in maintenance digitization.
  4. Launching a digital platform: creating an online platform through the Arab Council's portal to exchange expertise and successful experiences among Arab countries.
  5. Data analysis: developing strategies for collecting and analyzing data to improve maintenance plans and achieve sustainable digital transformation.
  6. Smart maintenance technologies: harnessing robotics and AI to inspect and maintain infrastructure, such as water, electricity and transport systems.
  7. Data integration: improving the integration of equipment data and spare-parts coding to raise the efficiency of asset management.
  8. Sustainability: using maintenance management systems to support sustainability and reduce energy consumption.
  9. Academic-industry convergence: strengthening cooperation between academia and industry to develop innovative solutions.
  10. Technology governance: establishing clear protocols to govern the relationship between IT teams and operational teams.

Participants praised the council's initiatives, particularly the launch of the OMAINTEC Academy to develop competencies and the establishment of the OMAINTEC Excellence Center to support research and development.