News

On November 17, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Faculty of Business, Technology and Education of Ilia State University and the Infrastructure Construction Companies’ Association.

The memorandum aims to promote the transformation of the engineering and construction sectors in Georgia through cooperation in the development of human capital and the conduct of joint research.

Within the framework of the cooperation, the Association and its member organizations will participate in the development of architectural and construction programs, strengthen the practical component of the programs and diversify students' career development opportunities; With the involvement of qualified academic staff of the faculty, research will be carried out, which will contribute to the development of the field and its approximation to European standards.

"The Infrastructure Construction Companies’ Association is characterized by high activity in terms of participation in the ongoing transformation processes in the construction sector of Georgia. It refers to the development of new standards, the actualization of issues, it refers to the transfer of topical issues that are characteristic of international markets and emerge as a result of important political processes in Georgia, such as the Association Agreement. Participating in all this is our institution, the School of Technology, in particular its architecture and civil engineering programs"- the academic staff and students of these programs.

"We will cooperate in joint research on current issues of the sector - the academic competence and qualification of our faculty will be involved in identifying, discussing, analyzing, decisions that will be important for the development of the Georgian construction and engineering market."- Dimitri Japaridze, Dean of the Faculty of Technology and Education.

"Human capital development is, of course, one of the strategic directions for the Infrastructure Construction Companies’ Association, for a business union, that serves the interests of the construction sector and the company operating in it. It is especially important, of course, to cooperate with Ilia State University, given the history that this university has and the current strategic goals and intentions of the Faculty of Business, Technology and Education to develop and create an environment for students of architecture and construction. They have additional skills, including exciting activities that we can offer them together.

No less important are the employment opportunities provided by our members, and cooperation will be important in this regard as well. I would also like to highlight the future challenge that will come very soon and that is to adapt the curricula in the country to the Eurocodes as a standard and to guide the teaching process in accordance with this standard. I think our cooperation in this direction will be really productive." - Ana Sabakhtarishvili, Executive Director of the Infrastructure Construction Companies’ Association.

"One of the main directions of the School of Technology is architecture and civil engineering. Today is a very important period in the direction of the construction sector. Unfortunately, Georgia is still part of the Post-Soviet School of Engineering and is now undergoing a very important process of reforming the field. Eurocodes and technical standards are being introduced in Georgia, which is the most important part for any engineering field. The introduction of technical standards can’t be achieved by the efforts of individual actors, requires close cooperation between actors - an example of this cooperation is the memorandum signed today between the Association and Ilia State University, which lays the foundation for long-term cooperation." - Vakhtang Balavadze, Head of Ilia State University School of Technology.

About the Association

The Infrastructure Construction Companies’ Association/ICCA was established in 2015 by construction companies operating in the construction market.

The mission of the Infrastructure Construction Companies’ Association is to protect the interests of member companies, to enhance their competitiveness, to introduce modern technologies, standards in the construction sector, to improve the market and to promote the long-term development of the construction sector.

In order to develop the construction sector, the Association has identified 4 main directions as priorities:

• Advocacy-lobbying;
• Education, research, human capital development;
• Networking;
• Professional support and other benefits.

The Infrastructure Construction Companies’ Association currently unites 54 companies, the major part of which are construction companies working on large construction infrastructure projects. The association brings together, at the same time, construction materials, manufacturing and importing companies, construction equipment dealers, supervisory and design service providers.

The list of member organizations of the Association is available at the link: https://icca.ge/ka/asociaciis-tsevrebi

2021