This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
“Consultancies need to promote their people not just their brand, the two elements are symbiotic and should not be separated”


which was critical for final acceptance of the scheme. Looking back, there was a real sense of community between the people who worked on that first pilot over many years, and I’m glad to have been part of it. This period was formative in terms


of leadership development. I became a Chartered Engineer, adding a more practical dimension to my earlier aca- demic prowess.


Your experience isn’t only of the UK, though is it? You had a spell in South Africa too. Yes, I ‘engineered’ a season of work in South Africa. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and test my personal limits. My first wife had grown up near Johan- nesburg and we were travelling there often to spend time with family. I started follow- ing the emergence of transport technology there, and then we began planning a longer term stay. I sought to use my skills to help deliver


a surge of transport technology initiatives ahead of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. I made contact locally through ITS South Africa and leveraged my status as a Char- tered Engineer. That got me the seat at the table, after which I had to prove myself if I wanted more! I was totally dependent on agile thinking, effective networking and collaborative behaviour to earn my living, both in delivering the work and in making sure I was paid! I joined a number of diverse teams,


working client side on the Gauteng Free Flow Toll and the Bus Rapid Transit Schemes in Cape Town and Johannesburg. The most interesting project was the drive to introduce contactless payment systems in public transport. Ideologically this is about offering the poorest ‘unbanked’ members of society a chance to participate in the electronic economy (through pre- loaded contactless EMV), while organis- ing and improving a dangerous public


12


Out of Africa: Nabil worked in Cape Town and Johannesburg before his move back to the UK, but, as these pictures show, it wasn’t all work!


transport system on which more than half the population depend. Adrenaline was as much a part of my daily life as caffeine, but I loved it!.


What made you come back? Our plans were slightly disrupted by the arrival of our second child. With an expanding young family, I started to think about returning to the UK. Around this time I was targeted by an executive search for a small company called Rapp Trans UK (a subsidiary of the engineer- ing and design firm, the Rapp Group in Switzerland). A phone call in Pretoria was soon followed by a coffee in London and an interview in Basel. I learned a lot through being on the


board of a small business, collaborat- ing with the international network while trying to navigate through the substantial downturn in the UK. The shift from the optimism of South


Africa in 2009 to the relative pessimism of the UK in 2010 was stark and abrupt, but we were a strong team and somehow we made it work. My consultancy work there leaned more into ICT, which helped to round out my experience.


You mention the downturn, since then the flow of money from


smarthighways.net


government has, if not dried up, been significantly reduced with some consultancy companies almost giving up on ITS completely. We’ve all suffered from the downturn and it’s reassuring to hear the note of optimism this year, a potential return to growth. I do still wonder about how public sector spending can be sustained without accom- panying finance, but infrastructure is cer- tainly the word of the moment. Circumstances are only part of the story


– the other part is how we respond in them. One of my best reads last year was Great by Choice (Jim Collins and Morten Hansen, pictured below). The premise is based on a nine-year


study of strong performing companies facing similar circumstances, opportuni- ties and threats. Some went on to great- ness while others failed, and the authors drew out a number of factors that made ‘the difference’. I won’t spoil your enjoy- ment of the book by listing them here! One of our challenges


is a shortage of smart people who can handle the complexity of both the


transport and technology sectors, and collaborate effectively with an increas- ing number of disciplines in each. We are part of the knowledge economy, but when we talk about being an industry we end up


focusing on the products of the moment and drifting towards a commodity.


Vol 2 No 1 smartHIGHWAYS


Photo credit: Z Abou-Rahme





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