New RICS president pledges to focus on cities

LONDON, U.K.—The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has announced Britain-based Amanda Clack as its new president for 2016-17 as of June 27.

Clack is a partner at EY, where she is head of infrastructure (advisory), consulting on infrastructure across government and the private sector.

Qualifying as a quantity surveyor and in project management, she is a fellow of RICS, as well as the Association for Project Management, the Royal Society of Arts, the Institute of Consulting and the Institute of Management.

She is also a companion of the Institute of Management, is a certified management consultant and an affiliate of the Institute of Accountants for England and Wales.

Clack is a past vice-chair of the Management Board; led the Clack Review on Election and Selection; and also established the UK and Ireland World Regional Board.

She has been an external examiner/lecturer and is a member of the Surveyors Livery Company.

In 2013 Anglia Ruskin University presented Clack with the Success in Business Award. She is also an Associate School Governor.

RICS is the international certification body for quantity surveyors.

In her role as president, the RICS media statement indicated, Clack will focus on infrastructure, including financing and sustainability; the cities agenda; addressing the War for Talent; as well as the recognition of international standards created in collaboration with other organizations around the globe.

"By 2050, we will have 6.3-billion people living in our cities," Clack said in the RICS statement.

"These enduring structures hold the key to meeting the challenges presented by climate change, resource scarcity and growing populations. Through the development of smart cities and large-scale infrastructure projects, the industry can help make these cities a success. RICS has the opportunity to lead on the issues of attracting finance, managing risk and being more sustainable."

In the Americas, RICS is working on a research effort to deliver a major infrastructure research paper at the Chicago 2017 Summit of the Americas in May 2017.

Additionally, the RICS statement said, RICS is responding to a White House call to action to the real estate sector on imminent challenges to resilience, especially those posed by climate change such as rising sea levels.