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The 2024 PMI Most Influential Projects recognizes 20 transformative projects across the globe, from supplying vulnerable communities with clean water to making roads safer with AI. Our Ai&Me: Empowering Youth for Safer Roads Project made this list! 

PHILADELPHIA & NEW YORK — Project Management Institute (PMI) has announced its 2024 Most Influential Projects, honouring 20 projects across industries and regions that have achieved significant milestones in alignment with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the last 18 months—all addressing clear outcomes that drive project success beyond budget, scope, and schedule. The full list of projects was revealed today at the 2024 Concordia Annual Summit in New York City.

Since introducing the SDGs in 2015 to address the world’s most urgent environmental, political, and economic challenges, millions of people, nonprofits, collectives, and companies have come together to generate robust, creative ideas about improving the world and creating progress. Progress, however, has been slow, with only 17% of the SDG targets on track, with nearly half showing minimal or moderate progress, according to The Sustainable Development Goals Report, 2024. At the same time, PMI research just revealed that projects with some degree of social benefits are more likely to be rated a success.

“This year’s Most Influential Projects are strong examples of the important work needed to address our world’s most pressing challenges, from rising ocean temperatures and food insecurity, to gender inequality and inadequate education,” said Pierre Le Manh, PMP, President & CEO of PMI. “We celebrate these projects and the passionate individuals leading them because they are dedicated to creating a better human existence for all. They exemplify the power of effective project management and its ability to lead transformation, drive meaningful change and elevate the world around us.”

Through empathy, teamwork, innovation — and outstanding project management – this year’s honorees represent transformative initiatives that advance the United Nations SDGs. The projects recognized implement solutions and comprehensive approaches that rethink the world as we know it rather than putting a bandage on problems. They’re critically assessing their performance to develop replicable best practices that can create exponential positive change.

The list highlights project teams’ progress on innovative projects in education, climate action, architecture, technology, healthcare, and more.

About AI&Me

AIP Foundation, in partnership with the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) and Anditi, piloted a three-year project, AI&Me: Empowering Youth for Safer Roads, in three Vietnamese cities (Ho Chi Minh City, Pleiku City – Gia Lai Province, and Yen Bai City – Yen Bai Province), with funding from Fondation Botnar and the FIA Foundation. The project effectively utilized technologies to engage young people in sharing their safety perceptions and assisting decision-makers in identifying high-risk areas near schools and prioritizing resource allocation for school safety improvement. The project consists of the following elements: Big data and digital technologies, youth empowerment, government engagement, and publicprivate collaboration and partnerships. The Big data Screening Methodology, the Youth Engagement App (YEA), and the Citizen Portal were three technology tools and approaches that the project championed. The Big data Screening method collected road, infrastructural, and sociodemographic data from 1,063 schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Pleiku, and Yen Bai and ranked them from greatest to lowest risk using Big data sources, mainly telematics and satellite data. The method was validated by the results of iRAP’s school star rating, which confirmed the capabilities of the Big data screening methodology to identify high-risk schools from a broad population of schools. The YEA was created as an “easy-to-use” tool for young people to identify sites where they feel “safe” or “unsafe” on their way to school, with the goal of informing the locations for iRAP’s Star Rating for Schools Assessments. The combined Big data, YEA, and SR4S results were placed on a Citizen Portal, and the local government partners successfully advocated for its inclusion in provincial government websites to support dialogues with communities and decision-makers in order to spark change toward a healthy and safe environment for young people to thrive. The project successfully promoted young people’s commitment, comprehension, and action by empowering them about road safety, while securing buy-in and better targeting the resources of the local government through involving them in trainings and events. As a result, young people expressed their opinions by creating nearly 20,000 pins for places near their schools, along with remarks about the road safety risks they witnessed at every point. Out of the 106 schools identified through the Big data screening, 98 were rated with 1-2 stars and shared with local government. While seven schools were improved by the project and other donor-funded projects, the local government developed and implemented 87 modification items at 13 other schools as a result of collaboration and partnership between the public and private sectors and diverse stakeholders working together to improve safety.

To read the AI&Me Final Project Report, click here.

To learn more about how Star Rating for Schools and the YEA App are making school journeys safer in Vietnam and 74 countries, click here.

About the PMI Top 20 Methodology

To uncover which projects to shine a light on in the Most Influential Projects list, we employed two approaches. First, surveying the PMI global community, including experts, volunteers, academics, and industry leaders already immersed in projects and the industry at large, with a request for nominations. PMI then put hundreds of projects through a rigorous evaluation process to determine its alignment with the UN SDGs, nomination timeframe, audience values, and more. To arrive at our final list of 20, we used journalistic principles to ensure that each project aligns with the mission of PMI and the Most Influential Projects.

About Project Management Institute (PMI)

PMI is the leading authority in project management, dedicated to guiding the way to project success. Since 1969, PMI has shone a light on the power of project management and the people behind the projects. With a global community, gold-standard professional certifications, and career-long learning opportunities, PMI empowers current and aspiring project professionals, as well as organizations, with knowledge and resources to lead effectively and create an impact in the communities they serve. Join PMI in elevating our world – one project at a time. Connect with us at www.pmi.org,