The interest in using project management office (PMO) services in organizations to manage their construction projects is growing in light of rising economic, technological, and social developments based on their ability to achieve organizational goals while avoiding risks. Accordingly, organizations use PMO services to manage their technical and financial project issues to periodically evaluate PMO performance and services in a scientific, practical, and measurable way to ensure successful project path via PMO. Therefore, this research aims to develop a performance evaluation system that enables organizations to follow up and evaluate the PMO performance to ensure that PMO manages the organizations’ expectations and goals successfully according to certain quality, scope, and cost. The study builds on significant findings in PMO competence indexes as evaluation matrix, which includes five basic categories with 136 indexes covering the project life cycle. The matrix was developed based on literature analysis and supplemented with experts’ interviews in construction management. The developed robust competency-based index (RCI) for directive PMO supports the organizations to conduct client satisfaction, correction, or partial/total change of the PMO’s competence flow within five construction project life cycle and process, i.e. governance, portfolio, information, execution, and contract issues.

The article is dedicated to analyzing trends in the development of startup infrastructure in Ukraine, Latvia and Georgia. The article is based on concrete data, a comprehensive analysis of statistical and qualitative data on the development of startups in Ukraine, Latvia and Georgia. This provides a reliable basis for the arguments and conclusions. General patterns of startup infrastructure development in the three countries were identified. A PEST analysis of startup infrastructure development in Ukraine, Latvia and Georgia was conducted. Thus, the authors conduct a multidisciplinary analysis that includes not only economic, but also social and technological aspects of startup ecosystems and infrastructures. Suggestions for improving the startup infrastructure in these countries were developed.

In the face of growing urban problems such as overcrowding and pollution, we urgently need innovative ideas to build smarter and greener cities. Current urban development strategies often fail to address these challenges, revealing a significant research gap in integrating advanced technologies. This study addresses these gaps by integrating green technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), studying its impact on achieving smart and sustainable habitats and identifying barriers to effective use of these technologies, considering local variations in infrastructural, cultural, and economic contexts. By analyzing how AI and green technologies can be combined, this study aims to provide a vision that can be used to improve urban development planning. The results emphasize the significance of environmental responsibility and technological innovation in the development of sustainable urban environments and provide practical recommendations for improving the overall quality of life in cities through planning and urban planning.

The demography of Saudi Arabia has been discussed many times but its conflict with the theories of transition and associated structural changes is unexplained. This research explains the demographic differentials stated as lag - real from theoretical – separately for the native and total population. This research developed demographic indicators revealing trends and patterns by adopting a secondary data analysis method, utilizing the General Authority for Statistics census data and other online data. The demographic transition of Saudi Arabia is in line with the theoretical contentions of pretransition and transition (early, mid, and late) stages but at definite time intervals. The absolute size, percentage change, and annual growth rate are explanatory for natives and are considered separately. Moreover, the structural population changes reveal transition stages from expansive to near expansive and constricting and stabilizing. Furthermore, broad age groups indicate rapid declines in the percentage of children, rapid increases in young adults, slow increases in older adults, and no changes in older persons. Even the sex ratio of natives is at par with other populations in transition (slightly above 100). Thus, it could be concluded that a demographic transition with structural changes as per theories: flawless growth rates with an expanding demographic dividend. At this juncture, the integration of migrants into society by endorsing family life and enabling social and demographic balance appears as imperative to improving the labor sector, productivity, and the image of the country in the international spheres for comparisons and benchmarking.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s president Mr. Jin Liqun shares with JIPD Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Gu Qingyang, his passion for infrastructure finance, as he reflects upon his goal of steering an environmentally friend and corruption-free AIIB toward building social-impacting infrastructure across Asia.
From governmental departments to international financial institutes, Mr. Jin Liqun has undertaken almost every essential role in finance. With his vast experience across the private and public sectors, particularly in multilateral development banks, Mr. Jin Liqun currently serves as Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)’s first President since its founding in 2016, following a stint as Secretary-General of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat created to establish the bank. Beginning from his two decades of governmental experience at the Chinese Ministry of Finance, rising from the rank of Deputy Director General to Vice Minister, Mr. Jin was then called to serve as Vice President, and then Ranking Vice President, of the Asian Development Bank, and later as Alternate Executive Director for China at the World Bank and at the Global Environment Facility. Mr. Jin had also served as Chairman of China International Capital Corporation Ltd., China’s first joint-venture investment bank, in addition to serving as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation and as Chairman of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds.