Third Annual List Celebrates Project Ingenuity, from Fast Tracking COVID-19 Vaccines to Revolutionizing Renewables
Project Management Institute (PMI) announced the top 50 influential projects of the past 12 months on its third annual list of Most Influential Projects. The list, which made its debut in 2019 in honor of PMI’s 50th anniversary, highlights compelling projects around the world and across industries that achieved significant milestones and impacted our society.
Projects are the primary way to turn ideas into reality, and an idea is only an idea until we make it real through a project. The 2021 Most Influential Projects list demonstrates how project managers and changemakers have found resourceful ways to bring projects to life amid global disruptions, including the continuing pandemic.
“As a for-purpose organization, PMI is dedicated to supporting and uplifting those who are enabling change around the world,” said Michael DePrisco, Chief Operating Officer of Project Management Institute. “Our 2021 list of Most Influential Projects proves how creativity, collaboration, discipline, and determination can turn the boldest of ideas into a reality and change the world that we live in – even during the most challenging times.”
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“As a for-purpose organization, PMI is dedicated to supporting and uplifting those who are enabling change around the world”
The main list of the 50 Most Influential Projects includes innovation in transportation, renewable energy, architecture, technology, and more. Some of the top-ranked projects include mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines, 2022 Winter Olympics, and the Crew-1 Mission. Additionally, PMI released 30 lists recognizing the Top 10 most influential projects in a variety of regions and industries. In total, the lists include more than 250 breakthrough efforts across a wide range of industries.
Members of the project management community—including experts, volunteers, academics, and industry leaders from across the globe—provided input and nominations for this year’s list. The pool of candidate projects, which numbered in the thousands, was then vetted by a PMI® thought leadership team. The final list represents PMI’s vision of projects, and the project professionals and changemakers behind them represent the creative spirit shaping how the world collectively reimagines a new future, makes ideas and dreams reality, and, as a result, change the world.
Honorees include momentous triumphs such as creating a framework to futureproof the world’s ocean economy; taking commercial spaceflight to a new dimension; and fast-tracking the long-simmering shift to more flexible work arrangements; in addition to highly impactful, but lesser-known victories such as the Mumbai Metro and the Museum of the Future. The top-ranked project on the top 50 list is the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines created in under a year by companies Moderna, Pfizer, and BioNTech.
To view the complete list of projects and industry- and region-specific “Top 10” lists, visit pmi.org/most-influential-projects-2021. The list is also featured in a special edition of PMI’s award-winning PM Network® magazine.
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The Top 50 Most Influential Projects*
- mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines – For fast-tracking coronavirus vaccines
- The Great WFH Experiment – For fast-tracking the long-simmering shift to more flexible work arrangements
- Give it 100% – For creating a framework to futureproof the world’s ocean economy
- COVAX – For acting as the world’s conscience on global vaccine equity
- Sand Dollar – For establishing the first government-backed digital currency
- 2022 Winter Olympics – For going green
- Riyadh Metro – For introducing the power of public transportation to Saudi Arabia’s largest city
- When You See Yourself NFT – For taking nonfungible tokens into the musical mainstream
- Energy Island – For revolutionizing renewables—yet again
- Crew-1 Mission – For taking commercial spaceflight to a new dimension
- Regenerate Australia – For protecting an iconic ecosystem with a future-proofing climate plan
- Perlmutter – For mapping the universe at warp speed—and that’s just for starters
- Mumbai Metro – For digging deep to make transportation safer in one of the world’s most populous cities
- Atala Prism – For using blockchain to improve educational outcomes—and drive positive socioeconomic change
- Andes Renovables – For building a sustainable energy source and powering up the local economy
- Trojan Shield – For outsmarting some of the world’s most sophisticated criminals with a simple app
- Mineral – For cultivating next-gen tech to feed the world
- Al-Nouri Mosque Complex Reconstruction – For using architecture to help rebuild a community emotionally and economically
- Tiangong Space Station – For building a space station for the future
- Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic Plant – For helping the UAE diversify its energy—and its economy
- Clubhouse – For unfollowing the leaders in the social media space
- Expo 2020 Dubai – For working around COVID-19 to make a megaevent even bigger
- Perseverance – For heading back to Mars—helicopter in tow
- Maldives Floating City – For boldly shoring up a more resilient future for coastal cities
- Bridgerton Costume Design – For outfitting a global pop culture phenomenon
- Propel Center – For challenging systemic racism by fueling next-gen thinking at Black universities
- Burberry Social Retail Store – For creating a tech-forward retail space, complete with social currency
- Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions – For giving big business its own climate collective
- National Wildlife Census – For generating hard data to save Kenya’s animals—and its tourism sector
- Voyager Station – For taking space tourism closer to reality with an out-of-this-world luxury hotel in low Earth orbit
- Project Earth – For reinventing retail through sustainable shopping
- Microsoft Game Accessibility Testing – For leveling up on inclusion in video games
- Wasteless – For helping supermarkets waste less, while giving shoppers a good deal
- Tulsa Race Massacre Excavation – For helping bring closure to a community rocked by racial violence
- PlayStation 5 – For literally changing the game
- Multi-Node Quantum Network – For taking another step closer to an unhackable internet
- Galapagos Islands Rewilding – For restoring delicate ecosystems while developing sustainable economies
- Daylight – For listening to LGBTQ+ customers—and then delivering a banking experience for their needs
- Hot Heart – For pioneering an AI-powered renewable energy solution that doubles as an urban playground
- Edo Museum of West African Art – For creating a space to welcome home long-dispersed artifacts
- Overture – For taking supersonic flight to new heights
- Atal Tunnel – For moving mountains to improve transportation in the Himalayas
- Aeson – For bridging the gap between heart failure and a transplant
- Wufengshan Bridge – For combining high-speed rail and road transportation
- Museum of the Future – For embedding its future-focused purpose into its next-gen design and construction
- Pandora Brilliance – For taking lab-created diamonds into the mainstream
- Airlander 10 – For promising premium air travelers a smoother, eco-friendly upgrade
- Thinking Hut v1.0 – For trying to end educational inequalities with a school that can be built in under a week
- Tokyo Toilet Project – For giving public restrooms a much-needed makeover
- Operation Hijab Design – For creating a hijab that improves job performance—and boosts inclusion
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