Project Society Index (PSI)

The Project Society Index (PSI) is a newly developed measurement framework designed to assess how well societies are equipped to operate in an increasingly projectified world.

Modern societies increasingly rely on projects as a dominant organizational form. Governments, companies, institutions, and non-profit organizations use projects to address complex and temporary challenges.

Unlike traditional project management metrics that focus on organizational or project-level success, the PSI introduces a macro-level perspective and evaluates project management as a societal capability. This enables benchmarking between countries, identification of strengths and weaknesses, and the possibility to formulate recommendations for policy makers, professional associations, institutions, and industry stakeholders.

The conceptual model of the PSI consists of the following interconnected spheres: Human Capital, Services, Practice, and Contribution. Together, these dimensions form the foundation of a “Project Society” (figure below).

Human Capital sphere measures the educational foundation. Services sphere focuses on the institutional ecosystem supporting project management, including project management education and training, professional associations, research in the field, and governmental support structures, professional certification requirements in public procurement. Practice, measures the practical application of project management capabilities in society – investments in projects, demand and utilization of project capabilities and skills in practice. Contribution, captures the societal outcomes associated with economic, ecological, and social development.

In addition, the model accounts for Context that reflects a country’s overall level of development, which is used to calibrate how the other four spheres are weighted for that country.

This first pilot assessment provides an initial, exploratory benchmark and will be refined through future rounds as the methodology is extended to more countries and data sources.

The first pilot study of the pragmatic PSI approach was conducted across all 38 OECD countries. The results showed significant differences between countries in terms of project orientation and contribution. Switzerland achieved the highest overall PSI score in 2023 [56,5], followed by Iceland [52,0], Ireland [49,5], the Netherlands [47.1], and Austria [46,5] (figure below).

The index was developed under the International Project Management Association (IPMA), by distinguished researchers from the project management field, combining practical experience with in-depth methodological research.

Project Society Index represents one of the first systematic attempts to conceptualize and measure the project orientation at the societal level.

IPMA’s next step is to invite Member Associations to contribute to future rounds and benefit from the results.