As international travel slowly returns to pre-pandemic levels, my colleagues and I have been fortunate enough to attend industry conferences around the globe: looking at what’s happening where, who’s saying what in the world of proptech, and thinking about how we can keep pace with the rest of the industry.
We’ve collated learnings from some of 2022’s must-attend property and technology events, looking at emerging trends and technologies that are set to shape the delivery of spaces and how we use them in the decades to come.
The Independent Data Layer (IDL)
When it comes to property management, data is the undeniable king. It informs better spending and better energy use and, ultimately, drives cost efficiencies and a more enjoyable in-building experience.
But whilst data is an all-powerful, must-use tool, it’s also highly problematic, with data acquisition and normalisation being one of the industry’s biggest challenges in achieving digitisation.
One thing’s certain: we can get data out of buildings. But, to do so requires a huge amount of effort. What’s more, once the data has been acquired, it becomes difficult to understand who is responsible for managing it, as integrators are often project-based and leave sites as soon as the project has been delivered.
And thus enters the Independent Data Layer (IDL). The IDL is a new approach which creates a clearer air gap between the responsibilities of the landlord (which is to present data consistently in a structured way) and the onsite service provider or tenant (which is to use that data to deliver better outcomes).
Companies to watch in this space include Novant, Mapped, Cohesion and Buildings, who are driving this concept forward as we see the rise of in-house IT teams as the next generation maintainer of smart building solutions.
Haptics
Haptic technology enables you to feel even while you’re experiencing things in virtual reality. A revolutionary piece of technology for experiencing an even more true-to-life version of the world in the metaverse, as well as being transformative to how we work remotely.
Also Read: Indonesian proptech startup Tanaku raises US$5.5M pre-seed capital
Take healthcare, for example. Haptic technology would allow doctors from the other side of the world to see and feel in real-time, allowing them to diagnose with accuracy remotely or even perform surgery.
Although it’s very early days, the long-term impact haptics could have upon real estate is that tenants will begin to think long and hard about where they choose to locate.
In a world where you don’t need to be in person to deal with people, would we see a migration away from big cities to areas with a higher quality of life at a fraction of the cost? Or will the nuance of an in-person 1:1 always prevail, no matter how swish the technology? Time will tell here.
Miniature servers
Climate-controlled, portable server rooms are becoming more commonplace as they increase flexibility and an occupier’s ability to customise their space.
Miniature server rooms are essentially servers on wheels that provide the freedom to completely adapt a space to the needs of the individual occupier.
They’re also fantastic at allowing businesses to get set up much faster when moving into a building, particularly in the industrial or distribution sectors, helping to facilitate that play-and-play experience, limiting any dips in productivity and facilitating a smoother move-in all round.
With the real estate sector facing many more unseen challenges in the years to come, the adoption of proptech will be paramount for us to stay relevant in this digital age as these technologies become integral parts of how we live, work and connect in the future.
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