Vincent Lottefier, strategic advisor to IWG and president of Co-Working Future, explores how tech is increasingly at the heart of the flexible workspace sector
The real estate market is getting a digital makeover. It’s already making waves, and we’re starting to see the names of innovative new “proptech” leaders plastered on “TO LET” signs outside homes.
In recent years, the rise of proptech – or real estate technology – is shaking things up. Globally, there are now more than 6,000 proptech businesses and, last year, more than $US4.6 billion of investment was ploughed into their growth. And for IWG, it’s really exciting, as we’re seeing this new industry impacting the flexible workspace realm.
We’re in the thick of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – an era of automation and digital processes, powered by blockchain, artificial intelligence and augmented reality. So it makes sense that the way we lease, rent, buy and occupy property follows suit.
Antony Slumbers, a leading development and technology strategist in real estate recently wrote: “Beyond our existing real estate skills, we need to layer on top ‘modern’ hardware, high speed connectivity and cloud computing. All of this as a platform for designing the data science and analytics the best real estate operators will apply to the real-time data points emanating from the Internet of Things networks. Into the mix will also be woven generative design, building information modelling (BIM), digital twins, drones, 3D printing, virtual and/or augmented reality [and] machine learning.”
As customers have embraced digital in most areas of their life, industries need to keep up with this, and find new ways to serve them. And the real estate industry is ready and…
