TORONTO — A recent global survey of attitudes towards innovation in the commercial real estate sector found a majority felt workflows and processes in the sector could become affected by automation but barely a third thought innovations such as smart building technology would have a major disruptive impact.
The 2017 Altus Group Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Innovation Report is based on a quantitative survey of 400 commercial real estate executives around the world.
According to the report, a large majority of executives state their firms have benefitted from technology investments made over the past two years, noted a Nov. 27 media statement.
But when presented with six rapidly emerging disruptive technologies, a minority of respondents recognized them as having the potential for major disruptive impact:
- smart building technology, 35 per cent
- artificial or machine intelligence, 28 per cent
- big data and predictive analytics, 24 per cent
- augmented and virtual reality, 18 per cent
- blockchain technology, 15 per cent
- driverless vehicles, nine per cent.
“CRE firms are facing the challenge of finding a balance between operational benefits delivered by existing technology and the potential disruptive impact to business models by what’s coming next,” said Robert Courteau, CEO of Toronto-based Altus Group, in the statement.
“Organizations that will lead the way as the next wave of technology arrives are those that seek to change the rules of the game by disrupting traditional business processes and models, adding greater value and gaining competitive advantage.”
The report also found 14 per cent of executive respondents say they compare their operational expenses against competitors, the market or industry, indicating a significant performance management shortfall.
However, 69 per cent believe there is significant potential to conduct better benchmarking around operational expenses.
Fifty per cent indicate their firms have a shortage of technology staff, suggesting that a lack of skilled IT professionals continues to be a barrier for CRE firms trying to make the most of their technology and data investments, the statement indicated.
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