Beyond buzzwords: technology to take seriously

As digitisation continues to drive change throughout the built environment, surveying professionals need to find efficiencies and achieve better outcomes in radically new ways.

Understanding which technologies or applications will truly benefit your business - then remaining at the forefront of an industry which is changing at a rate faster than ever before - is not easy.

In a recent survey of the profession 92% of respondents thought proptech would have a positive impact on the industry but only 40% thought that they had a good understanding of the technologies or skills to fully embrace them*.

So what technological developments should professionals and businesses be focussing on? Ahead of the RICS Digital Built Environment Conference 2019, here's some key topics set to lead the discussion.

Blockchain – what next?

A few years ago, hardly anyone except tech geeks had heard of blockchain. Today, the digital world is abuzz with claims that the system's decentralised database technology has ushered in a new internet that is transforming the way people do business in every sector of the economy, real estate included.

Blockchain is an application of computer science that enables highly secure peer-to-peer digital transactions. It offers the potential to increase transparency and trust, reduce fraud and speed up a wide variety of business processes by reducing the need for middlemen and paperwork.

"This is a technology that is incredibly interesting and could be transformational, but there is a lot of hype around it," observes Alan Penn, Professor of architectural and urban computing at University College London's Bartlett School of Architecture.

Digital Twins: looking beyond construction

The benefits of using BIM within the design and construction phase of a built asset are now widely accepted. Less well known, however, is the long-term value that BIM can bring to the operation of an asset after handover, which is often overlooked when the upfront cost of investing in the technology is so high.

Automation: job transformation or job replacement?

Many contradictory predictions are being made about the impact of artificial intelligence in the workplace. Chris Hoar, co-founder of Artificial Intelligence in Facilities Management and lead author of the RICS insight paper: Artificial Intelligence: What It Means for the Built Environment investigated some of the threats and opportunities for professionals for the RICS Land Journal.