Weekly Briefing

Congratulations to Our 2019 Digie Award Winners!

The Digie Award winners were announced at the Realcomm | IBcon 2019 conference on June 13 at the Music City Center in Nashville. For the past 21 years, these awards have recognized those companies, real estate projects, technologies and people that have gone above and beyond to positively impact our industry using technology, automation and innovation.

Following are the 2019 Digie Award winners:

REALCOMM

BEST USE OF AUTOMATION

Property/Facility Management: Urban Edge Properties

• Effectively transformed digital processes and differentiated themselves in the industry as an innovator

• Pioneers in the Integration of budgeting and forecasting through MRI IM with Spreadsheet Server

• Created an innovative automated process for recoveries and accruals and integrated the lease process into their ERP

Commercial Services: Cushman & Wakefield

• Has a CEO who "gets it" and understands the importance of technology; drives tech initiatives from the top down

• Early recognition of the role Commercial Real Estate service providers can play in accelerating PropTech startups in real estate and construction tech

• Continued commitment to exploring innovative strategies while working with large, progressive corporate clients

Commercial Real Estate: Boxer Property

• Introduced AI into the company in multiple areas, including successful deployments of a machine learning pilot with AWS and a data platform leveraging IBM Watson

• Innovative use of Natural Language Processing for Resume Reviews and Work Order Management

• Successfully implemented Blockchain technology to optimize real estate operations

Commercial Real Estate: Blackstone

• Relentless focus on driving innovation in Commercial Real Estate processes through the use of technology

• Entire organization looks at technology as a means to drive strategy, rather than just a process improvement tool

• Instrumental in helping generate and nurture some of the most successful technology start-ups of the past decade

Retail Real Estate: Brookfield Properties

• Built an integrated, automated, and responsive hybrid cloud Analytics and BI platform to extract and integrate data from various transactional systems, IoT devices, and 3rd party data sources

• Successfully built a data strategy to drive actionable insights into the optimal retail tenant mix that matches demographics and location profiles

• Developed an internal innovation program and sandbox test environment to create a user-friendly interactive-visual dashboard and reporting tool

Retail Real Estate: Inland Real Estate Group

• Embraced cloud and advanced analytical technologies to deliver expert insights to the right stakeholders at the right time

• Piloted Machine Learning-based Budgeting and Forecasting and Robotic Process Automation for Acquisition Leads

• Developed a comprehensive Data Warehouse featuring voice analytics through Amazon's Alexa

Corporate Real Estate: Deutsche Bank

• Early and aggressive adopter of next generation integrated data architecture for Corporate Real Estate planning and operations

• Extraordinary willingness to educate and share ideas, experience and best practices with the industry

• Continual focus on operational improvement and the integration of next generation technologies to support their corporate real estate portfolio

Investment Management: Washington REIT

• Developed a cross-functional committee to drive information and analysis needs for the company

• Successfully implemented a unique and innovative technology strategy to dramatically improve internal communications at the company

• Implemented a change management initiative that included its own logo and emphasized how the entire company had come together to make this vision a reality

Architecture: KPF

• Leveraged urban data analytics for informed decision making in the design of buildings and cities for people

• Developed advanced methodologies for visualizing data analysis, displaying data to be accessible and understandable

• Innovative use of VR to enable real-world and model-scale immersion of their architectural designs

BEST TECH INNOVATION COMMERCIAL/CORPORATE REAL ESTATE:

Anaplan

• Pioneering the efforts of forward-looking analysis for Commercial Real Estate

• Collaborative solutions for deal diligence, deal analysis, life cycle analysis, valuations/ forecasting and investor relations and reporting

• Revolutionized the way corporate enterprises look at collaborative financial planning and long-term forecasting

Reonomy

• Leveraged big data, partnerships and machine learning to connect the fragmented, disparate world of Commercial Real Estate

• Developed proprietary algorithms to provide accurate CRE data via web application, data feeds and APIs

• Developed a standard to enable easy linking of related data across data silos within an organization and for sharing across organizations

NEW! YOUNG INNOVATOR AWARD:

John Fitzpatrick

• Valued and respected technology leader in the Blackstone Innovations and Infrastructure group

• Demonstrated a continued willingness to consider, vet, evaluate and implement early adopter technologies and concepts

• Widely viewed by peers as a thought leader and visionary on technologies impacting Commercial Real Estate

JULIE DEVINE DIGITAL IMPACT AWARD:

Art McCann

• Has served Highwoods as a strategic partner, developing key business goals, objectives and initiatives, as well as facilitating cross departmental collaboration

• Worked tirelessly to integrate business operations and technology at Highwoods, driving process efficiencies and increasing productivity

• Has consistently been willing to share both successes and challenges with the industry in order to advance the conversation, especially in his current role as an Executive Board Member of the RECC

Patrick Ghilani

• Architected and implemented a successful strategy to re-establish MRI as a market leader

• Has aggressively built a partner ecosystem and is continually acquiring synergistic companies to enhance their competitive position

• Valued as a consistent thought leader and client-focused visionary dedicated to raising the bar on industry best practices

LAUNCHPAD SHOWCASE AWARDS

Audience Favorite: Spatial.ai

Judges' Favorite: Spatial.ai

IBCON

MOST INTELLIGENT BUILDING PROJECTS

Office Building: 151 North Franklin | Chicago

• Best-in-class telecommunications services, based on a modern and resilient infrastructure that can handle diversity of providers and offers highly flexible and scalable connectivity

• Cloud-based intelligent building platform with mobile and web interfaces that integrate building technology systems to allow occupants to interact with the building, resulting in improved operational productivity and enhanced tenant engagement

• Exceptional occupant experience including destination dispatch elevators, live visibility to fitness center equipment availability, self-service capabilities for room booking, visitor management and more

Office Portfolio: Dexus

• Early pioneer of tenant experience concept with Dexus Place, proving that focus on experience would generate a measurable ROI

• Continually testing and implementing best of breed, cybersecure, smart building access control and management solutions in both new and existing buildings

• Created an elite partnership with Yardi, effectively leveraging all modules of the Yardi suite to maximize enterprise cost/benefit

Corporate Headquarters: Bee'ah | Sharjah

• JCI Digital Vault and Microsoft's Azure IoT co-join their respective vision to create the smartest building in the Middle East

• Intelligent concierge capabilities will engage visitors and employees to help locate available meeting spaces, book appointments, give directions, hail rides and support day-to-day tasks

• Will be fully powered by renewable energy and optimized for the sustainable use of resources to have zero net energy consumption and achieve a LEED platinum certification

Corporate Headquarters: ExxonMobil | Spring, TX

• Created an automated, algorithm-based room booking system that also collects utilization data, providing the information needed for better design decisions and build strategies for future workplace development

• Incorporated 20+ disparate systems into a single solution, enabling real-time monitoring and control from a single command center

• Sustainability touches all aspects of the campus including energy and water efficiency, land management, building and facilities programs and transit

Retail: Macerich Portfolio

• Successfully launched BrandBox, a new turnkey approach to physical retail for digitally native brands to open and operate stores, and develop the playbook to scale offline as a complement to e-commerce growth

• Smart Building Management system has direct integration with five separate property systems including Yardi, Okta and IWMS

• Haystack tagging, mobile-capable graphics and an intuitive user interface give users at the property level the ability to take the system into control rooms and equipment spaces, encouraging deeper use of the system

Specialty: Jewel Changi Airport | Singapore

• Visitor experience includes WiFi, free power bank loans, napping and showering facilities and also serves intermodal transfer passengers on their way to the Port of Singapore for cruise and ferry services

• Travelers experience a 130-foot rain vortex harvested from rainwater providing unique experience for travelers while dampening noise from aircraft in a five-story tall forest alley of 2,500 trees and 100,000 shrubs

• Features an immersive experience studio, utilizing technology to present a diverse mix of unique experiences under one roof, including interactive games, projection storytelling, immersive shows and a gallery exhibit

Industrial: Prologis Portfolio

• Established Prologis Lab, a 15k SF industrial innovation center in San Leandro, CA, used for the testing of emerging technologies

• Created a virtual data lake and migrated the in-house data warehouse into the cloud

• Developed a customer experience platform that connects clients with services and products they need to run their Prologis logistics space efficiently

Multifamily: Tribeca | St. Louis

• Leverages smart home devices, including voice-activated assistants, for enhanced tenant experiences

• Introduced a robot concierge that offers secure delivery services right to the tenant’s door

• Offers high-speed WiFi inside apartments as well as in communal areas, such as the co-working space

Mixed Use: Kimco Realty - Dania Pointe | Dania Beach, FL

• Incorporates an advanced full fiber to the edge technology infrastructure to provide the fastest internet speeds available and allow for a myriad of new innovative devices controlled by smartphone technology

• Provides occupants with a complete digital experience for a smart and sustainable community

• Extensive use of large format digital media for both marketing as well as customer and tenant experience

College Campus: The University of Iowa

• Data-driven post-occupancy commissioning, reducing future maintenance overhead and improving the performance of capital projects

• Identified issues across 7,000 monitored instruments in one year which resulted in $900,000 in realized energy savings

• Enhanced occupant experience for those who do and do not call in complaints through the support of a program that helps the team to respond to occupant comfort fault requests

City | State: New York City

• Implemented the COSMOS project, aimed at design, development, and deployment of a city-scale advanced wireless testbed in order to support real-world experimentation on next-generation wireless technologies and applications in the city

• Established co-development programs that bring together residents, non-profit and service providers, educators, and tech companies to help address community identified concerns with cutting-edge smart city technologies and new business models, seeking to solve the neighborhood’s self-identified needs using “innovative solutions”

• Formally launched the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights, a joint initiative to promote and track progress in protecting residents’ and visitors’ digital rights

BEST TECH INNOVATION INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS:

Microsoft Azure IoT

• By building on an IoT platform that is spanning cloud, OS and devices, Microsoft Azure IoT is accelerating smart and secure building programs that improve operational and managerial efficiencies

• Purpose built for robustness, security and agility, Azure IoT smart building solutions strengthen the connection between the intelligent cloud and the physical world

• With the support of an impressive partner-ecosystem, Microsoft Azure IoT provides a growing portfolio of spatial intelligence offerings, including Azure Digital Twins, Azure IoT Edge, Azure Maps, Azure Machine Learning, and Azure Sphere

Join

• On-demand single point of contact digital services, built on a private, secure fiber-based network, combined with strong user authentication and an integrated, advanced next-generation firewall

• Offers direct fiber access to many of the key cloud service providers including Azure, AWS and Google Cloud, and VPN management creates a secure, non-hackable path between WiFi and wired Ethernet devices and the corporate network

• Provides high throughput, high availability, low latency, elimination of network egress charges, and security and freedom from hacking due to direct connections that are not connected to or visible from the public Internet

JULIE DEVINE DIGITAL IMPACT AWARD:

Paul Maximuk

• Has tirelessly shared his vision, passion and experience with the industry and continues to offer his time and insight to others

• Took personal risk by introducing cutting-edge smart building technology to a large global corporate portfolio and implemented innovation at scale that advanced the industry

• Has been instrumental in effectively articulating the business value of complex new technologies to leadership and has driven the change management necessary for successful implementation

Charles Meyers

• Has consistently been willing to share both successes and challenges in order to advance the industry's adoption of intelligent and secure building technologies

• Continues to influence the industry by example and through his leadership role as an Executive Board Member of the RECC to enhance cybersecurity readiness of building control systems

• Demonstrated passion and vision inside a large organization and successfully navigated both the technological and change management aspects of digital transformation

Congratulations to the 2019 Digie Award winners and nominees for your contributions in positively impacting and furthering our industry. Special thanks to RealFoundations for sponsoring the Realcomm | IBcon Digie award ceremony this year and being an avid supporter of Realcomm since 1999! To watch the award ceremony, visit: https://youtu.be/PQ-zP41GVpE.

Read Next