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systems, energy systems - they all have IT’s name on them. We have security because of the nature of our business, so this is really con-
to have the right people with the right skills to support all of that verging the two worlds together, because cyber risk and physical
work, which was outside of our realm before. risk go hand-in-hand. Just last month I hired a seasoned cyber
expert to lead our cyber and information security practice. We’re
RC: Tell us about the technology initiatives you are working on. investing in a team and maturing our capabilities to be able to deal
Prater: I think that GGP has been ahead of the curve in terms of what with evolving cyber threats.
we’ve done with our digital presence, providing parking availability
and way-finding, and ‘digital search’ of a physical space. This is where RC: What general trends to you see impacting the retail world in the
you help the shopper find a particular item at any location in the next few years?
mall using our app. There’s not an easy way to search that today. Our Prater: There’s this perception that the physical retail shopping space is the
initiatives are focused on getting people to come to the property, way of the past, and people are going to exclusively shop online. I think
enhancing the customer search and the acquisition process, and there’s a misperception, because that’s not the case at all. There is a real
understanding their preferences so we can make their experience as value to having a physical presence, even for e-tailers. People want to
meaningful as possible. touch the product, they want to understand and experience the brand.
Another objective is improving the analytics capacity of our internal I think most would agree the United States is over-retailed. We
team to improve the decision-making process. We’re standardiz- have five times the retail space of any other country in the world in
ing information across the enterprise so that content, documents, terms of stores. Retail isn’t going away, but it’s changing to be more
reporting and dashboards come together for groups we support like about the experience. Whether they’re doing yoga classes within the
leasing and our digital channels. Having the ability to pull previously center or visiting a cafe, it’s all about getting you there to experience
siloed data layers across the company is a big initiative for us. Big Data the brand, sampling some product there, but also integrating with
creates all this information, but I don’t think anybody has fully solved their digital channel. In the future, technology will just be part of the
how to get the light bulb to go off with it. You have to get through regular way you shop. The overall experience is transforming.
the clutter and find what’s really important.
GGP is an S&P 500 company focused exclusively on owning, managing, leasing,
RC: Cyber security is a big topic for everyone today. How are you and redeveloping high quality retail properties throughout the United States that
preparing for it? offer an outstanding shopping and entertainment experience. Their sustainability
Prater: That’s a priority for us this year and every year forward at GGP. objectives include energy efficiency, Enterprise Operational Analytics (EOA),
What’s interesting is we’ve always had a very big focus on physical LED lighting retrofits, conservation, recycling, and green practices.

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