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REcalibrate | Real Estate Companies Using Innovation to Turn Challenges into Opportunities

February 20, 2019 | Jim Young, Co-Founder & CEO, Realcomm
2 min read
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Every year, as we decide on the Realcomm | IBcon conference theme, we evaluate the state of our industry and its future direction. We review the last 12 months and do a bit of prognosticating as to what path the year ahead might take for Commercial & Corporate Real Estate, Technology, Automation and Innovation. This has been our tradition for the last 20 years and looking back, these assessments were pretty good representations of the time at hand.

This year's theme, REcalibrate | Using Innovation to Turn Challenges into Opportunities, focuses on how everyone in an organization needs to fully understand how this next chapter of the digital revolution will affect their role as well as the organization as a whole.

The Commercial and Corporate Real Estate industry has been talking about technology improvements and solutions for many years. An increasingly connected and complex global environment creates new business challenges, and the pace of change has recently increased exponentially. Fueled by ever improving technology, massive investments and a constant reevaluation of existing processes and methodologies, the industry is experiencing an unprecedented level of transformation. These developments require an approach that is not simply tactical or incremental but rather strategic and foundational.

This technical revolution is fueling every aspect of our industry; how we manage data and information, how we operate buildings and portfolios as well as the way we use and experience space. Add in changing workforce demographics, wide swings in the market, political division and an evolving global landscape, and the challenges present themselves front and center. Maintaining traditional business models while embracing innovation to prepare for the future is a major challenge.

The nature of technology as we see it today is dynamic, encompassing and has its own momentum. One can only keep up or get left behind. There are many questions and few firm answers. How do you transition from a company with a steady hand for the day-to-day work, to an agile and flexible entity that embraces change? How do you calibrate innovation? How do you measure success? We may not know the answer, but one thing is certain – resolve, balance and ownership from everyone involved are required.

While the challenges may be great, so too are the opportunities. Companies that determine how to REcalibrate and make innovation an integral part of their organizations will not only survive but thrive. Constant change and reevaluation of every aspect of a Real Estate organization will continue to improve insight, efficiency, occupant experience and ultimately, profitability.

Technologies such as 5G, AI & Machine Learning, Robotics and Autonomous Vehicles will continue to redefine work and employee responsibilities. Other new and exciting innovations will evolve and increase in magnitude and impact.

It is time to REcalibrate, identify the challenges, embrace innovative ideas and discover new opportunities in the way we design, build, lease, operate, transact and use Commercial and Corporate Real Estate.

Realcomm | IBcon 2019 will be held at the Nashville Music City Center on June 13 & 14 (Golf and RE Tech Tours June 11 | Pre-Con Events: June 12). Register early and save!

Jim Young, Co-Founder & CEO, Realcomm
Founder of Realcomm Conference Group, an education organization that produces Realcomm, IBcon and CoRE Tech, the world's leading conferences on technology, automated business solutions, intelligent buildings and energy efficiency for the commercial and corporate real estate industry. As CEO, Jim interacts with the largest companies globally pertaining to some of the most advanced and progressive next generation real estate projects under development.

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