Search Results for: internet of things

October 7, 2015

Technology and Trends 15 events offer vision of the future of work ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Events, Facilities management, Insight promotion, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

A series of executive briefings taking place next week in Central London offers you the chance to learn about the next generation of technologies and their impact on the workplace, working practices and office design. Insight readers can enjoy a 15 percent discount by using this link. Tickets are going fast with some sessions already sold out, so we’d encourage you to book as soon as possible. Technology & Trends 2015 offers an expert analysis on new technologies such as the Internet of Things, Bluetooth Low Energy, iBeacons, smart buildings, wayfinding apps and collaboration tools such as Skype for Business and Surface Hub. Aimed at facilities managers, corporate real estate managers, architects and designers, IT managers and HR professionals, the event takes place at Herman Miller’s National Design Centre. Full details of the event can be found here.

July 22, 2015

OECD nations need to urgently address the coming digital workplace

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

There is now an urgent need for the world’s growing number of digital economies to shift their focus to how they help people to manage their own transition to a new form of digital workplace. That is the main conclusion of a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2015 claims that while most countries have moved from a narrow focus on communications technology to a broader digital approach, they now need to address the significant and growing risk of disruption in areas like privacy and jobs. The report – which covers areas from broadband penetration and industry consolidation to network neutrality and cloud computing in OECD countries says more should be done to offer information and communication technology (ICT) skills training to help people transition to new types of digital jobs.

May 27, 2015

Smart buildings, smart cities and the promise of infinite data

by Paul Doherty • Cities, Comment, Facilities management, Technology

The rapid urbanization of our world and the weaving of existing and new buildings into the urban fabric of Smart City initiatives are some of the great challenges facing our global industry today. Along with the vast amount of definitions and marketing campaigns surrounding the phrase “Smart Cities” comes the challenge of understanding why the movement is important to the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry and how industry stakeholders can profit from, or at the very least, not get run over by the tsunami called Smart Cities. The emergence of Smart Cities as the conduit for ideas, thoughts, policies and strategies for the world’s urban environments is an important milestone for our industry, and it comes at a time of rapid innovation, convergence and redefinitions.

March 30, 2015

Digital sector set to become ‘pivotal’ in Middle East over next five years

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Facilities management, News, Technology

Deloitte has launched a new report into the Technology, Media and Telecommunications sector in the Middle East. Deloitte predicts that 2015 will be ‘pivotal’ for Digital Islamic Services as they start to take off across the Middle East region. The report estimates that within the next three to four years the region’s digital economy will nearly double in size from around US$15 billion currently to around $30 billion by 2018. The predictions are based on hundreds of discussions with industry executives, analysts and commentators, along with tens of thousands of individual interviews. The report also predicts that Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will make significant open data advancements in 2015, and within the next three to five years, break into the top half of countries ranked the most ‘open’ in the world.

March 19, 2015

Six key workplace and property announcements from this week’s budget

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property, Public Sector, Technology

In yesterday’s budget announcement, the Chancellor maintained the Government’s focus on regional devolution and investment in both physical and digital infrastructure. In truth, there was little surprising in the announcements, many of which had been signalled in advance and were rooted in existing policies. Some of them arrived fully formed, such as the devolution of powers related to business rates. Others, including the much talked about and overdue investment in regional infrastructure such as the cross country fast rail link, were fleshed out. Given that this is a budget with both eyes on the forthcoming general election, it’s a shame that some announcements lacked detail. Here are six of the key announcements that will affect the workplace, technology and property sectors.

February 7, 2015

The latest Insight newsletter is now available to read online

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; the UK takes a leading role in the development of the Internet of Things and the government publishes a guide to digital economy clusters; news that Europe’s commercial property market ‘sizzled’ during 2014 while a report suggests city leaders are the main obstacles to the implementation of urban infrastructure. Mark Eltringham derides more attempts to define the workplace of the future; Sara Bean warns that employers need to consider whether their workplace has an inclusive design; and as the winners of the first ever employee engagement awards are announced research reveals the cost of disengaged employees. Sign up to the newsletter via the subscription form in the right hand sidebar and follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

January 14, 2015

Smart city systems will substantially reduce CO2 emissions, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Environment, Knowledge, News

A new report from Juniper Research claims that traffic management and parking systems in the new generation of smart cities will reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by some 164 million metric tonnes (MMT) over the next five years, equivalent to the emissions of 35 million vehicles annually. The report also claims that this will transform the lives of those who live and work in cities as it manages the 700 million vehicles that will travel around the world’s cities in 2019. The report, Smart Cities: Strategies, Energy, Emissions & Cost Savings 2014-2019, claims that high levels of city traffic congestion combined with advancements in ‘Internet of Things’ sensors and software solutions has driven plans to reduce high traffic levels through smart initiatives.

January 7, 2015

Three quarters of firms are now using or adopting BYOD practices

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

A new report by TechPro Research claims that just five years after it was first given the label, the practice of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is now so prevalent that nearly three quarters (74 percent) of organisations are either already using or planning to allow employees to bring their own devices to work. The report contrasts with past research into the uptake of BYOD to show how quickly the practice is developing and its implications for companies as a way of introducing new working practices and cutting costs (their own, natch) but also in the way they deal with the potential downsides relating to security and maintenance. The report also looks at the evolving role of the practice in light of new technologies such as wearable tech and the Internet of Things.

March 14, 2014

Might a lack of joined-up thinking undermine UK high-tech ambitions?

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, News, Property, Technology

Old Street: the UK’s tech epicentre

Over the past week both Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson have offered up visions of economic success founded on new technology. Yet, as the CBI points out in a new report pinpointing the dearth of talent needed to make such dreams a reality, politicians often appear to ignore the realities of a situation. In its new report, Engineering our Future, the CBI calls for significant action to make a career in the key disciplines of science, technology, engineering and maths more attractive and easier to pursue. The report points out that these are the skills needed to underpin the Government’s stated focus on the tech, environmental, engineering and manufacturing industries that will shape the country’s future and is calling for a cut in tuition fees, new courses and inter-disciplinary qualifications to allow those skills to flourish.

April 5, 2024

A just in time lesson about office design

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

The nascent years of new ways of working in the late 80s and early 90s coincided with a widely held but soon to be discarded belief that the Japanese had cracked management practices. So it was perhaps inevitable that the principles of a process called just in time manufacturing – most famously applied in the factories of Toyota – should migrate to new forms of office design and the rapidly developing practice of flexible working.

March 7, 2024

There never was a new normal

by Nick Gold • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

Four years ago this month, we were all given our first ‘work from home’ mandate. A clear, unambiguous instruction from the UK government that, in the grip of a quickly spreading global pandemic, we should all work from home where possible. And amid the biggest seismic shift of our lifetime, it was an easy instruction to follow. Hunker down and wait patiently until we find a ‘new normal.’ But four years on, the question remains – are we nearly there yet? Are we ever going to find a ’new normal’? More →