New research highlights trends in technology market

image: ../art/MacBookProDesktop_2x.pngA new report from Deloitte has highlighted what it believes are the key trends in the market for telecommunications, media and technology as part of its annual TMT Predictions research project. Amongst other things it predicts a slowdown in the uptake of Bring Your Own device polices, the enduring appeal of the laptop,  a change in the way we protect our data and devices, and the annual market for smartphones hitting one billion units for the first time as 4G takes off in the UK.

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Greenest commercial building in the world opens for business

The Bullitt Center, proclaimed as the greenest, most energy efficient commercial building in the world, is opening in Seattle. The goal of the Bullitt Center is to change the way buildings are designed, built and operated to improve long-term environmental performance and promote broader implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and other green building technologies. Tenant are now moving into the six-storey, 50,000 square-foot building located at the intersection of Capitol Hill and the Central District in Seattle, Washington. More →

Gulf developments are talking the big numbers

Following the announcement at the end of last year from the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, that the emirate was to build what it called a new city within its borders, the Government of neighbouring Abu Dhabi has announced that it plans to spend around £56bn on capital projects over the next five years as it seeks to restructure its economy to reduce its reliance on the oil and gas industry. Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate state and its investment marks a significant shift in the economic focus of the region.  More →

Urban design ideas needed for Vauxhall missing link

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RIBA has announced the launch of a new international design competition for Vauxhall on London’s South Bank. The Business Improvement District (BID) for Vauxhall is seeking ideas to improve and enhance the public realm, providing the ‘Missing Link’ between the New US Embassy Quarter and the South Bank’s cultural hub. The competition is open to architects, landscape designers, urban designers and students worldwide. As with the New York ‘High Line’ competition multi-disciplinary design teams are encouraged. More →

JLL’s CEO new Chairman of the UK Green Building Council

Jones Lang LaSalle’s Andrew Gould has succeeded Dan Labbad, Group CEO of Lend Lease, as Chairman of the UK Green Building Council. He takes up the position at a time when business leaders are increasingly focused on the need to show leadership on climate change and recognise the opportunities for green growth in the UK. The UK Green Building Council is an industry-led campaign group, part of a global network of Councils that are active in over 90 countries worldwide. More →

Job fulfilment, not pay, motivates Generation Y talent

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Today’s 20-to-30-something workforce, representing the management class of the future, values job fulfilment over financial reward, according to research by the iOpener Institute, which analysed responses from over 18,000 professionals. The study shows that Generation Y, the digital cohort born after the early 1980s, are motivated to stay with their employer, and to actively recommend their organisation to friends, by the level to which they are fulfilled in their job, rather than their levels of pay. More →

CPA: UK construction activity will fall in 2013

The UK’s Construction Products Association (CPA) has today reported that it expects overall construction activity in the UK to fall by around 2 per cent this year, with most of the decline attributed to a greater than 5 per cent drop in commercial projects. Particularly concerning is the fact that the Government’s austerity measures with regard to public sector investment have not been offset by an increase in private sector activity. However these figures still represent an improvement on the 9 per cent fall of 2011.  More →

Tall buildings continue to flourish in Gulf and Asia

The ongoing economic downturn hasn’t much dampened enthusiasm for erecting tall buildings according to a review for 2012 carried out by the Chicago based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats. Although the number completed in the last year fell from 82 in 2011, there were still 66 buildings taller than 200 metres opened in 2012, the third most in history. Because some projects were delayed for one reason or another, activity is expected to pick up again this year and next.  More →

Only one in five FDs see suppliers as strategic partners

Only one in five finance directors see their suppliers as ‘strategic partners’, according to a survey of finance leaders in the UK and Ireland carried out by Expense Reduction Analysts (ERA). The report also revealed that 77 per cent of companies work on a short term basis when procuring products and services and resort to a defensive cost-cutting mentality when money is tight. More →

Goldman Sachs submits plans for troubled European HQ

Following recent reports that a growing number of firms were locating in the burgeoning creative centres of East London,investment bank Goldman Sachs has finally submitted plans for the 1.2m sq ft nine storey headquarters building KPF in Farringdon Street. The KPF-designed development will replace two existing buildings – the 13 storey Fleet Building and adjacent Plumtree Court which Goldman Sachs acquired in 2011.

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Record global temperatures still a threat say Met Office

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Following media reports that “global warming has stalled” – despite the fact that Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology is predicting temperatures there could reach a record 52C – the Met Office has warned we will continue to see near-record levels of global warming over the next few years. The publication this week of an experimental decadal global temperature prediction showing global temperatures over the next five years are likely to be a little lower than those forecasted in December 2011 was widely reported as “reopening the climate change debate”. More →

Global sustainable real estate securities fund announced

A global sustainable property fund that invests in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) and other publicly traded property companies that meet environmental and social sustainability criteria, has been launched by US real estate investment firm European Investors Incorporated (EII). The focus will be primarily on global equities of companies involved in the ownership, management, development and financing of commercial and residential properties that strive to meet sustainability requirements.
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