July 4, 2019

World Economic Forum sets out top tech trends for 2019

by Mark Eltringham • AI, News, Technology

The World Economic Forum has announced its annual list of breakthrough technologies with the greatest potential to make a positive impact on our world. The technologies on the list, which is curated by members of the Forum’s Expert Network, are selected against a number of criteria. In addition to promising major benefits to societies and economies, they must also be disruptive, attractive to investors and researchers, and expected to have achieved considerable scale within five years. This year’s list features several technologies and tech trends directly relevant to the workplace and building design, including telepresence, automation and systems for plastics management.

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July 2, 2019

A Turing Test for the workplace ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

One of the ideas we’re going to hear about a lot over the next few years is the Turing Test. It describes the point at which a machine’s behaviour becomes indistinguishable from a human’s, so that a typical person is unable to work out if he or she is interacting with a machine or an individual. This matters for lots of reasons; functional, philosophical and ethical. (more…)

July 2, 2019

Fears about impact of AI now widespread

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

A significant proportion of the global population is concerned about the use of artificial intelligence (AI), with scepticism about its use by business greater than its use by government, a poll published by the World Economic Forum suggests. According to the poll, which surveys the attitudes of over 20,000 people across 27 countries, 41 percent of respondents said that they were worried about the use of AI. This compares to 27 percent that disagreed and 32 percent that were undecided. When asked whether the use of AI by companies should be regulated more strictly than it is today, 48 percent of respondents said they agreed compared to 20 percent that disagreed. (more…)

June 20, 2019

Technology driving calls for four day week

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Wellbeing

A majority of European workers (57 percent) believe that technology will help to bring about a four day week in the near future as it improves their productivity and efficiency, according to new research from Ricoh Europe (registration) which looks at employee attitudes towards the continent’s ongoing productivity challenge. (more…)

June 14, 2019

The greenest building is no building, our false craving for silence and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

As climate scientists issue increasingly stark warnings about the global environmental catastrophe that is increasingly likely within a very short time frame, Will Jennings issues a timely reminder in the Architects Journal that the greenest type of building is no building at all. And that is doubly so when the building we are talking about is The Tulip, which would clearly be a very bad idea at any time. The author takes particular exception to the glossy environmental pledges made by high profile architects when contrasted with the ugly, vacuous grandstanding typified by The Tulip. (more…)

May 1, 2019

The impact of technology, cyber-risk and the future of corporate real estate ⁰

by Kate Langan • Features, Property, Technology, Work&Place, Workplace design

It’s no surprise to say that technology is having a significant impact on the workplace and the use of corporate real estate. The fast pace of change has seen technology impact all aspects of business, government and culture, as well as personal life, with a constant flow of new innovations and solutions helping us to do things more quickly and efficiently. Equally, technology also provides a challenge to business and, more specifically, corporate operations, with a whole array of disruptive technologies.

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April 29, 2019

Governments must do more to prepare people for the future of work

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Governments need to overhaul their approach to employment and jobs to reduce further social and economic tensions, according to a new report from the OECD which explores the future of work. Without rapid action, many people, particularly the low skilled, will be left behind in the fast-changing world of work. The OECD Employment Outlook 2019 is part of the OECD’s Future of Work initiative and the “I am the Future of Work” campaign, which aims to make the future of work better for all, helping to transform learning and social protection systems and reduce inequalities between people and across regions.

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April 8, 2019

Navigating organisations through digital transformation

by Ian Tickle • Comment, Technology

It’s hard to escape the digital disruption that is reshaping not only the world we live in, but the fundamental way that businesses operate. Greater levels of data exchange and automation are creating new layers of innovation, shifting functional workflows to agile systems. And to prosper in this upheaval, leaders must look at how they can support their company’s ability to adapt and identify new opportunities to embrace these changes.

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March 29, 2019

Need for employee resilience heightened in a time of constant change

by George Eltringham • News, Workplace

Challenges facing UK businesses in the next five years have heightened the need for employee resilience, according to new research from recruitment specialist Robert Half UK. As businesses adapt to an ongoing period of change, more than nine in 10 (94 percent) CFOs think developing resilience amongst their employees will be important over the next two to five years, with 43 percent citing this as very important. This is critical to almost all (97 percent) CFOs from London-based businesses – the UK’s financial hub. (more…)

March 22, 2019

The future of work will be defined by four models, claims RSA

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

The RSA’s Future Work Centre has released research that models four ‘futures of work’ by 2035 – and claims to show how out of touch politicians are with changes in the workplace. The report, published in partnership with Arup, claims to avoid the usual sensationalism around topics such as automation, the Internet of Things, surveillance, gig work and AI to establish what workers can expect in the workplace in the near future. The report applies morphological analysis to generate its four models of work.

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March 18, 2019

Pressing self-destruct, a final solution to workplace noise, a broken psychological contract and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features

I’ve never really wanted to go to MIPIM. I’m suspicious of it all for a number of reasons I won’t go into although you might reasonably guess what they are. So, I enjoyed this piece from Polly Plunket-Checkemian about her own misgivings. I understand that the testosterone level has been dialled down recently, but like Polly I’d like to see a re-examination of its format and intent, especially given that the real estate sector is having to rethink where it fits into the new era of work and meets the challenge of coworking.

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March 14, 2019

Mobile working is a recipe for business success

by Sally Elliott • Comment, Technology, Workplace design

Today, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the face of work as we know it: introducing AI and automation to the workplace and creating a drastic shift in the skills required by organisations today. As automation increasingly frees employees up from the repetitive, process work that can so often dominate their day-to-day, organisations are instead looking to employees to showcase their critical thinking and creativity. Indeed, McKinsey’s Skill Shift confirms that by 2030 the demand for higher cognitive skills, such as creativity, critical thinking and decision making will grow by 14 percent in Europe.