Search Results for: security

December 6, 2018

Siemens new Swiss campus showcases workplace technology and use of BIM in construction

by Mark Eltringham • Case studies, Company news, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

Siemens AG has officially opened its new campus in Zug, Switzerland. The Siemens Zug campus features a new office building with 1,000 work spaces and a newly constructed production building. The investment volume for new buildings, renovations and related measures amounts to CHF 250 million. The campus is the international headquarters of the Siemens Building Technologies (BT) Division, which has 29,000 employees. Construction of the office and production buildings began in May 2016 and was completed in July 2018. The Siemens Zug campus is one of the first new projects to use Building Information Modeling (BIM) for design and construction. The digital twin – a 3D model of the building, enhanced with technical information relevant for later operations – is the foundation for efficient, cost-optimised and forward-looking building management. (more…)

November 29, 2018

OECD, UN Environment and World Bank call for a radical shift in infrastructure thinking

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, Environment, News

The OECD, UN Environment and World Bank Group have this week called on leaders of G20 countries to do more to enable a radical shift of investment into low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure as a way to limit the impact of climate change. Delivering a new report, Financing Climate Futures: Rethinking Infrastructure, to the G20 at its Summit in Buenos Aires, the three International Organisations said governments need to adopt a more transformative agenda on low-carbon, climate-resilient investments if they are to meet the Paris Agreement goal of cutting CO₂emissions to net zero in the second half of the century and build resilience to climate change.

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November 27, 2018

Three out of four UK SMEs failing to embrace digital workplace

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, News, Technology

IT analyst Gartner has forecasted that by 2022 cloud will make up almost a third of IT spending, but only a quarter of SMEs are properly prepared for it, claims a new study. The Missed Middle study, commissioned by Crown Workspace, found that three quarters of UK SMEs are failing to embrace workplace technologies such as cloud, mobile working and digital devices. This could impact their business agility, security and financial efficiency. Cost is the most common barrier preventing SMEs from creating the optimum workspace that features modern technology. For instance voice technology has seen huge adoption over the past few years, however less than one in five respondents are ready for it in the workplace. (more…)

November 25, 2018

Mental health problems are rife across Europe

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Greater efforts to promote mental health and improve early diagnosis and treatment of those with mental illness would improve the lives of millions of Europeans and contribute to stronger economic and employment conditions, according to a new joint OECD/European Commission report. Health at a Glance: Europe 2018 says that mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety disorders and alcohol and drug use disorders, affect more than one in six people across the European Union in any given year. Besides the impact on people’s well-being, the report estimates the total costs of mental ill-health at over EUR 600 billion – or more than 4 percent of GDP – across the 28 EU countries.

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November 22, 2018

Workers waste too much time in poorly designed offices

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

One in five UK workers has around two unproductive hours every week caused by poor or inadequate office and work environments, claims new research published today. Disruptive colleagues, no natural light, a lack of coffee and tea facilities and noisy offices are just a few factors cited in the report from Mace and its facilities management arm Mace Macro. Across the whole of the UK the average number of hours lost to unproductive workplaces is 2.4 hours a week, and using Office of National Statistics value of time data, this translates to a cost of £4bn in lost output every year to the UK economy. (more…)

November 9, 2018

Gen Z are technologically literate but not actually robots, Dell study confirms

by Freddie Steele • News, Technology

Generation Z is entering the workforce, bringing with it a tech-first mentality that will propel businesses further into the digital era while potentially deepening the divide among five generations in the workplace. According to global research commissioned by Dell Technologies, post-millennials – those born after 1996 and known as Gen Z – have a deep, universal understanding of technology and its potential to transform how we work and live.

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November 7, 2018

Will technology prove a threat or a godsend in the new workplace?

by Matt Weston • Comment, Technology, Workplace

In the past decade, the business landscape has fundamentally shifted with the emergence of companies like Uber and Netflix, in addition to the rapid growth of large technology companies such as Apple and Amazon. Underlying this shift is the constant evolution and implementation of technology into the workplace. In a recent report, the World Economic Forum stated that digitisation could add a staggering $100 trillion to businesses by 2025.

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November 7, 2018

Flexible office market to grow by a third each year for next five years

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

The gig economy has helped lead to the doubling in size of the flexible office space sector since 2014 and it’s set to grow by up to 30 percent per year over the next five years claims new research published by JLL. Disruption or Distraction, a report delving into the growth of flexible office space across Europe explores the main drivers of the sector’s boom – including evolutionary changes in how, when and where people work, shifts in lifestyle, and rapid advancements in technology – and provides unique insights into the risks and rewards for both companies and real estate investors in Europe. (more…)

November 6, 2018

Employers struggle to understand what motivates people in new generation of megacities

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Workplace

Mercer has published the results of an extensive study that examines the needs of workers in the world’s fastest-growing cities across four key factors – human, health, money and work. The study provides insight into the motivations of workers against the backdrop of fierce competition for their talent. The study, People first: driving growth in emerging megacities (registration required), is based on a survey of 7,200 workers and 577 employers in 15 current and future megacities across seven countries, namely Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco and Nigeria. As defined by the United Nations, these 15 cities will have a combined population of 150 million people by 2030 and share strong, projected GDP.

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November 5, 2018

Companies increasingly worried that Internet of Things could become a major burden

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

The performance of Internet of Things (IoT) devices could undermine the performance of an entire organisation, according to a new report (registration required) from software firm Dynatrace, based on a poll of 800 CIOs. The report claims that nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of IT leaders are concerned that Internet of Things (IoT) performance problems could directly impact business operations and significantly damage revenues. This is mostly because 78 percent of CIOs said there is a risk that their organization will roll-out IoT strategies without having a plan or solution in place to manage the performance of the complex cloud ecosystems that underpin IoT rollouts. In fact, 69 percent of CIOs predicted that IoT will become a major performance management burden as they struggle to overcome the escalating complexity of their modern enterprise cloud environments.

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November 1, 2018

Digitisation means traditional working day no longer a reality for CEOs

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

The rise of data and digitisation has led to the demise of the traditional working day for many CEOs, with a third now checking business analytics first thing in the morning and last thing before they go to bed. This peaks at 54 percent among 25-34 year olds but drops to just 5 percent for leaders over 45, who are much more fixed to their desk. According to the research by Domo (registration required), 80 percent of these leaders prefer to wait until they are in the office to check in. Three quarters (71 percent) of CEOs across the UK and Ireland believe their business could be at risk from current blind spots in data access and skills, however, there is another demographic split. 84 percent of CEOs age 25-34 said it could be a risk, compared to just half of over 55s.

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October 31, 2018

Top global industries leading the way in remote work

by Neil Franklin • Features, Flexible working, Property

More business owners are swapping rigid 9-5 schedules and traditional office environments in favour of flexible space and remote work as an option for saving costs, retaining employees and encouraging a healthy work-life balance. With this in mind, Instant Offices has investigated what industries are leading the way for remote working and how to overcome the typical challenges of managing a remote team.