Hertfordshire, United Kingdom: BIFM has said that it is forming a working group of facilities management (FM) professionals with an interest to debate on how technology and innovation will continue to influence the way FM is delivered.

The group, a press release on BIFM’s website said, will explore the role of technology and its impact on how facilities management can be planned, managed and developed, with the aim of producing a new suite of information and guidance to help FMs understand and embrace the new solutions and practices that technology will bring to the role.

BIFM’s Research and Information Manager, Peter Brogran, said: “The opportunity that technology presents to change the way FM works is huge, but it will have to be leveraged by skilled and knowledgeable professionals who understand how best to facilitate the convergence of people, place and process for business.

“As an Institute, we have long recognised the potential technology has to transform the FM function and how advancements such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Building Information Modelling and robotics are already contributing to improving business performance.”

He noted that FMs need to be equipped with the right skills and information to harness the benefits of technology, and this group was the first step towards that, where guidance documents featuring key learnings and insights would be made available.

The introduction of a technology working group, the press release revealed, follows the successful launch of BIFM’s Operational Readiness Steering Group, which has published a suite of literature that began with the ‘Operational Readiness Guide‘ published in 2016.