Dubai, UAE, 21 March 2019: Data and analytics collected from buildings can effectively contribute to space management, said real estate strategist, Roger Woodward, while speaking on connected buildings in Facilities Management (FM), at Future Proof by Facilio, held on March 14 at The Palace Downtown in Dubai. He said: “Buildings today are equipped with technology and IoT in order to collect data, but what we need is analytics.” Often, buildings that are connected to a system also have a computer with 500 alarms, which is looked after by a technician. Pointing to how data and analytics can effectively contribute to space management, Woodward said: “Analytics allows you to offer additional services, because you know the occupancy of the building, the temperature and the maintenance requirements, because the data is with you.”

Roger Woodward

Highlighting another aspect, Woodward said that today, there is a lot of importance being given to people living inside the building. Hence, he added, workspaces and co-working spaces are a crucial aspect. “Today 40% of buildings are empty,” he said, “and people are looking how best they can utilise that.” Hence, this makes the FM industry look at dashboards to check the occupancy and the temperature on a particular floor to see how space can be best utilised. What we need is collaboration, he said, and there is a need for everything to be connected.