British Land recently hosted a roundtable dinner on the topic of smart buildings. We were joined by seven founders and senior executives from start-ups and scale-ups across a range of sectors, all of them working on technological or organisational changes that will shape the workplaces of the future. Here are some highlights from the discussion.
First impressions matter
The participants began by discussing how a smart building can improve the experience of being in an office. Phil Woodward, Director at Ingress One, described how his app-based building entry platform makes it easier to sign in and screen guests in advance, streamlining the arrival process for host and guest alike.
The entrepreneurs agreed that a negative reception experience can ruin someone’s time in the office. Conversely, an interaction with a great reception starts off the experience on a positive note.
Danny Lopez, COO at Blippar, spoke about how facial recognition technology could be used to seamlessly allow a pre-registered guest entry to a building without the need for them to log in. Hosts could then receive an alert when their visitor had entered the building, and there would be no need to worry about a guest pass.
A question of experience
The entrepreneurs agreed that it’s important to ensure that technology actually adds to people’s experience of their workspaces and isn’t just a gimmick. Several emphasised that it’s not just important to consider what the technology can do, but also the strategic justification for it.
Office space providers should start by asking themselves what different groups of people may want from the office. While a seamless recognition process may seem to be the ideal, it could potentially also be intrusive and lack personality. Innovations that alter the experience of people in the office space will shape perceptions of the corporate brand, so these should be considered particularly carefully.
Data-driven insights
Emil Hewage, Director of Alchera Technologies, explained how office providers can understand much more about how people are using their buildings if they look at the right data sources. His company tracks the flow of people within certain spaces in real time to help deliver insights and manage congestion.
Similar technology in a smart office could be used to track the specific journeys that people go on in their workplace. It could measure how people use space, where they meet and how effective the building is at facilitating interactions. Hewage explained that it isn’t necessary to know identifiable information about individuals in order to get this level of insight. The trick is having the right kind of data to establish a ground truth without having to use burdensome tracking technology.