Share these talks and lectures with your colleagues
Invite colleaguesPractice paper
Smart, connected and dangerous: Assessing the impact of digital business on real estate
Corporate Real Estate Journal,
6
(2),
105-111
(2016)
Abstract
A number of technological developments may soon transform the way the real estate business is conducted. Among these are technology-enabled marketplaces; internet-connected buildings and systems; machines that act as agents for themselves and the business; machines that learn and adapt their behaviour based on input; ownerless, distributed blockchain ledgers that determine when and how transactions can be completed; and smart contracts built on those blockchain ledgers. But this transformational power may raise new questions of data ownership, privacy, liability, ethics and even legality that organisations should consider before moving forward with implementation. A commitment to research, perhaps led by the office of the CIO but including many business stakeholders including legal counsel, careful evaluation of technologies and services, and testing in the form of limited-scope pilots are some of the keys to avoiding many problems.
Keywords: Internet of Things; blockchain; smart contracts; digital marketplaces; privacy; liability; ethics
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
David Karpook is Strategic Business Consultant for Planon Corporation, a leading provider of technology solutions for facility management and real estate. A 25-year industry veteran, he has been a customer, vendor, system implementer, trainer and strategist, managing workplace technology projects in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Planon in 2015, he served as president and CEO at Bricsnet, an enterprise software provider. He also has held management positions at software providers Trimble Navigation, Tririga and Peregrine Systems. He speaks frequently at real estate and facility management industry events and was named 2016 Associate Member of the Year by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). He is chairman of IFMA’s Real Estate Advisory & Leadership community. Additionally, he has been a member of the IFMA Information Technology community and has worked with the IFMA Foundation’s Global Workforce Initiative. David is vice chairman of OSCRE International, the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate. His additional experience includes seven years as a facility manager and construction project manager at the University of Florida. A graduate architect with degrees from Harvard University and the University of Florida, he has also worked as a journalist for The New York Times and The Orlando Sentinel. David lives in the Boston area.
