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Report on our event 16 July 2024 at London’s City Hall
On Tuesday 16th July, leaders in the Built Environment space came together at London’s City Hall to discuss the future of the FM industry. What will our industry look like in 2050?
Tech, data, and ESG were at the heart of the discussions, with a mix of expert panels and inspirational speakers giving the assembled delegates unrivalled insights into the direction our industry is headed in. Attendees also saw the launch of Cloud’s new whitepaper aimed at laying out what that journey looks like.
But before talking about the road to the future, Mark Pollock, a keynote speaker and explorer, talked about his experiences adapting to disability and why he wouldn’t accept its limitations. He showed us why we need to start in the present if we want to achieve future goals.
Changing the world through people, not tech
While a Commonwealth Games medallist in rowing, Mark suffered detached retinas and lost his sight. Later, after falling from a second story window and injuring his spinal cord he lost all feeling below his waist. Now, Mark is bringing technologists and scientists together with investors and start-ups in a bid to help 60 million disabled people all over the world walk again with the aid of technology.
Mark’s story shows the mindset shift needed for all industries across the world to tackle the pressing problems facing our planet. But it also reminds us that the future may be closer to our reach than we imagine.
American anthropologist Margaret Mead’s famous quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has,” reminds us that people – not tech – will be the key driver of progress on that journey.
The evolution of AI, the adoption of IoT, and the synthesis of big data will all be needed for the FM industry to tackle the problems of climate change and economic headwinds. Cloud’s White Paper concludes that the industry should prioritise investments in these areas, but it also recommends greater collaboration across the industry as well as a continuous drive to upskill and educate the workforce to meet the needs of future demands.
But the first step to achieving all of this is a shift in the mindset of business leaders.
Establishing ESG in the Boardroom
Changing minds means overcoming the competing challenges of key stakeholders. By raising the bar of our ambition, we can satisfy everyone’s needs.
Take, for example, the challenge of ensuring that ESG becomes the red thread that weaves its way into everything that businesses do. How do we firmly establish the principles of ESG into the board room and ensure that our leaders aren’t just paying it lip service?
Chris Judd, Partner and Head of Sustainability at Burson Buchanon delivered one of the most important lines of the event when he told our own Head of ESG Kat Christoloulos: “I would hope that, in 2050, there is no such job as ‘Head of Sustainability’. I would hope it’s just part of what we do.”
By raising the bar on our ambitions, we create space for everyone to thrive. It is only by thinking big that we’ll adapt to the needs of the future and overcome challenges. In the case of Chris and Kat, the challenge is to do their job so well that their roles no longer even need to exist!
The future is closer than we think
The technological solutions that are emerging now will help us on our way if we embrace the mindset shift needed.
Tech like AI, AR and predictive maintenance may seem futuristic, but the building blocks to adopting these solutions are available today.
Stuart Ruthven, Cloud’s Head of Product gave a live demonstration of how the recently patented Mindsett PRISM® box can be used as a bolt-on to our Freedom platform. Together, these allow users to understand in real time if there is a problem with one of their assets, call an engineer the same day, and see proof that the work done to the asset has fixed the problem either permanently or temporarily.
By 2050 these will be commonplace, but the equation is simple: the earlier they are adopted throughout our built environment, the more evolved they will be in 25 years’ time – and the further along our journey to net zero and mitigating the worst effects of the climate crisis we will be.
See report on the event by Business Cloud news:
