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It is vital for Cofinimmo to incorporate social
trends into its strategy. The greatest challenge
is to incorporate them at the right time in order
to create value for society generally
Xavier de Walque, Cobepa, CFO – Member of the Executive Committee
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The impact of the internet of things can already be seen in our cities and our
buildings: automatic ordering of solar protection for buildings depending on the
level of sunlight, air-conditioning activated by a presence detector, management
of roadside parking by presence detection and management of occupancy,
sending of targeted information to shopping centre customers based on their
geographical position, public lighting management, management of pollution
levels in cities, etc.
Changes in
technologies and
working practices
The increase in connectivity between people, but also between
objects (the internet of things)
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, the development of cloud comput-
ing has or will have an impact on the society of the future.
Changes to working habits (New World of Work), making work more
flexible and mobile, different needs expressed by new generations
arriving on the employment market are leading Cofinimmo to review
how it builds and operates its office buildings. In several buildings,
for example, the creation of shared meeting areas et co-working
areas is being studied.
Similarly, changes to consumption habits (e-commerce is
accounting for a larger share) is changing retailers’ property needs.
Property of distribution networks will need to adapt to this duality in
which the virtual and real economies exist side by side.
In 2008, there were as many connected objects as people
on the planet. By 2020, the number of connected objects
will reach 50 billion (source: CISCO, http:// share.cisco.
com/internet-of-things.html)
Urbanisation
The movement of populations towards cities is exacerbating a
number of challenges such as mobility in cities and availability
of resources to meet these people’s basic needs (food, housing,
education, leisure, etc.).
Public authorities’ search for more flexible real estate solutions is
increasing the Public-Private Partnerships offered to the State by
professionals in the field of the design, financing, construction and
maintenance of its property portfolio.
Europe, where 73% of the population live in urban areas,
expects urbanisation to exceed 80% by 2050. (source:
United Nations, World Urbanisation Prospects, 2014
version)
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