Sustainable development report 2017

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EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE
REAL ESTATE: THE INTERNET OF THINGS,
AUGMENTED REALITY, ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE, DIGITALISATION
It is difficult to imagine the future extent
and impact of evolving technology in the
real estate sector, but the first experiences
can already give us some leads. Technology
makes it possible to go beyond the
automation of recurrent tasks. Today,
it provides support in more complex
intellectual processes.
in client relationships:
- when selecting premises, new
technologies optimise the decision
process on the basis of complex criteria
such as travel time between home and
work for employees and visitors and
selected transport modes;
- visits can be done virtually without
going on site, using a digital tablet or
a virtual reality headset, and amenities
can be selected in a dynamic way.
- working space becomes more
personalised and is directly controlled
via smartphone: temperature, lighting,
etc.
in equipment maintenance and failure
management:
augmented reality will guide technicians
in their maintenance tasks and provide
themwith real-time image assistance.
In addition, the enriched data provided
by communication between technical
equipment (the Internet of Things) will
anticipate failures and carry out a first
diagnosis to enable the technician to
make targeted repairs1.
in energy management:
taking into account the NewWay of
Work in which employees no longer
have allocated spaces, a smart building
approach will enable the gradual and
efficient filling of the building. Empty,
un-airconditioned areas can by this way
remain vacant, which provides energy
savings.
CHANGING
TECHNOLOGY FOR
HEALTHCARE
Technology is enabling a gradual shift
from curative to predictive medicine. The
appearance of remote monitoring devices
and portable sensors enables doctors
to have a more dynamic view of their
patients' health and, whenever possible,
to faster adapt their treatment based on
the patient's condition. These sensors can
also automatically send a message to
emergency services if there are significant
anomalies in a patient's parameters. All
of these possibilities have an impact on
healthcare infrastructure: hospital stays
become shorter.
Other types of healthcare real estate are
being developed to meet the needs of
an ageing population which remains
very autonomous: rehabilitation centres,
daycare centres, etc. This new generation
of senior citizens wants to stay in their
own home as long as possible. The
changes in healthcare technology will
make this possible. However, it will require
flexible housing design which can evolve
according to a person's life stage.
1 Artificial intelligence applied to lift maintenance via Kone's use of IBM Watson
( ).
Medical Office Building Torenzicht – Eemnes (NL)
DIVERSIFICATION OF THE
HEALTHCARE PORTFOLIO
We seek to diversify our healthcare assets,
both geographically and in terms of asset
types. The acquisition of medical office
buildings since 2016 reinforces our presence
in the Netherlands. At 31.12.2017 we had nine
assets of this type in our portfolio.
In contrast to the other types of assets in
the healthcare real estate portfolio, these
centres are occupied by several heathcare
professionals and require active marketing,
which we have entrusted to a specialised
manager in the Netherlands.