CoreNet Global, one of the top global associations serving the corporate real estate industry (CRE), held its fifth technical conference in Bengaluru on Wednesday. The event witnessed 300 business leaders and industry experts across the industry discuss the development growth in the real estate sector with technology as well as the positive impact it has made in finance and manufacturing sectors. The event saw R Chandrasekhar, former president of NASSCOM and an IT specialist, delivering the keynote address.
Hosted by CoreNet Global — India co-chairs Ram Chandnani (managing director, advisory and transactions services, CBRE India) and Venu Kota (director and head of CRE, Visa Inc) — the conference was abuzz with discussions related to digitisation in the field of CRE and infrastructure space.
“Globally, real estate is a true barometer of a nation’s economic status. In India, the CRE space is being driven primarily by the growth of corporates, especially their business expansion into Tier II cities. In fact, 36 percent of the real estate in India is cornered by technology firms, with finance coming a close second. With the service sector employing almost half the workforce in the country, the nature of real estate hiring is constantly changing. However, I believe that by taking advantage of the digital wave in the country, Indian CRE firms will be able to make telling contributions to both the country’s GDP as well as infrastructure growth”, said Chandrashekar.
The opening session began with the discussion of establishing values by CRE professionals in a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) environment. It addressed the factors and issues surrounding the sector with respect to integrating technology wholly. The achievements made by India in the real estate sector in recent years, as well the increase in economic growth in the Indian market were highlighted. The speakers emphasised on the use of technology to serve customer needs with regard to properties effectively and efficiently. Moreover, the job scenario in India in this sector was also rationalised in the end.
The session was followed by another round of discussion on the relevance of technology in real estate for the future. The focus was on the impact tech had in this space not just on the aspect of physical property spaces but also the complete well-being of employees. Subsequent to this discussion was a talk made on the effect occupiers (both commercial and retail entities) had in the realty space.
The second half of the event had experts talk about the integration of technology, people and the workplace, for effective productivity. “Technology today is an important global driver for innovation. I believe that the CRE community in India fully understands this and has put protocol in place that will enable them to embrace the change technology will bring over the course of life cycle. Efforts today are focused on how to manage and streamline space utilisation, which over time will help the community overall adapt to changing environments in the future,” described Ram Chandnani.
The striking feature of the event was the discussion on involvement of emerging blockchain technology in real estate. It began with experts saying that blockchain technology could revolutionise the billion dollar industry. They tell that blockchain in India needs the right support from people as well as a proper structure to settle itself as a prime technology in the upcoming years.
Lastly, the role of startups in realty and how it changed the investment flow into the country was also articulated. The event concluded with a business creativity discussion among the participants.
