Today, not tomorrow. The world is already adopting and embedding new technologies into everything. So too is the construction business, who are revolutionising the build side of construction with 3d printing technologies. https://www.cnet.com/uk/news/dubai-unveils-worlds-first-3d-printed-office-building/
Buildings throughout their lifecycle of pre-planning, post-planning , design, build and operate are being assailed by new techniques and technologies from laser guided positioning, new material sciences and technology all leading to greater and effective occupancy http://qz.com/615485/singapore-wants-to-3d-print-skyscrapers/
These are great innovations and tackle the short term needs for an urbanised lifestyle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization#/media/File:Percentage_of_Population_Living_in_urban_areas_1950-2050.png,
However construction is a small part of the life of buildings, and buildings need to be able to administer and support the usage, work style, lifestyle of their occupants. For those leaders that ponder the future and the relevance of building technology this can be a daunting task. For me one of the keystones is location based services.
Traffic, dwell time and journeys through buildings is a key factor in illuminating what is happening. From systematic operations such as cleaning, through to unusual events, such as late night working; location based services can develop a picture of normality and routine. Further analysis can start to identify the outliers and the other usages of services. This leads to a better prediction as well as an optimisation of services, driven by a platform of data location based information.
This is only the beginning, to enable smart cities these platforms need to integrate, interoperate with the other platforms in a safe and secure method. Today such alignment of data platforms are seen as been key to future public health and safety concerns; standards being developed in many different countries:
National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Public Safety Communications Research Program Location-Based Services R&D Roadmap.
The focus of many of these standards are to support early citizen value e.g. providing situational awareness for emergency responders and medical services. Thus, buildings, transportation and wearable devices all need to interact and interoperate when an emergency situation arises. From an emergency call about an accident in the home through to some more newsworthy item.
There has long been a need to develop interoperable standards for data exchange and availability among devices for positional data. Such standards need to be flexible as new and more evolved methods for precise location services and analytics (including elevation data) are expected to be available: indoors, underground and in rural areas within five to 10 years. (See recent announcement : http://www.zdnet.com/article/the-netherlands-creates-the-first-national-network-dedicated-to-iot/ )
Current leaders are already investing and working on key enablers for this world. One of these is multi-dimensional data visualisation.
Predictions state that within 20 years, improvements in 3D visualization and mapping technologies are expected to make such advanced location data universally available.
Location based services, has to be on your checklist if you are creating a digital organisations.
About : John Morton is an internationally recognized expert in big data, analytics and disruptive technologies. He helps companies adopt new technologies and methods, innovate and improve decision-making and increase performance through information and Enterprise Architecture disciplines. Know more about John here.
