MANAGEMENT
Connected Facilities
Management
The Internet of Things
BY ANN BAKER-KEULEMANS
The term Internet of Things essentially describes how we are using sensors to bring the analogue world into the digital space to improve efficiencies and drive business value ,” says industry expert Sean Laval . In layman ’ s terms , it ’ s the ability to connect anything that has an on / off switch , from lights , coffee makers , cars and smart devices to biochip transponders , heartrate monitors and wearable devices ‒ practically almost every ‘ thing ’, including people and animals .
The relationships involved will be , according to Jacob Morgan , “ People to people , people to things , and things to things ”. Generation Y and Millennials are the most connected people on the planet , and Morgan goes on to quote analyst firm Gartner , which says that by 2020 there will be over 26 billion connected devices , and some estimates put this number even higher . But what does this mean ?
While the Internet of Things ( IoT ) is certainly not new , it is definitely still evolving , growing and moving forward . The potential is there for applications that we cannot even imagine ‒ yet . Connected cars are tracker enabled , but they can also interactively navigate , connect drivers to a host of auxiliary services ( need to make a dinner reservation ? Call a tow truck ? Your car can do that for you ), and , in the future , they will be able to connect to other devices to let your colleagues know that you ’ re running late for a meeting .
What IoT means for FM The job of the Facilities Manager ( FM ) is to create experiences . Those experiences are aimed at people , be they customers , clients , tenants or employees . These experiences must either encourage the desired customer behaviour , or encourage and enable efficiency , productivity , engagement and a sense of
36 JUNE 2017 SA Real Estate Investor www . reimag . co . za