The Real Estate Data Foundation is a not-for-profit initiative bringing together the whole sector around the topic of data and to raise data ethics up the agenda and we are delighted that SIOR Europe is supporting this collaborative alliance.
But what is 'data ethics', why should you care and what should you do about it?
Ethics is important in all corners of real estate, but as the volume of data that we collect and use grows, it is important to make sure that we apply ethical thinking to this. Having the technology to collect data and being allowed to under law is not enough - we need to consider whether we should be collecting and using the data. Ethics is all about asking 'should we?' If buildings of the future are about the user's happiness, health or productivity we can collect huge amounts of data on all of this - but should we? Where does the risk outweigh the benefit?
Before COVID, the idea of having your temperature taken to assess your health to be allowed to enter a building seemed inconceivable, yet for a while it became the norm. At what point should we stop collecting and using this data?
A more extreme example may be the decision about placing cameras inside buildings. This can allow all sorts of data to be collected and used to improve the experience for the resident, but there is a high risk that residents will resist it – and complain about it, as happened recently when North Ayrshire Council used Facial Recognition Technology in its school canteens. But what if the cameras are used to assist the elderly to continue living on their own by providing an automatic alert system for any falls or health problems? As long as data was suitably anonymised and secure and residents were fully aware of what was being collected and why, then this may feel like a more acceptable use case.
Whatever your views on the examples above, we can see that the ethical use of data is not black and white which is why the real estate sector needs to be on the front foot.
Data ethics in real estate matters for 3 reasons:
The ethical use of data is complex and subjective, but the good news is that it is easy to take significant steps towards making sure that you are using data in an ethical way. The RED Foundation has developed 6 data ethical principles that we ask both people and companies to sign up to. Sign up to these today and build them into any decisions you make relating to data and you are well on the road to addressing it.
For those who wish to take a step further, we have published a Data Ethics Playbook which builds on these principles and provides practical guidance on how to build data ethics into your thinking.
Written on behalf of the RED Foundation by:
FOREWORD BY THE EUROPEAN CHAPTER PRESIDENT, ANDREW SMITH SIOR FRICS.
As COP27 has drawn to a close, SIOR Europe is keen to join the conversation about the focus that the summit brings on climate change impact to share commentary and advice from our members, all of whom support greater action in the race to net zero.
Our members have put climate change impact at the heart of their consultancy in response to the market and clients’ increasing ESG requirements and have embedded it into every stage of the property process.
The SIOR European Chapter committee have the pleasure of inviting you to attend our fourth business generation and best-practice event, over one and a half days, including an informal networking apéro and dinner.
The event is free of charge but open only to SIOR members. Sponsorship is sought if you would like to get involved.
Mind Your Own Business – a one & a half day conference for members to be held in Milan, Italy.
Further details will be published in due course.
Thursday, 14th September 2023, 8h30 CET to Friday 15th September 2023 12h30 CET.
The SIOR European Chapter committee have the pleasure of inviting you to attend our fourth business generation and best-practice event, over one and a half days, including an informal networking apéro and dinner. Thursday, 30th March 2023, 8h30 CET to Friday 31st March 2023 12h30 CET.
The event is free of charge but open only to SIOR members. Sponsorship is sought if you would like to get involved.
Mind Your Own Business – a one & a half day conference for members to be held in Berlin, Germany.
Wednesday, March 29th 2023:
Thursday, March 30th 2023:
Friday, March 31st 2023
The SIOR European Chapter committee have the pleasure of inviting you to attend our third business generation and best-practice event, to be followed by an informal networking apéro.
The event is free of charge but open only to SIOR members.
Mind Your Own Business – a one-day conference for members to be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The event is being hosted by Colliers International and will be held in their offices, at Stadionplein 14, 1076 CM Amsterdam.
Thursday, 15th September 2022, 9h30 CEST to 17h00 CEST.
9.30am Meet & Greet with Coffee & Croissants
9.45am Conference Kick Off – Welcome to Amsterdam
10.00am MYOB Part One – Paris Review & Business Generation Working Groups
11.30am Networking Break
11.45am Presentation by Sander Breugelmans, SVP Regional Head Northern Europe, Prologis.
12.30pm Lunch
1.00pm MYOB Part Two – Ideas, Innovation & Learning (Sharing on Fees/Pitches/Wins & Losses)
2.30pm Wrap Up
3.00pm Site visit of award-winning office building – The Edge
5.00pm Social Apéro in local venue (tbd).
Upon invitation only, SIOR Global our hosting a DINNER on the preceding evening, Wednesday 14th September at MR. PORTER (invitation only).. The evening is intended as a recruitment event and members wishing to join the dinner must be accompanied by a prospective member. The cost of the prospect's dinner will be covered by SIOR Global.
SIOR members that are interested by this proposal should contact events@sioreurope.com
The SIOR International European Conference has called for the creation of ‘a new asset class’, as part of a mission to deliver more sustainable food production and security.
Food is now recognised as a major cause of climate change, contributing as much as 25-30% of total GHG emissions. COVID has compounded the problem, highlighting weaknesses in food supply chains. Against a backdrop of growing populations, rising food prices, and the wheat shortage caused by the war in Ukraine (source of 30% of the world’s supply), delegates were warned that we are at crisis point.
These problems were highlighted by sustainability expert and author Mike Berners-Lee in his keynote address to the Conference. He challenged companies to think differently about how to solve the problems of climate change. Drawing on ideas and research from his book There is no Planet B, Mike said: “We need to look at climate change holistically, and tackle everything at once”.
How well are the real estate and construction industries responding to these challenges? Food manufacturing currently sits in the B1 Planning Use class of industrial and logistics, and yet has very specific needs in relation to resources and operations. These needs often make food company tenants undesirable to owners and landlords of general industrial and logistics parks.
There is wide-spread agreement within the food industry that we need greener agriculture, more efficient production, less waste and healthier eating. However, there is also growing awareness that our food systems and infrastructure are outdated and inefficient, and are not equipped to embrace the exciting new food technologies that are emerging.
Jackie Wild, CEO of TSL and SmartParc, spoke at the Conference on a panel discussing ‘Opportunities in a World of Risk’, and is proactively seeking to solve these problems in a variety of ways. She has launched a campaign to create a new real estate asset class for food manufacturing, which allows property investment to align specifically with the needs of the food industry.
She has also been instrumental in creating SmartParc, the UK’s first dedicated food business park with shared services. Working in partnership with SEGRO and CBRE, SmartParc brings this new asset class to life. It delivers the holistic solution, which Mike Berners-Lee proposed in his keynote speech, and was fully endorsed by the SIOR membership, as a way of taking positive action.
SmartParc SEGRO Derby is the first in a series of investments, across the UK and internationally, designed to ‘change food production for good’. It represents an entirely new asset class in the commercial property sector, bringing together world-class, purpose-built food production facilities and support services, all on one site.
It offers a range of buildings of different sizes and specifications (3,500-400,000 sq ft) as well as access to shared non-competitive services, including green energy, water, effluent, and other utilities. This sharing model helps to reduce operating costs (savings of up to 20%), and to deliver business optimisation through design (further savings of up to 30%).
Jackie said: “We can’t tackle climate change, if we don’t tackle food production. We must reinvent and redefine property rules, so money can easily be directed to where it is needed. This means creating a dedicated asset class, catering specifically to the needs of food producers. It also means re-educating the market about why food production is a valuable and attractive investment and development opportunity.
“SmartParc is a great example of turning this ambition into action. It provides a fresh opportunity for forward-thinking food businesses, to grow in a more sustainable and collaborative way. It also offers cities and regions the chance to regenerate their economies and boost local communities by creating new jobs. For SEGRO, it is an attractive commercial investment, which will deliver great returns.”
The first phase of SmartParc SEGRO Derby is underway, with anchor tenant Hello Fresh already up and running. Completion of the park is due in 2024.
ENDS
The SIOR Europe Diversity and Inclusion Committee held a webinar to mark International Women's Day, which this year has the theme of ‘break the bias’. The inspirational discussion focused on championing women in real estate and finding positive ways to empower more women to join the industry and stay to build fulfilling careers.
Chaired by Andrea Carpenter, Director of Women Talk Real Estate, we welcomed an expert panel of women who shared their unique perspectives and experiences – Katie Whipp, head of Deepki, Sonja Beier, Counsel at DLA Piper, Nicola Mottershaw, Partner at Vail Williams, and Małgorzata Kalinowska - Klimek, VP Franchise Operation Poland & Eastern Europe at Accor.
The session kicked off with participants relaying what prompted them to enter the industry and find their own place within it. We heard how Nicola was encouraged to become a chartered surveyor by her father. She wanted variety, problem solving and transactional work, and occupier advisory ticked all the boxes. Małgorzata studied hospitality in Poland, being promoted over many years as she worked for numerous hotels. For Katie, it was not a conscious decision – her real estate journey stemmed from being open to opportunities she came across in London. Sonja, too, was not aware of the industry before her internship as a corporate lawyer, which led her to the real estate team.
They shared the changes they have seen for women in their part of the market. All agreed that there has been positive progress.
We then explored what is hindering more female participation and progress in real estate.
Looking ahead – the panel agreed that we must act to encourage more women into the industry. When asked what advice they would give their former selves and other women, responses ranged from remembering to celebrate achievements, to finding what you are most passionate about and not doubting yourself because it is not a traditionally female-dominated area. Recognise that you have a voice that matters, talk to people and seek the necessary support along the way.
Renata Osiecka, Managing Partner at AXI Immo Group, concluded the session by highlighting that, while it is uplifting to see more women in business and leadership positions, there is still room for improvement in encouraging young women to join the sector. We must lead by example and show that diversity is an asset that adds value to companies, the industry and society.
Thursday, 7th April 2022, 9h30 CEST to 22h30 CEST in Paris, France.
The event is open to all SIOR members.
The SIOR European Chapter committee have the pleasure of inviting you to attend our second business generation and best-practice event, to be followed by a networking event at the infamous "Travellers", a private members club on the Champs-Elysées.
Mind Your Own Business – a one-day conference for members to be held in the centre of Paris, France.
Times subject to change.
SIOR’s Global President Patrick Sentner SIOR FRICS will be in attendance accompanied by Past Presidents Mark Duclos SIOR FRICS and Robert Thornburgh SIOR FRICS, now SIOR’s Chief Executive Officer.
They will be supported by SIOR colleagues:-
We encourage you to bring a colleague who may be interested in learning more about SIOR.
Vallauri's Cave à Vin is located at 10 Rue des Halles behind the Marché Forville, Cannes's local food & flower market, just a short walk from the Palais des Festivales.
With thanks to Blackbird Real Estate for their support of the SIOR Leadership Reception.
The much-awaited Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day took place on 11 November, rounding off two intensive weeks of COP26 and highlighting the big role that the built environment – which is responsible for 40% of carbon emissions – can and must play in delivering on global net zero ambitions.
We were encouraged to see a number of notable take-aways, announcements and conversations emerging from the day’s focus on our industry.
