EXPO REAL: PropTech & Innovation, Smart contracts, Blockchain and the future of Deal Making
17:45 - 18:15
Summary Report
A dual approach to proptech is the right strategy
Real estate companies should have a dual approach to technology, bringing it in from outside but also promoting it from inside, delegates heard at the PropertyEU Proptech & Innovation briefing, which was held at EXPO REAL in October in association with CMS.
‘We go for strategic partnerships with proptech start-ups that we believe have a future and that fit into our landscape, but we also try to encourage a more digital mindset within the company,’ said Alexander Betz, head of IT & Digitalistion, Patrizia Immobilien. ‘20% of all our employees are actively involved in the digitalisation process. We believe that it is not enough to invest in technology, you have to take a more holistic and long-term approach.’
Companies must also make incremental progress and understand each step before they move on, he said: ‘Before we can introduce blockchain we need to do some homework and due diligence, have credible unambiguous data and connect stakeholders and market players. Then we can introduce blockchain.’
Everyone should work harder at connecting all the dots, said Titus Albrecht, co-founder and CEO, realxdata: ‘It is not just the established companies but also the start-ups that have to do their homework. First big data was the thing, now everyone is moving on to blockchain and artificial intelligence.’
Tech companies should cooperate more, he said: ‘If we got together we could offer a tailored solution to a big company like Patrizia and really explain what service we provide and how it can help them. The mind change is already there, because companies are listening to us, it is the start-ups that are not talking to each other.’
There are many tools that digitalisation can offer to real estate companies to improve their processes and analyse the data so that they can focus on the asset and the market and do their job better and faster. ‘Technology cannot be a sprint, it is a long walk to take together,’ said Albrecht.
The main message is that big data, blockchain and digitalisation all bring gains in speed and efficiency and huge benefits, said Rick Schmitz, CEO, Legalthings: ‘The automation of workflows always works and the re-use of data is where the value lies in speeding up the process. I agree that proptech start-ups should focus on collaboration, it would be a bigger value-add for our clients.’
Rental processes, for example, all involve payment clauses, a tenant, an asset manager, an asset owner and a lease renewal option.
‘If you analyse the processes within the contract, they can be visualised as workflows and that means you can automate them,’ said Schmitz. ‘If a standard process and lease contract could be agreed upon in Europe it would be a big step forward, there would be huge gains in speed and efficiency that would benefit everyone. The next level playing field is doing more with less people’
Progress is happening too slowly, said Betz: ‘Digitalisation is not happening as fast as we would like and the industry is losing precious time.’
But change will happen: ‘Within the next ten years we will have digitised property transaction data, market participants will be interlinked, we will have common industry standards and efficiency and transparency will improve dramatically,’ he said.
A really positive thing about the proptech revolution or evolution underway is that Europe is not playing second fiddle to the US anymore, said Albrecht: ‘The US is usually ahead in all things but there is so much happening in Europe that it is very much up to speed. All we need is a bit more cooperation between start-ups and established companies and we can do extremely well.’
