At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, the CEO of JLL explained why "data is absolutely critical" to the firm. This from the 2nd largest commercial real estate brokerage and service provider in the world shows the extent to which technology will shape the next decade in property.

The interview continued, “Ulbrich highlighted space utilization technology as one of the highest-impact verticals for the company ... JLL can use this data to drastically shrink its clients' real-estate footprints, lowering costs …”

These comments mirror the main findings from our new research into the market for Occupancy Analytics technology, where Space utilization is driving growth. And little wonder, with office densification rates increasing across the world and expectations for more human and productive environments. The need to provide better insight into the repurposing of workplaces is imperative.

In the same interview, JLL talk about clients reducing space by 20% and one in particular bringing the office down to 0.65 desks for every person.

It’s not just JLL that are sensing an opportunity here. Our research indicates that there are over 220 companies actively engaged in providing Occupancy Analytics to commercial office space, that’s a 44% increase in the number of suppliers we identified just 2 years ago!

You can see in the graphic above that suppliers are offering a diversity of solutions to deliver Occupancy Analytics, everything from connected lighting to IWMS platforms.

We estimate that sales of Occupancy Analytics solutions reached $2.17 Bn in 2019 and should rise to $5.73 Bn by 2024 as suppliers capitalize on the vast latent potential of existing office building stock.

The digitization of commercial buildings will not end with Space Utilization. Organizations across the globe are looking for new ways to attract and retain the best people and empower them to be productive. Shifts in the landscape of work are driving a greater focus on occupant experiences and interactions with buildings. And although challenging to quantify, the impact of employee surroundings on business performance is receiving a lot of attention.

You don’t have to take my word for it. The Global Workplace Innovation head at ARM recently posted an intriguing article on their efforts to deliver a future proof workplace.

“Our newly designed offices and supporting technologies aim to enforce that work is a thing you do, not a place that you go. We also focus heavily on creating the office as an experience, and not just a physical space – spending a balanced amount of effort on our services as well as the bricks and mortar.” - Martin Frohock, ARM.

Does Occupancy Analytics technology deliver the full potential of the Internet of Things? No. Are we (as an industry) taking small steps towards more intelligent workplaces that deliver a better user experience? Yes, I think we are.

I would love to hear what experiences people have had with Occupancy Analytics technology! Add to the discussion in the comments below. End Users, has technology helped you reduce CRE costs? Suppliers, what projects have you been working on?