Technology, Creating The Future of Real Estate

First China PROPTECH Forum & Exhibition Held in Shanghai

May 09, 2019

Shanghai, China, May 9, 2019 —— Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL), a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management, successfully held today its first “Future of Real Estate” China PROPTECH Forum & Exhibition on May 8 in Beijing and on May 9 in Shanghai, China. The Shanghai event brought together over 1,000 forward thinking real estate executives and key technology industry players to discuss new technologies’ applications and future trends in the real estate industry with a particular focus in the areas covering technologies that Analyze, Develop & Build, Transact and Manage. With the forum, JLL created a platform for technology and real estate companies to communicate, brainstorm, collaborate and discuss the challenges, opportunities and trends of Proptech development in China.

Hosts from JLL including Anthony Couse, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, Albert Ovidi, Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific, Eddie Ng, Managing Director in East China, were joined by distinguished guests such as Jinjun Lu, General Manager, China Telecom Ideal Group, Stephan Meng, Business Units Director, Alibaba Group - intelligent building, Lisa Liu, Vice President, DeepBlue Technology, Gavin Lu, Founder and Managing Partner, UBAN CAPITAL, and Colin Bogar, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Property Passbook in participating to the forum. Together with the exhibition area, JLL aims to create a platform for technology and real estate companies to connect with the latest and most inspiring Proptech companies in the market, as well as with key industry players, delivering rewarding opportunities that will shape the future of real estate.

Technology, shaping the future of real estate

Albert Ovidi, Chief Operating Officer, APAC, JLL, delivered a keynote speech entitled “The Future of Real Estate”. In his speech, Albert Ovidi emphasized: "The real estate industry has already entered an era of rapid digitalization. Big data + artificial intelligence technologies will be widely used in the real estate industry with revolutionary applications in urban remodeling, community planning, real estate design & building, transaction and management, bringing disruptive changes to the entire industry."

In the following keynote speeches, Jinjun Lu, General Manager, China Telecom Ideal Group, delivered keynote speech discussing ‘Proptech in the 5G era” and Gavin Lu, Founder and Managing Partner, UBAN CAPITAL talked about ‘Transformational Technology and Bridging the Gap Between Entrepreneurs and Investors’ in front of a captive audience. Jinjun Lu mentioned in his speech that the arrival of 5G networks has been driving a lot of discussions. Industry giants are working ahead of schedule to deploy 5G networks and applications in many countries that have proposed 5G commercial timetables, with the expectation that global commercial use will start in 2020. The combination of 5G, IoT and AI will drive the IoT era into a more intelligent era. From a big data standpoint, AR security, drone inspection and robot application will empower smart real estate to achieve a transformation towards smart city. Meanwhile, Gavin Lu expressed that he believes that the entire Proptech market has broad prospects. With the development of AI, 5G and IoT, the basic technology infrastructure will greatly change the operation management of real estate. He mentioned three major trends in real estate in the future, including that the amount of service transactions in a space will determine the value of real estate; that any space is a multi-function space; and that spaces will offer customized and individual services.

Eddie Ng, Managing Director of JLL East China, said: “Under the global and Chinese economic changes, the convergence of technology and real estate has become obvious in recent years. At JLL, we take embracing technology into practice. In fact, we have several important investment portfolios in the field of innovation and digitalization, and strive to cultivate a healthy Proptech ecosystem, especially for Proptech start-ups. To keep the pace with the goal to establish a technology center in Shanghai, we have also gradually turned all kinds of innovative ideas in the field of Proptech into reality, connecting technology companies with real estate companies to achieve win-win results."

Panel discussions on the development of Proptech

The forum also held five high-level discussions during its packed program, focusing on the extensive application of Proptech in five key aspects of real estate: development, design and building, operation and management and retail technology. Leaders from real estate and technology industry discussed the development of real estate and capital trends in the Proptech area and reached a consensus on the positive disruptive changes brought about by technology to the real estate industry.

In the aspects of development and planning, guests from The College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Metro Data, Woods Bagot, Tianrang Intelligence and Shui On Management Limited shared forward-thinking ideas about how to use the existing technology and data to improve smart city planning. Panelists representing iDA Workplace + Strategy, Haworth, XKool Technology, Ascendas Singbridge China and GLODON talked about the innovative technologies’ impacts on the design and building of intelligent buildings and office spaces in the new digital era.

Guests from Alibaba Group, EdgeOn, YITU Technology, Use-Full Technology and Envision praised the potential of artificial intelligence technology’s impact in property management and agreed that AI will play a very important role in the future of property management. In the panel relating to retail technology application, with the development of new retail, the way to improve the user experience through better data analysis was a key driver of discussions. Representatives from DeepBlue Technology, GISUNI, Chatail, LiveRamp and WIFIPIX. Many of the panelists during the forum also expressed great optimism about venture capital flowing into Proptech.

Showcasing the future of real estate with a cutting-edge technology exhibition

According to JLL research, the number of Proptech start-ups in the Asia-Pacific region has exceeded the total number of similar companies in Europe and the United States. Besides the forum, the Shanghai event also hosted Proptech companies in the exhibition area, each showcasing leading technologies applied in the real estate industry.

JLL also took part in the exhibition, showcasing four innovative products including MapIT, Insite, Dichandadang and Command Center.

-       MapIT is a location intelligence platform that enables users to gain access to global market data and GIS (geographical information system) analytic insights.

-       In the “Design and Build” category, as a unique, proprietary service and technology, Insite helps its users strategize, plan and budget for a new office space.

-       Fitting in JLL’s “Transact” category, JLL launched its China’s first online marketplace for commercial real estate- DiChanDaDang.com, offering rental and sales services for office and retail space.

-       Nested in the “Manage” category exhibition area, JLL introduced its Command Center, the company’s intelligent building management platform which captures a building’s operational data through existing systems as well as wireless IoT sensors. With a centralized data storage and analysis unit, the platform enables real-time, remote monitoring of buildings and facilities to drive efficient operations and reduce risk.

Alongside JLL’s own products, other Proptech companies exhibited their innovation including “Analyze” category exhibitors such as Gisuni, 9AM, ZiFiSense, WIFIPIX and Builiding-Books; “Build and Design” exhibitors including Haworth, DFocus, M-SPACE, XKool; “Transact” exhibitor Gigacre and “Manage” exhibitors such as DeepBlue, CREAMS and YITU Technology.

JLL’s first “Future of Real Estate” China PROPTECH Forum & Exhibition is the company’s first large-scale Proptech forum and exhibition that aimed to gather real estate technology and industry thought leaders to discuss how real estate technology is reshaping the industry, people's life, work and entertainment. JLL plans to continue deepening its roots in China’s real estate technology space, as the country has become the leading land of Proptech unicorns, so as to support the development of a healthy and vibrant ecosystem.

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About JLL


JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. Our vision is to reimagine the world of real estate, creating rewarding opportunities and amazing spaces where people can achieve their ambitions. In doing so, we will build a better tomorrow for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $16.3 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of over 91,000 as of March 31, 2019. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.

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