Node | Connectivity is landlord’s responsibility

As the commercial marketplace evolves, real estate investment strategy and innovation in technology need to be inseparable. 2020 looks set to see continued growth in asset level investment, in response to occupier expectation. The continued evolution of the role of technology in the property marketplace will support increased service and value for the occupier. Just as we have seen that same trend in end user demands in the PRS space, those changes are happening in commercial occupation.

Technology will continue to play even more of a pivotal role in the decision-making process for all stakeholders. With property technology advancement disrupting the construction process and occupier expectations changing through education and insight, this momentum looks set to continue. In 2020, we expect to see connectivity increasingly adopted as a landlord responsibility and incorporated as fundamental building infrastructure. This will see the provision of a fibre backbone becoming a base build specification or a retrofit necessity.

Now in its third year, Node is quickly being recognised by property leaders as a significant, default solution in commercial real estate design and management. This has aligned to end user expectations progressing from basic bricks and mortar to a service-driven product offering. Node recognises the importance of enabling asset managers to offer a comprehensive, customised offering, which will adapt to the changing dynamics of the market.

Connectivity is now the single most important factor for tenants when considering their information security and data privacy. No longer can legacy specifications support these demands. Landlords are recognising the risks of proceeding with historic approaches and investing in modern digital, full fibre infrastructure. Architecture, building design and management need to adapt to incorporate connectivity. This includes a significant increase in the awareness of cyber security risks and its solutions.

We believe 2020 will bring greater demand for properties with infrastructure that can facilitate new and emerging technology, smart building applications, artificial intelligence and real-time data analysis. Asset managers that are investing in connectivity have the potential to add significant value to their properties and attract the next generation of data demanding occupiers. Node will continue to work with the real estate industry to promote thought leadership, meeting the expectations of consumers with education and insight.

Node’s mission is to support the property technology sector to work side-by-side with the investor market to differentiate real estate stock, derisk asset management and deliver on the resulting capital value enhancement.

Node is the communications ‘pluggable’ interface for buildings. It provides a secure and supplier agnostic telecommunications point of presence for buildings, with vertically integrated hardware and software and fibre optic infrastructure to enable landlords to offer the best connectivity solution for their users.