CONTEXT (ii)
Navigating the technological landscape
It is complex and fuzzy
Figure 5 demonstrates the complexity of technology and its application to FM. It is generated by analyzing hundreds of scientific research papers that focus on technology and facility management.
You’re not expected to look at this diagram and understand everything on it. For example, what word do I read first? How does one word relate to another? What do the colours mean?
So, how do we navigate through this cloud to understand what is important to our FM operations?
Although complex and fuzzy, the map can be simplified into three distinct clusters or zones:
RED ZONE — primarily focuses on the information management of our buildings. It includes key areas around artificial intelligence, digital twins, Internet of Things, sustainability and energy management.
GREEN ZONE — primarily focuses on information systems and technology; for example, geographic information systems, computer-aided design.
BLUE ZONE — primarily focuses on the wider building life cycle, dominated by the use of building information modeling, visualization and robotics.
If you look closely, you will also see two outliers (purple and yellow). These are interlinked and cross-cut through the three distinct clusters. These are integration and interoperability, symbolizing the need for FM to try to glue and manage these three clusters.
Figure 5 demonstrates the complexity of technology and its application to FM. It is generated by analysing hundreds of scientific research papers that focus on technology and facility management.
You’re not expected to look at this diagram and understand everything on it. For example, what word do I read first? How does one word relate to another? What do the colours mean?
So, how do we navigate through this cloud to understand what is important to our FM operations?
Although complex and fuzzy, the map can be simplified into three distinct clusters or zones:
RED ZONE — primarily focuses on the information management of our buildings. It includes key areas around artificial intelligence, digital twins, internet of things, sustainability, and energy management
GREEN ZONE — primarily focuses on information systems and technology, for example, geographic information systems, computer-aided design.
BLUE ZONE — primarily focuses on the wider building lifecycle, dominated by the use of building information modelling, visualization and robotics.
If you look closely, you will also see two outliers (purple and yellow). These are interlinked and cross-cut through the three distinct clusters. These are integration and interoperability, symbolizing the need for FM to try and ‘glue’ and manage these three clusters.
Figure 5: self study, created using VOSViewer https://www.vosviewer.com/
- Bibliographic data was extracted using a well-known citation database: Scopus.
- The search terms “facilities management” OR “facility management” AND “technology” were used.
- A total of 1,542 scientific articles were found.
- The articles key information (title, abstract, keywords) were imported into VOSViewer.
- VOSViewer then searches for networks of co-occurrence between the keywords used in the document using natural language processing algorithms.
- A number of terms were merged that had the same meaning (e.g., BIM and building information modeling).
- The top words that had a minimum of 25 occurrences were selected.
- The final output generated 48 keywords, visualized into 5 key clusters.
Sifting through the hype
Gartner’s Hype Cycles provide a useful illustration of the maturity and adoption of technologies and applications, and how they are potentially relevant to solving real business problems and exploiting new opportunities. Clients use Hype Cycles to get educated about the promise of an emerging technology within the context of their industry and individual appetite for risk.8
Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2023 (Figure 6) shows that most are still in the “innovation trigger” phase, where early proof-of-concept stories and media interest trigger publicity. Often no products exist at this stage and commercial viability is unproven. It is prudent to hold off mass investment of such technologies at this stage. Generative AI is at the “peak of inflated expectations,” where many companies are taking action, with many not just yet.9
Figure 6: Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2023
Planning and investment decisions
Gartner’s Impact Radar (Figure 7) can be used by C-suite leaders to plan investments and strategy:10
Figure 7: Impact Radar for 202410
The Evolution of IT Leadership
The role of IT, and FM service providers, has traditionally been focused on maintaining an organization's technical infrastructure. Many organizations are recognizing the strategic value of their IT specialists, pushing them to serve as thought partners alongside the executive team.11 This shift has led to the establishment of key IT roles within organizational structures (Table 1).
According to Foundry’s 22nd annual State of the CIO report, 77% of CIOs believe their role has been elevated due to the state of the economy, and they expect this visibility to continue. Moreover, most CIOs (85%) perceive their role as becoming more digital and innovation-focused.11
Figure 8: Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2023
From Facilitators to Leaders
The responsibilities of IT, and FM service providers, have evolved to encompass strategic planning and alignment with broader business objectives.11
Figure 9: Leadership Expectations12
IT and OT integration
Traditionally, operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) operated separately within organizations. Today, however, there's a growing need for IT expertise to bridge the gap between IT and OT, facilitating data assessment and analysis. This often results in IT assuming responsibility for all network-connected devices, even when lacking a deep understanding of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.13
A more effective strategy, known as corporate integration, aims to align IT, OT and business objectives. Business leaders identify necessary data for strategic goals, IT managers make the data accessible, and OT managers provide equipment expertise. This approach requires meticulous planning, transparent communication and ongoing coordination.13
Figure 10: IT and OT integration
Remaining risk averse
The bibliographic map illustrated in Figure 5 has one significant omission that facility managers should be very wary of: the importance of risk and safety when dealing with technology.
The technological changes the industry is seeing brings risk, and facility managers are key in safeguarding smart buildings and occupants from digital threats. Facility managers must adapt to understanding the susceptibility to cyberattacks on the operational technology (OT) that they are responsible for, with organizations often siloing OT, IT and physical security, hindering collaboration and coordination.14
As assets, information and experiences become increasingly digitized and the variety of endpoints expands, so do the opportunities for bad agents to mimic, disrupt and intercept our activities.15
Organizations will need to ensure that the right business and ethical choices are made in the adoption of AI (via responsible AI or privacy-enhancing technologies or techniques) as well as using AI design principles that will benefit people and society (human-centred AI).15
8 Gartner, "Gartner Hype Cycle," 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.gartner.com/en/research/methodologies/gartner-hype-cycle
9 Gartner, "What’s New in the 2023 Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies," 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/what-s-new-in-the-2023-gartner-hype-cycle-for-emerging-technologies
10 T. Nguyen and D. Casey, "Gartner Research Excerpt: Emerging Tech Impact Radar 2024," Gartner, 2024.
11 E. Shein, "4 key roles that define transformational IT leaders today," 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.cio.com/article/482189/4-key-roles-that-define-transformational-it-leaders-today.html
12 B. Greenberg, "Unleashing The Power Of IT Leadership: Revolutionising The Business Landscape in the Digital Age," Forbes, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/05/22/unleashing-the-power-of-it-leadership-revolutionizing-the-business-landscape-in-the-digital-age/?sh=394c78be63a0
13 G. Hawkinson, J. McMains, M. Morris, "Integration, Interoperability in High-Performance Buildings," Consulting - Specifying Engineer, 2020.
14 IFMA, “The Convergence: Managing Digital Risk and FM's Role in Protecting Digitizing Buildings,” 2023. [Online]. Available: https://ifma.foleon.com/white-paper/cybersecurity/.
15 T. Nguyen and D. Casey, "Gartner Research Excerpt: Emerging Tech Impact Radar 2024," Gartner, 2024.
International Facility Management Association (IFMA) supports over 24,000 members in 136 countries. Since 1980, IFMA has worked to advance the FM profession through education, events, credentialing, research, networking and knowledge-sharing.
