Transforming Spaces: The Increasing Role of Technology in Bridging the Physical and Digital Worlds
Written by: Ivan Ng, CDL’s Chief Technology Officer
The future of real estate is more than just the provision of a physical space with walls.
The way we work, live and play is rapidly evolving in tandem with changing customers’ expectations influenced by advancing technology
Co-working and co-living are becoming synonymous with describing the same concept: the importance of fluidity and flexibility in our use of space. This is where technology can play a significant role in enhancing the experience by prioritising the individual’s needs and adapting the spaces accordingly —whether for work, living, or leisure.
I believe that this is an inflection point, and new winners and losers will emerge. Strategic investments in growth and innovation will allow us to capitalise on the opportunities presented by disruption. In recognition of these changes, we aim to integrate core technologies into CDL’s core business, change the way we operate, and transform the value that we deliver to customers.
Building Connectivity for a Better Customer Experience
A few years ago, CDL embarked on a journey to improve our customer engagement. Contrary to popular belief, technological advancements and digitalisation will neither strip away the human touch, nor reduce interactions to mere transactions. At CDL, we envision a different future; we view technology as an enabler to provide seamless, personalised, and omnichannel experiences to our customers. As a result, CDL has developed our proprietary digital platforms
CityNexus
Designed to increase tenant stickiness by empowering them to improve productivity and convenience, CityNexus is an app that transforms how tenants access work, eat and play with a digitally-enabled building. It enables services like digital payments and facilitates businesses for flexible workspaces and facility management.
First launched in Republic Plaza’s office community in 2019, our flagship commercial building at Raffles Place, the CityNexus app aims to enhance the experience and daily operations of our tenants, providing seamless and secure access, intelligent parking systems, smart retail, community collaborations, building feedback and operations, and digital self-service for our tenants. Since the launch, we have extended CityNexus beyond office tenants to support our customers across the work, live, and play sectors.
CDL Homes Sales (CHS)
Property sales is complex and time-consuming process, involving multiple parties and numerous exchanges of documents.
To enable our ecosystem partners to deliver better experiences, CDL developed CHS, a centralised platform for engagement and integration of diverse processes.
This has transformed our buyer experience by allowing us to directly engage with ecosystem partners, delivering faster and personalised experiences and enabling industry-wide processes with traceability and accountability. To date, CHS has enabled the sales of over 1,450 homes or about S$3.1 billion in transaction volume.
领英推荐
The digital platforms are designed to be customer-centric, transforming our users' experience. By providing a single point of engagement, unifying disparate processes, and enabling work processes through the ecosystem, we aim to deliver better experiences and be the provider of choice for our customers.
Our digital platforms were recognised for their innovation, including being industry-first for many of their capabilities. These include the following national and regional industry awards:
Additionally, we can leverage these digital platforms to secure anonymous data more efficiently, better understand new changes in habits, and adapt our business models to move us closer to where the puck is. With our partners, we can use these insights to deliver a better and more differentiated experience.
Digital Transformation - An Ongoing Journey
The real estate industry does not exist in a vacuum. We live in the age of transformative technology, with the integration of technology in spaces to enhance life experiences.
As cliché as it sounds, I believe artificial intelligence (AI) will be the defining technology due to its wide applicability and function as a strong catalytic technology and can be combined with existing technologies to be truly impactful.
For example, AI with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) doesn’t just reduce repetitive work but can greatly help businesses provide better quality and experience for stakeholders. In real estate, the use of machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), and computer vision allows for predictive maintenance
At CDL, we are committed to the transformation journey. It is not a one-off initiative, and it does not have a finishing line. The reality is that our customer expectations and business objectives are ever evolving, and hence the imperative to continuously stay ahead of the curve. We aim to develop the capability to enable repeatable processes that bring the company closer to digital maturity, increasing the capacity to adapt
About the Author:
Ivan is CDL’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), overseeing Group IT, digital innovations, and technology risk governance. He has dedicated almost three decades to leading digital innovation for enterprises, navigating a non-linear career path from consultant to technology business leader and now CTO. Along the way, he has founded tech startups and facilitated acquisitions in the US, China, Japan, and Singapore.
Ivan also serves as a member of the Governing Council for the Singapore Institute of Directors (SID), as the President of the Singapore IT Management Association (ITMA), and as a board advisor to national institutions like Singapore Gardens by the Bay, Temasek Polytechnic, and the National University of Singapore.