The third edition and the first in-person Smart Built Environment Forum 2022 was held from September 19 to 20th at the Address Dubai Marina Hotel. The two-day event was organised by Community Management Today, and was sponsored by IREC, East-O Holdings and BK Gulf Facilities Management.

The forum saw over 70 speakers participate in about a dozen panel discussions that had over 400 industry personnel in attendance. 

The forum attempted to bring five major verticals of the built world under one roof – real estate, facilities management, community management, property management, and PropTech. These five verticals form the supply chain of the management of the built environment which allowed for voices to be heard from various corners of the industry. Speakers spoke of the existing challenges that the industry was faced with, and also provide valuable information and insights into the trends and opportunities the future could bring.

DAY 1

On Day 1, the Smart Built Environment forum hosted property developers, and property owners as well as asset managers in a panel discussion titled - Managing Luxury: The Ins and Outs of High-End Property Management. Among the panellists who spoke eloquently and answered a range of questions, were Shona Calvert, Head of Property Management, White & Co Real Estate, Ahmed Kandil, CEO, Jumeirah Luxury Living, Deniz Zeybek, Head of Sales, B1 Properties, Karina Meirmanova, Consultant at Provident Real Estate, Waseem Ahmed, Operations Director, Solana Holding. This was followed by a panel which looked at - High-performing property managers: What are the best practices. Onzie Jones, Partner & Head of Property Asset Management, Knight Frank, Matthew Littler, General Manager at ICD Brookfield, Niral Jhaveri, Head of Property Management, Better Homes, Muhammad Jawad, Property Manager, IMKAN Properties, Arshad Ahmed, Head of Building and Facilities Consultancy, Land Sterling, Aiko Durimkhan, Property Management Director, Metropolitan Premium Properties spoke about what it takes to be among the best property managers in the UAE.

This segment was followed by Facilities Management which had top CEOs of the sector give a glimpse of what the next few years will look like in the panel discussion titled - A Look Ahead to 2027. Fahad Mohamed, Director - Dubai & Northern Emirates, Adeeb Group, Ali Al Suwaidi, Vice President of MEFMA & Vice Chair of Global FM, Tarek Nizameddin, Chief Executive Officer, AGFS, Tony Martin, Chief Executive Officer, Al Bonian FM, Stuart Harrison, CEO, Emrill, Gary Reader, General Manager, ServeU spoke on the trends that their respective companies are looking at such as digitisation leading to e-auctions, and complete automation, as well as legacy challenges still hampering company performance.

This power-packed panel was followed by another panel which looked at an equally crucial topic - The Race Towards Net Zero Strategy 2050. Madhav Dhar, Chief Operating Officer, Zazen Properties, Tharun Thomas, Senior Commercial Manager, Engie Solutions, Rachid Hamida, VP - Energy & Technology, Enova, Mario Saab, Head of Sustainability MENA, Cundall, Nadia Ibrahim, Associate Director - Sustainability, FARNEK discussed the macro-trends and trigger points that are paving the way for the built environment to get to achieving zero emissions. 

The panel Transforming Workplace Training had Jiji Francis, Senior Director - Operations, Berkeley Services, Mohamad Abou Laban, Chief Executive Officer, Deyaar Facilities Management, Karthikeyan Ragothaman, General Manager, Bloom Facilities Management, Ananya Mundakal, Sr. General Manager - Human Resources, EFS Facilities Services discuss the pandemic and its impact on human resource training in the post-pandemic era.

And to end the day, a panel of upcoming executives were the voice representing ‘The Next-Gen Leaders of FM’. The panel had Javeria Aijaz, Managing Director at HITEK, Senior Director at FARNEK, Tamer Bishay, Head of Business Development & Marketing - UAE Concordia, Tarek Al Assil, Executive Director - Commercial, Ejadah Asset Management and Ibrahim Moursy, Kaizen Asset Management.**

DAY 2

The second day of the SBEF2022 began with the community management segment. The first panel looked at one of the most crucial stages of an asset transfer – Navigating the Handover Process. The panel comprised - Abdulla Al-Wahedi, CEO,  Irtikaz Group, Alexander Karabet Founder and CEO, Mansions Owners Association Management, Kamraan Khan, Head of Project and Building Consultancy, Cavendish Maxwell, Mohamed Ragheb, Chief Developments Officer, Azizi Developments, Mark Maynard, Head of Site Communications, Kingfield Owner Association Management Services.

Another macro-challenge faced by most community management companies – Challenges in community-rule enforcement – was discussed at length by a panel comprising – Waqar Hasan, CEO, Itihad CM; Waseem Ahmed, Operations Director, Solana KSA; Garry Murray, MD & Head of OAM, CORE; Kanagaraj Gurusamy, Managing Director, Better Communities; Rima Nassair, Director - Owners Associations, Provis; Glen Araha, Community Management Specialist.

While Property Technology has assumed many forms in countries like the U.S. and UK, UAE’s real estate market accelerated its adoption of PropTech only in the pandemic years. The first PropTech panel hence looked at Understanding the Benefits, Uptake and Stakes of Data-Driven Maintenance. The panel comprised – Prabhu Ramachandran, CEO & Co-Founder, Facilio; Franco Atassi, CEO, Siemens Smart Infrastructure; Vinod Kumar, Technology Director, EAST-O Holdings; Marc Daly, Director - Hard Services, ServeU LLC; Yunusa Aminu, Director - Integrated Facility Management, Provis. 

The penultimate panel of the day looked at ‘Elevating Customer Experiences with Technology’. The panel comprised a host of PropTech apps that have made a splash in the UAE market with their automation solutions that enhance customer experience while offering cost-saving benefits. Ibrahim Ghosn, Senior Vice President – Operations, Enova; Uros Trojanovic, Divisional CEO, EAST-O Holdings; San Banerjee, Co-founder & CEO, ADDA; Aayush Puri, Head GCC, Anacity; Walid Shihabi, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Keyper; Sam Khalef, Managing Director, Mybos discussed challenges and opportunities that the PropTech market offers up in the UAE and beyond.

The future of PropTech goes beyond apps into building automation systems. The last panel discussion of SBEF2022 spoke on - Enhancing Building Automation Solutions: Current Trends and Challenges. The panel of experts – Paul Bullard, Director of Product Management, MRI Software; Yasser Alobaidan, Founder and CEO, Jawraa; Ahmad Abuothman, General Manager, Installation Business, GCC Johnson Controls; John Hilliard, Middle East Lead, WiredScore; Ameya Hate, Sales Director, Ista Middle East; Ahmad Zakri, Director of Technology, Operon deliberated and projected the future trends that could shape the future of the built environment.