WiredScore, the company setting the global standard for technology in the built world through education and certification, has launched in the Middle East today.

Through its WiredScore and SmartScore certifications, WiredScore assesses and improves the digital connectivity and smart capabilities of buildings to provide an enhanced tenant experience, underpinned by technology. In coming to the Middle East, WiredScore will support the real estate community across the region. The company is already working with key players in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. In creating technologically enabled buildings that meet global standards, WiredScore will help fulfil the countries’ long-term strategic ambitions to enable a smarter, better-connected built environment.

WiredScore is already working with some of the biggest names in the region’s real estate industry including one of the leading landlords, Brookfield Properties, which is the first in the region to have secured WiredScore and SmartScore Platinum Certification, the highest certification available, for ICD Brookfield Place, Dubai. It is also working with Msheireb Properties, who have committed several buildings within the Msheireb Downtown Doha smart city to SmartScore Certification.

The company is also partnering with more than 50 individuals from best-in-class consultancy firms across the region, including JLL, Siemens, Knight Frank, AESG, IT-Serve, Ramboll, OrionTEK Innovations, and WME, as part of its Accredited Professional (AP) Program. The program, which has 1,000 APs globally, educates and trains¬ individuals to work as an extension of the WiredScore team to assess and improve the digital connectivity and smart capabilities of a building.

Speaking on the launch in the region, John Hilliard, Middle East Lead at WiredScore, commented: “The Middle East is an incredibly dynamic market. Its visionary government strategies tackle the key issues of our time with an unparalleled pace of innovation. The region is committed to integrating leading practice into the heart of its real estate industry, and we’ve seen this in the priorities raised within the national visions as well as the ESG-led initiatives that are being driven across the private sector.”

WiredScore has certified over 800 million square feet of prime real estate, impacting more than eight million people across 36 countries. In addition to certifying individual buildings and districts, the company has partnered with authorities in London, New York, Paris, Berlin, and other global cities to set standards for digital connectivity in global commercial centres. Data shows that technologically enabled buildings uplift rental value in commercial real estate by 10 – 15%, alongside enabling energy savings of up to 25%.

Continuing, Hilliard said: “WiredScore’s certifications, designed to create a common framework around the integration of in-building technology and smart features in both new and existing assets for the benefit, are well suited to bolster the region’s sustainable development. We look forward to working in close partnership with the real estate community to augment the long-term growth of the Middle East’s construction and real-estate sectors and support the development of smart, well-connected buildings that serve both people and planet.”

Rob Devereux, Chief Executive Officer at ICD Brookfield Place, commented: “At ICD Brookfield Place we are committed to setting the pace and delivering an exceptional end-user experience to our tenants. We are extremely proud to be the first building in MENA to achieve WiredScore and SmartScore Platinum, reinforcing ICD Brookfield Place as one of the most digitally advanced buildings in the world.”

In research conducted ahead of its market entry, WiredScore found that 98% of workers across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar believe the quality of the internet connection in their office is highly important to perform their daily tasks. Over four out of five office workers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai stated that internet quality was paramount for the productivity of their work, while over 70% of workers in Qatar stated they would be unable to work without internet. Across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar, around eight out of ten workers felt their office had been positively impacted by technology following the pandemic.

Speaking on the research, Hilliard stated: “Office workers in the region are highly confident in their landlords’ commitment to integrating smart technologies into the heart of office buildings. WiredScore will support the entire real estate ecosystem – developers, landlords, asset managers, and investors – in ensuring their commercial real estate matches tenants’ smart technology aspirations.”

WiredScore offers two certifications – WiredScore and SmartScore. The WiredScore certification is the global digital connectivity rating scheme, while the SmartScore certification delivers an industry definition for smart buildings and provides a framework to implement them. As an organization, WiredScore is closely aligned with international real estate bodies including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.