In the context of a hibernation economy caused by COVID-19, PropTech Lab is happy to launch the “Don’t Get Stuck in the Stone Age” Campaign, which will end with the “SILEX AWARDS”, a ceremony rewarding – with humour – the non-innovators in construction and real estate. After 3 years of investigation, research, reports and dissemination about the reasons why construction and real estate professionals must innovate, PropTech Lab wanted to reward, with a symbolic trophy, the less innovative construction and real estate corporations for their tenacity to keep working with pen and paper, and not to become “Tech-powered” or “Digital native”.
A humoristic strategy to get rid of the mentality “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it…”
PropTech – abbreviation for Property Technology – refers to any innovation, technological, technical, and business model, in the construction and real estate value chain, and across all the real estate asset classes (residential, office, logistics, retails, healthcare…). It represents more than 3.000 startups in Europe and 153 in Belgium.
“PropTech is now or never”: the sanitary and economical crisis will accelerate, in the medium term, the inevitable digital transformation of construction and real estate. More than ever the survival of construction & real estate corporations depends on their agility, as the resilience of the sector depends on its ability to embrace new technologies. A year ago, we expected the global PropTech market to consolidate within five years. The current crisis will accelerate the adoption of PropTech and we believe this mutation will occur over the next two years.
In the short term, however, the construction and real estate sector stays on average conservative and reluctant to change. Why?
First, the current economic conditions are not favourable for innovations. In the current hibernation economy caused by COVID-19, many corporations adopt a prudent management strategy, cutting costs, and disinvesting in innovations. In the current slump, it may seem daring to act with humour, but we are convinced that this is also what people need.
Second, the public administrations and political authorities are not sufficiently involved. Yesterday, the real estate innovators were focusing on sustainability, energy efficiency, and carbon neutrality. Today these issues are regulated, they are central to any projects and are market standards. Tomorrow, the same will happen in the technology field, and Public Authorities could use regulations as leverage to boost the adoption of technology.
Third, end-users and consumers are not aware of the possibilities that technology can offer them. They have higher expectations than yesterday, but their awareness of Proptech and its countless solutions is still very limited.
Nonetheless, COVID-19 will institute a rising gap between the real estate innovators, who will increase their market shares, and the conservators, who are nominated for our “SILEX AWARDS”.
Why a SILEX? The answer is in the “T-Rex” theory !
“Long time ago, the T-Rex was on the top of the food chain and ruled the world, but due to its inability to adapt in a fast-changing environment, T-Rex finally disappeared”.
[Thomas Vandenbergh, Chairman of BESIX Innovation Board, and CEO at A-STAY]
Today large construction and real estate corporations are in the same situation: their agility capabilities will define their survival. In order to raise the awareness of the construction and real estate sector, but also the awareness of the public authorities, and of the final user, we decided to create Silex Lab, the community of the real estate non-innovators. We also launched the Silex Awards, to be aligned with the T-Rex allegory.
About PropTech Lab :
We connect and relate companies, startups and investors, in order to underline the new trends of the market, to promote industry advancements, to contribute influencing and educating the market, and to foster collaboration and innovation in the Belgian Real Estate community.
We produce specific workshops & conferences, and our mission is to deliver great content presented by first-class speakers sharing their invaluable experiences, insights and strategies for success.
PropTech Lab new advertising campaign #DONTGETSTUCKINTHESTONAGE
Visit silexlab.be for more info.