Real estate goes data-heavy in a disrupted world

IN the last few years, technology has brought about a wave of disruption. From transport to retail, financial services to real estate, disruption has become the new norm.

While the gravity of disruptive forces varies across industries, there remains a unanimous element - data. Closer to home, the use of data has been identified as a cornerstone of the Asean Smart Cities Network, the region's geopolitical masterplan for smart and sustainable urban development with the use of technology as an enabler to improve people's lives. In fact, the fusing of technology and data has given rise to a dynamic new sub-sector of real estate, PropTech.

The facts augur well for PropTech and its role within the Asean Smart Cities Network. With 400 million Internet users, favourable demographics where 70 per cent of the population are below 34 years old and massive urbanisation with the rise of mega cities such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City - this initiative could not have come at a better time. Furthermore, with Singapore acting as a sandbox for PropTech due to its intense focus on becoming a smart city and its leadership in the innovation space across Asean, the future looks bright for PropTech.