It’s fair to say there are three “back to the office” trends. Companies want to reduce their real estate footprint. Employees want to reduce their brutal pre-pandemic commutes. Neither real estate developers nor speculators nor governments want to invest in converting office spaces to homes to resolve the desperate housing shortage across Canada. It’s also clear that tools are emerging to ensure companies, at least, will get what they want.
Obviously, hot-desking, short term conference room rentals, and work shifting are all going to be part of the new hybrid workplace. One sign? Workflow monitoring company ServiceNow will acquire Mapwize, an indoor‑mapping and wayfinding company based in France. The tool’s indoor mapping capabilities will allow employees to reserve seats, conference rooms, workspaces and workplace resources. Mapwize will also help workplace teams manage and update floor maps based on how usage trends emerge and real‑estate needs evolve.
“In the new world of hybrid work, the role of workplace services has never been more critical in creating great employee experiences,” said Blake McConnell, SVP of Employee Workflows at ServiceNow. “With Mapwize, ServiceNow will power the future of employee experiences by making it easier for people to navigate their work environment and access the workspace information and workplace services they need to remain productive.”
Press release: https://blogs.servicenow.com/2021/servicenow-acquires-mapwize.html
Reducing the corporate real estate footprint is probably not a bad idea. At least, purely from a profit and lost POV.
Procore Technologies has announced the results of a new survey from international research firm IDC, The study found that most construction projects are delivered late and significantly over budget.
The survey asked about the challenges owners face, and how they have responded to those challenges. Participants were construction project owners and developers in both the public and private sectors based in the U.S. and Canada.
The survey revealed:
- 75% of owners were over planned budgets and 77% were late.
- Owners experienced an average of six changes to the budget and five changes to the schedule per project
- Some respondents are doing better than others in managing delays. Better on-budget and on-schedule performance results usually corresponded with embracing integrated technology.
“The survey shows that project owners can see what needs to be done,” said Warren Shiau, Research Vice President, IDC. “But if the adoption of these technologies is going to be effective, they need to look at modernizing their data, applications and IT infrastructure—or else they won’t be fully able to take advantage of these game changers.”
Full report: https://www.procore.com/en-ca/ebooks/owners-at-the-leading-edge
Global ventures capital fun CerraCap Ventures, has sold Nirveda Cognition to Jiddu Inc in an all-stock deal. Nirveda Cognition is a B2B AI company known for its Enterprise Document Intelligence Platform, along with the suite of AI products. Jiddu is the parent company of AgTech, owners of AgShift, an AI-based food technology company that is currently designing an autonomous food inspection system.
“Nirveda Cognition is going to be a fantastic addition to Jiddu’s portfolio of companies. We are excited to see Nirveda Cognition’s AI platform, and their talented engineering team becoming a part of Jiddu’s ecosystem to advance AgShift’s growth further. This acquisition is yet another feather in the cap for CerraCap’s Sales & Scale™ business model,” said Saurabh Ranjan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CerraCap Ventures.
Press release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cerracap-ventures-portfolio-company-nirveda-cognition-acquired-by-jiddu-301354818.html
