Building the Ultimate Database... The 9/11 Commission Report reminds us of the challenge of data sharing. "The biggest impediment to all-source analysis -- to a greater likelihood of connecting the dots -- is the human or systemic resistance to sharing information." (p. 416)

As Ward Caswell, Director of Information Management at CB Richard Ellis in Boston, reminded me, data sharing is equally important to CBRE. So this August, CBRE will launch MIX (Market Internet Exchange), its new property database combining both vendor information and its own proprietary data.

Based on PeopleSoft's Sales/CRM module, MIX recognizes that where information comes from is often more important than the information itself. While Caswell has a staff of 182 people across the U.S. gathering information, the critical ingredient for MIX will be the input of thousands of CBRE professionals, those folks on the frontlines of deal intelligence.

Obviously building a sense of trust among these players is hugely important. So CBRE has implemented multiple layers of privacy and security. All CBRE professionals will have full rights to search property data nationally. That is, brokers will have access to enough data "to start a conversation." But they will not have enough "to close the deal."

An important element of the CBRE's database will be "universal building IDs." While this is critical for exchanging information within CBRE, it also could help move forward industry initiatives aimed at developing common data standards. Just as Dun & Bradstreet's D-U-N-S numbers identify individual businesses, someday we might rely upon C-B-R-E numbers to identify unique properties. In theory, that could make the whole real estate industry more efficient.

Spread the Word... Many thanks to Bret Hardy at Colliers Seeley in Los Angeles, which is marketing Ponte Vista, a 62-acre former U.S. Navy housing site in San Pedro, CA, to be sold via online auction for sponsoring this week's Dispatch. If you would like to tell Dispatch readers about your services, send e-mail or call 415-461-4703.

--Peter Pike