Where's the Best Real Estate Innovation?

Seeking a Competitive Edge... India and China form a "strategic partnership," tying together one third of the world's population. (Yahoo News, April 11, 2005) The U.S. falls to fifth place in the latest Global Information Technology Report 2004-2005. Should we be worried?

Yes, says John Chambers, CEO of Cisco. "There is a strong correlation between technology spending and productivity ... between rankings and global competitiveness." (Forbes.com, Mar 9, 2005)

" China, in particular, is creating a superior broadband infrastructure and a regulatory environment that is more conducive to innovation than what we have in this country." (Fortune, "Cisco's CEO on U.S. Education: 'We're Losing the Battle,'" Mar 30, 2005)

So how can the real estate industry in the U.S. become more competitive? That's exactly the focus of our Realcomm panel, "Global Innovation -- Is the U.S. CRE Industry Losing the Race?" (June 28, 10:45)

All panelists have a global perspective. Hari Gunasingham, CEO of Eutech Cybernetics, is from Singapore. Stephen Spooner, Director at British Land, is from England.

All three U.S. panelists have been on Realcomm's Asia Trip: Dave Clute at Cisco, Geoff Kasselman at Op2mize, and David Stanford at RealFoundations.

Here's Gunasingham describing his Intelligent Building system in Singapore's Capital Tower. "A tenant can book a VIP car park slot from his office desktop computer. The car park’s vision system automatically detects the visitor’s car and directs him to the slot, brings down the VIP lift and alerts the tenant to the visitor’s arrival." (Colliers Australia, Property Management Knowledge Report, Buildings of the Future, July 2004)

These are the questions I'll be asking the panel. What are the most significant real estate innovations overseas? Who's most innovative in the U.S.? What's the best way to stimulate innovation? Should be fun.

--Peter Pike