Smart Contracts and Blockchain: Transparency and Sustainability in Facility Management
On Apr 8, 2024
Smart contracts and Blockchain are the buzzwords of the next generation of Facility Management: digitalized, transparent and efficient. Technology has become deeply ingrained in building management, leading to the emergence of PropTech (property technology) as a defining trend. This transformative journey isn’t just about real estate assets and services; it’s a collective effort involving ICT departments and Digital Innovation Officers, driving a digital transformation that not only enhances business operations but also fosters sustainability at its core.
Smart contracts and Blockchain, the foundational technologies driving this revolution, bring about a new era of transparency and efficiency in Facility Management. Together with IoT, data analytics, and artificial intelligence, they empower predictive maintenance strategies, ensuring smoother operations. These innovations address the inherent uncertainties and complexities often associated with Facility Management, yielding benefits for both managers and suppliers alike. From ensuring cost and revenue consistency to enhancing energy efficiency and safety of spaces, they pave the way for new business models and streamlined tender processes, all while upholding the dignity of work.
Smart Contracts and Blockchain: Focus on Stakeholders
The Blockchain enables the management and secure updating of an openly shared and distributed registry, eliminating the need for intermediaries. This innovative technology enables the verification and certification of transactions within the network, granting every stakeholder, including the community, full control over data, resources, and performance metrics throughout the value chain.
The smart contract, which relies on Blockchain technology, is the “translation” into computer code of a contract. This allows the verification of the existence of certain conditions (basic contract data control) and/or the automatic execution of actions (or the provision for them to be executed) when the determined conditions between the parties are met and verified. In practice, a smart contract is a contract that self-executes according to certain clauses.
Growing Market: Transparency Matters
The global smart contracts market is expected to reach a worth of approximately USD 8.3 Billion by the end of 2030, with a composite annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.40% during the forecasted period from 2023-2030. According to Market Research Future, Facility Management is among the sectors analyzed as the greatest beneficiaries of smart contract and Blockchain application.
Gartner estimated that organizations using smart contracts on the Blockchain would be able to increase the quality of data they have by 50% by the end of 2023, positively impacting their ability to make Analytics-based decisions.
As highlighted by a PwC study as early as 2018, Sustainable Development Objectives (SDGs), particularly environmental and social goals (respect for the dignity of work), also benefit from the application of Blockchain in smart contracts. Smart contracts and Blockchain hold enormous value in bringing out those “grey areas” that persist in Facility Management because every aspect of the relationship between service providers and customers is verifiable.
Smart Contracts and Blockchain: Adding Value to Facility Management
For Facility Management, eFM has developed a solution that leverages an online marketplace and smart contracts to bring benefits to all stakeholders. The web platform facilitates the automated matching of supply and demand, proposing the ideal match between property managers with specific needs and service providers with the most relevant proposal.
Following the meeting between stakeholders, the smart contract facilitates digital and fully transparent management of agreement formalization and contract progression.
In addition, eFM incorporates a certification feature integrating predictive intelligence powered by machine learning, which addresses the crucial requirement for space availability in building management. This ensures business continuity while also enabling managers to flexibly allocate spaces for various uses on demand. Simultaneously, it offers providers the opportunity to expand their business through the marketplace and streamline the delivery process.
Furthermore, the eFM solution guarantees the maximum realization of the benefits associated with smart contracts and Blockchain technology. From cost-effectiveness and speed to quality assurance, transparency, governance, and the optimization of public tenders, the platform delivers comprehensive advantages for efficient Facility Management operations.
Embracing the Future: Shaping Tomorrow’s Facility Management Landscape
The integration of smart contracts and Blockchain technology marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of Facility Management. By embracing transparency, efficiency, and sustainability, organizations can unlock new opportunities for growth, innovation, and social responsibility. As we navigate the digital landscape of tomorrow, let us harness the power of these transformative tools to shape a future where Facility Management transcends its traditional boundaries, driving progress and prosperity for all.