Winter Issue 2022 - 23

Cybernetics Expert
Advocates SystemsLed
Thought Process
in Built Environment,
Balancing Risk with
Innovation
Technology, cybernetics, and the
importance of innovation were at
the heart of the final day of the
2021 ULI Asia Pacific ReImagine
virtual conference.
Keynote speaker Catherine Ball,
a scientific futurist, spoke about
the importance of using systemsled
thinking to build better cities
and spaces. She introduced the
audience to the concept of cybernetics,
which she defined as " the
triangle of humans, technology,
and the environment. " She noted
that many ULI members, especially
architects and engineers,
might realize that they have been
working inside cybernetics but
had never really thought of it like
that. A building in a city or a city's
streets can be seen as cybernetic
systems.
Ball also spoke about the importance
of innovation. " I recently
presented to some [corporate]
directors in New Zealand, " she
said, " and asked them if they had
a risk committee. Of course, 100
percent did. However, far fewer
had an innovation committee. " Yet
innovation and risk are two sides
of the same coin, she argued.
One of the key human skills is
problem-solving; however, we need
to be better at identifying problems
in order to apply solutions,
which may already exist, she said.
Systematic thinking is required
to apply technology to problemsolving.
Cybernetics can be an
active way of looking at problem
identification and problem-solving,
thinking about a project in terms
of technology, humans, and the
environment.
Thirty-six percent of
respondents said their firm
had established an innovation
team, but a much higher
proportion (89 percent) of
these said their innovation
strategy met or exceeded
their expectations.
She asked people involved in
development projects to consider
the phrase " converge, diverge,
emerge. " Developers and planners
should look at how the technologies
they use are converging and
how they help build a better city.
Divergence refers to the separation
of technologies, which might
include leaving it out-for example,
leaving green space apart in cities
rather than trying to integrate
green space into buildings. Finally,
emerging technologies need to
be considered because they " are
changing everything about how
we're going to live, work, and play
in the next few years. "
Ball is one of the world's leading
experts on the applications of
drone technology and postulated
a future in which drone charging
stations might become a feature in
all major buildings in the future, as
gargoyles were on medieval buildings
in Europe.
Another way to think systematically
about projects or problems is
to consider what is possible, what
is probable, and what is preferable,
she said. " If you can think about
the possible, probable, and the
preferable, it will give you a futurist
point of view on how we try and
think about the future and how it's
coming. "
The second part of the program
looked at how ULI member firms
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URBAN LAND
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in the Asia Pacific region are innovating
and integrating technology
into their businesses. Sven Sylvester,
corporate innovation lead at
Taronga Ventures, presented the
results of a joint survey with ULI
Asia Pacific to understand how different
real estate organizations are
structured to deliver innovation.
The survey found that 60 percent
of companies had established
a technology team and that just
over half (53 percent) of these
said that their innovation strategy
met or exceeded their expectations.
Meanwhile, 36 percent of
respondents said their firm had
established an innovation team,
but a much higher proportion (89
percent) of these said their innovation
strategy met or exceeded their
expectations, suggesting that a
dedicated innovation strategy was
advisable. However, only 20 percent
of firms had appointed a chief
innovation officer.
The survey found that 62
percent of firms are already partnering
with tech companies, 42
percent were developing new
tech products internally, and 35
percent were directly investing in
tech companies. The key areas for
innovation for respondents were
data analytics, cited by 63 percent,
project management (62 percent),
and transaction management (61
percent). However, only 27 percent
were innovating to source capital,
which Sylvester suggested showed
an opportunity for the industry.
Perhaps understandably, the
biggest obstacle to innovation was
resistance to change, cited by 53
percent of respondents, as well
as " business-as-usual conflicts, "
i.e., innovation having to compete
with everyone's day job. A lack of
resources for innovation was cited
by only 28 percent, however.
A panel of real estate professionals
discussed the findings of the
report and agreed that education
and communication were crucial
to creating an innovative company,
as was having key performance
Winter Issue 2022

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