Ethics Archives -

Making the case for PropTech in ESG

May 13, 2021November 17, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

The trend towards Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations in investment decision-making is accelerating. Nowhere is this more apparent than in real estate. And there are good reasons for this. We know that that the built environment accounts for 39% of global carbon emissions. We also know that our buildings and public spaces can have a dramatic impact on our health, wellbeing and productivity. And we’re starting to see climate change impacting on our communities, towns and cities. Sustainability and resilience are the two key factors at play. Embedding ESG considerations into investment decisions is one mechanism through which we can affect real change. But challenges remain with a lack of common reporting standards and metrics. There is also a lack of reliable, comparable, and realtime data, and this is where PropTech comes in. PropTech and ESG PropTech can be thought of as the application of digital technology to property. Used well, it has the potential to unlock data that can be used to improve...

Smart Home Tech to Support People’s Needs

November 12, 2020June 11, 2021 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

I had the pleasure of chairing the fifth in The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) series on Healthy Living and Housing. The focus for this session was on smart home tech to support people’s needs. You can access the session by clicking the link here and registering to watch on demand. Speakers for this session included: Alisa Frik, Research Scientist, International Computer Science Institute; Postdoctoral Fellow for Berkeley Laboratory for Usable and Experimental SecurityNuno Almeida, Founder, Nourish CarePhilip Shelton, Principal Advisor (Commercial), Eastern Academic Health Science Network Perspectives on privacy and security Alisa discussed older people’s perspectives on privacy and security. This included reference to how older people make decisions about privacy and security with respect to smart home devices. What we know is that at present, much of the adoption of smart home tech is driven by older people’s children, and care providers, to support care needs. And it remains the case that a high proportion of older adults don’t have access to the internet. Alisa noted that...

Smart buildings and data risks

September 26, 2019November 16, 2020 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

This is the second of three articles produced collaboratively by Dr Sophie Taysom, an independent consultant at Keyah Consulting, and Dr Sue Chadwick, a Strategic Planning Advisor at Pinsent Masons LLP, on smart buildings and data. In the previous article, Sophie set out some of the opportunities and challenges in the development and maintenance of smart buildings. The focus of this article by Sue is the more problematic aspects of smart buildings – in particular the collection, storage, and sharing of data. We point to the current concerns around automatic facial recognition (AFR). Most of us are familiar with the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act (GDPR) that came into force last year. The key principles established include that a data controller must have a lawful basis for processing personal data and in the case of special category data, obtain specific consent for the processing, and a requirement for consent to be 'unambiguous' and indicated through 'clear affirmative action'. The GDPR...

Smart Buildings and the ‘problem’ of data

September 24, 2019November 16, 2020 by Sophie Taysom Comment Closed

John Browne’s recent book “Make, Think, Imagine” asserts that “human knowledge is cumulative: as more people contribute to a network, more useful insights emerge”. The digital revolution is disrupting all aspects of our lives with both its scope and impact likely to expand exponentially. It demands new approaches, and new intellectual coalitions. This is the first of three articles produced collaboratively by Dr Sophie Taysom, an independent consultant at Keyah Consulting, and Dr Sue Chadwick, a Strategic Planning Advisor at Pinsent Masons LLP, on smart buildings and the 'problem' of data. Smart buildings are now possible thanks to digital innovations including the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and advanced data analytics that can provide real time feedback. It’s clear that there is much on offer, from making buildings more efficient and responsive, to improving our working environments. At the same time, there are real concerns about what this means for us as individuals, what it means for our privacy and how...