Technology and data are a key part of our responses to the future

At the time of writing, we are once again avidly following the science (for that read data) with regard our response to the latest Covid variant which according to most recent information appears prolific in transmissibility but reassuringly milder in its effect on our collective health.

The data and moreover the modelling in response to the crisis has come under considerable scrutiny as frustrations mount and economics and wellbeing push their way further up the nation’s agenda. But note, it is not the data that is unwanted but the interpretations and modelling that are causing the arguments.

My point is that wherever you turn the role of data is becoming ever more significant in determining our way of life. The technology that enables us to make some sense of such vast volumes of data is equally developing to enhance our understanding of the world we live in and the conclusions we draw of it.

A bit closer to home, quite literally, if we think back to November, we may remember COP26. The climate crisis is just one other area where data and technology stand to have a massive impact upon our ability to make sense of the issues we need to address. For example, early warning systems and sophisticated observation systems one obvious example of how big tech and big data will inform our judgements on what we see ahead of us. But it goes much further. From supply chains to global capital flows, the impact of climate change upon sentiment and decisions can be measured and appropriate corrective action mandated if the real-time information can helpfully inform human judgement.

What is changing or rather evolving here is not the principles of data and technology usage but the scale and the expectation of the issues we seek to resolve with these tools.

Climate change has heralded a renaissance in the desire to understand a property’s performance in the face of climate stress and in terms of energy performance. How and what we assess will change as we begin to understand what ‘good’ property really looks like, but as in the cases above this Herculean task will almost certainly employ technology and data to help establish the parameters.

Everyone has a part to play in this evolution. We have been at the forefront of enabling lenders, panel managers and surveyors to enjoy the benefits of real time data and mobile working to better understand property risk at the point of valuation and our data and technology are crucial in de-risking the decisions many make every day of the week.

In time, data and technology will increasingly shape our interpretation of value.