NEWS & ANALYSIS FMJ.CO.UK
ASSOCIATION NEWS
LANDMARK INAUGURATION OF FM
STALWART TO RICS PRESIDENT
BRIDGING OUR PROFESSION’S DIGITAL DIVIDE
8 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021
The FM sector has
made history
this year as Kath
Fontana, a longstanding
member
of the board of the
RICS Professional
Group for Facilities
Management was
o icially inaugurated
as President of the Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors (RICS). Her inauguration as President
took place on Friday 20 November a er the RICS
Annual General Meeting 2020, chaired by Tim
Neal, the outgoing RICS President.
Kath Fontana is Managing Director, Critical
Infrastructure and Projects at Mitie and has held
a range of senior roles in property, construction
and outsourcing across a range of sectors.
She is a highly influential leader who has long
been involved in promoting the role of facilities
management. She has been proactive in driving
engagement and inspiring change within the built
environment and is a passionate promoter of
technology, social impact and diversity as drivers
of long-term value.
Speaking following her inauguration, Kath
Fontana, RICS President 2020-21 said:
“For all of us in the profession this has been an
extraordinary year with many challenges. I am
exceptionally proud of the way that surveyors
have supported and led their communities,
colleagues and customers. The RICS resilience
stories have proved to be a real source of
pride and inspiration. Across the globe, RICS
professionals are delivering resilient responses to
the current challenges impacting our industry and
wider society.
“As we start to think about emerging from this
crisis I would urge us all to be focused not only on
the short-term recovery and regain, but also on
the once in a lifetime opportunity to reset and to
‘build back better’ – to continue to address the
global challenges of digitalisation, sustainability
and social impact. With this strategic focus we
can ensure that the assets in the natural and built
environment are harnessed to truly promote a
better future for all.”
Kath will be supported during her term as RICS
President by President Elect, Clement Lau and
Senior Vice President Ann Gray.
On a personal level, I have worked with Kath
for many years and it is tremendous news to
have someone from our industry and a person
with such passion and professionalism become
President of RICS.
Kath will of course represent the entire Charted
Surveyor profession, but I look forward to
working closely with her over this coming year
on the facilities management side as we look to
drive forward our initiatives on the environment,
diversity and inclusion and the need for the
consistent measurement and benchmarking of
all real estate. These are all critical pieces of work
that Kath has been focussed on for some time and
are of course issues that our industry has much to
contribute to in the future.
For more details visit www.rics.org
The pace of technological change is increasing
before our eyes, each time shaking up the
way we work. The workplace and facilities
profession needs to be anticipating and preparing
for this inevitability and open to the opportunities as
well as the threats it presents.
We’ve got to change the mindset in workplace and facilities management
from one that sees technology as helping to do a job - such as managing the
building - to redefining the job as one which helps everyone else do theirs -
enabling communities. It is a shi that underpins our repositioning to IWFM.
But this is not just about upskilling; this is a call for our profession to harness
the power of digital partnerships.
Last month, we launched the first fruits of our collaboration with tech giant
Microso : a new ‘hands-on’ report, Bridging FM’s Digital Divide – The power
of digital partnerships, to help the profession overcome the tech barrier and
realise its considerable potential to impact workplace performance. Please visit
www.iwfm.org.uk/insight/reports.html to read the report.
Aimed at increasing digital literacy in the profession, rather than thinking we
all have to become technology experts overnight, this practical report focuses
on how to harness the digital knowledge and expertise of others through
partnerships, using fictional and real examples to explore what a digitally
transformed profession might look like.
The top three priorities for the workplace and facilities professional according
to the report are: first, improve your knowledge and understanding of existing
and emerging digital technologies and their benefits; second, partner with
digital technology companies to understand the art of the possible and identify
solutions to real world problems; and third, avoid being ‘done to’ by influencing
the application of new digital tech with your workplace and facilities expertise,
so you can ‘own’ the future.
Bridging FM’s Digital Divide – The power of digital partnerships is the first
output of IWFM’s relationship with Microso which we announced a year ago.
Its starting point is the challenge identified by IWFM’s 2018 research Embracing
Technology to Move FM Forward, which found a low level of knowledge of
digital technologies in the workplace and facilities profession and highlighted a
need for it to be able to bridge it’s ‘digital divide’ if it is to realise its considerable
potential to impact workplace performance.
The research collaboration set out to explore a vision for the future of
technology and its role in shaping workplaces and their performance.
Advancements such as AI, smart and big data, combined with existing
technologies such as BIM, analytics and workplace design can support
improved building and business outcomes.
“We still work like we’re Victorians, it’s just we use twenty-first century
technology to make it quicker and cheaper. That’s not the gi of technology.”
These are the words of tech guru Dave Coplin when he appeared on our IWFM
‘Navigating turbulent times’ webinar series earlier this year (every episode is
available on our website). We would be wise to heed them.
Paul Bagust - Global Property
Standards Director, RICS
Chris Moriarty, Director of Insight and
Engagement, IWFM
/www.rics.org
/reports.html
