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Page 26 — Office & Industrial Quarterly — March 2022 www.crej.com INDUSTRIAL — MAREKT OUTLOOK F irst off, we are not robots, and no, we do not live in the metaverse. However, we are submerged in a paradigm shift where the built and digital environments intertwine as one human experience. Think of real estate as a flip phone. Sure, flip phones still exist, and some of you might have one. But we no lon- ger differentiate our touch screen mobile devices as smart devices, they are simply our cellphones – collecting our data to process and feedback services, using intelligent algorithms and predictive analyt- ics (artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.). This human-device relationship, the cyber-physical sys- tem, is precisely where real estate is evolving; it is becoming smart. n Infrastructure enables innovation and “smart city” expansion. Before cellphones could be smart, they first had to transfer and communi- cate information through a physical network. Telecommunication and broadband networks begin with infrastructure installment. The process of enabling digital innova- tion requires higher bandwidth and lower latency. Examples include augmented and virtual reality applications. For peak performance, these demand better infrastructure than what has historically been in place. The rollout of 5G in tandem with fiber networks will enable more widespread use of virtual and augmented reality technolo- gies and applications. As network expansion broadens, digitalization will advance. This same expand- ing infrastructure helps to enable smart real estate. Smart real estate and infrastructure is widely referred to as a “smart city.” Each city, state, region and nation has smart city projects through public-private partnerships to remain relevant and competitive in today’s economy while meeting global environmen- tal, sustainable and governance initiatives. For example, Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder each have city- and county-led programs for smart city initiatives posted on their websites. A quick online search reveals these initiatives are taking place now, and they start with infrastructure. n Smart cities: A new driver for industrial demand. State funding for new streetlights, meters, improved roads and transportation might seem routine or even rudimentary. The key difference here is connec- tivity, data and analytics. How does this work? Sensors and RFID lasers communicating with smart devices through 5G and fiber networks. The communication between these devices (i.e., sensors on roadways and meters, etc.) collects data. The purpose of collecting data is to process the data (the input) and produce an action (the output). This platform is referred to as the Inter- net of Things. Where do these LED lights come from? How about the meters, the RFID chips or even the 5G boxes? They must first be manufactured somewhere, distributed and then fulfilled to a facility likely occupied by the installation companies and contractors. This alone introduces multiple industries and services occupying industrial real estate at different stages throughout the sup- ply chain and manufacturing. n The Fourth Industrial Revolution: A “smart” supply chain built on real-time consumer data, predictive analytics and autonomous vehicles. This brings us to the fun part, the industrial Internet of Things, industry 4.0 – the fourth industrial revolution. Expanding upon the smart grid and sensor communication is the introduction of electric vehicles to the grid as a connected vehicle platform. This level of connectiv- ity is what is required for autono- mous electric vehicles to become a safe reality. This is referred to as unmanned vehicles on the grid. The increased demand for truck- ing combined with labor shortages accelerated innovation by industry UV fleet adoption. These UV trucks will become part of the industrial IoT system of company-managed predictive analytic platforms stored in the cloud. Predictive analytic industrial IoT Smart industrial: The 4th industrial revolution is here Christine Maynard Industrial broker specialist, Colorado Springs The smart devices must first be manufactured somewhere, distributed and then ful- filled to a facility likely occupied by the installation companies and contractors. This alone introduces multiple industries and services occupying industrial real estate at different stages throughout the supply chain and manufacturing. Please see Maynard, Page 27