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J Space design is likely to change Since the turn of the millennium there has been an increase in both the number and type of mobile devices used by office workers within the workplace (laptops, phones, tablets, etc.). As the EdTech sector becomes more refined, workplace training is increasingly being undertaken on all of these devices, whether the employee in question is in or out of the office. This rise in asynchronous learning is likely to impact the design of the workspace, with a ‘decentralized’ co- working style of office layout likely to be preferred by corporate occupiers and their employees.

J Corporate Real Estate occupiers will experience cost efficiencies As virtual ‘e-learning’ methods (MOOCs, gamification, A.I., Virtual Reality etc.) are increasingly being adopted for workplace training, as well as being utilized on multiple mobile devices, there is no longer a requirement for bricks and mortar training rooms and in-house ‘training staff.’ This is likely to provide substantial cost saving opportunities for corporate occupiers in regards to both their real estate and human resource management.

J Employees will experience increased autonomy over job-related training

EdTech provides employees the opportunity to personalize their

workplace training. Learning/training in the workplace can now be tailored to an employee’s preferred learning style in addition to their job position and rank. For example, if the employee is an interactive learner they can choose to ‘gamify’ their training, whilst they also have the option to choose the pace of their learning. However, most importantly the technology available to corporate firms allow their employees to choose the nature of their training in terms of content/topic, and with this power to effectively ‘guide’ their own training employees themselves have greater control over the future direction of their careers. The increased autonomy over workplace training will be a key factor in increasing employee satisfaction. J Opportunities to create value by interpreting big data EdTech provides occupiers with greater access to (and more accurate analysis of) data associated with the achievements, progress and nature of their employees training. This allows them to adapt/influence the training of particular employees if knowledge gaps are identified. Companies will also be able to utilize learning data to benchmark employees against a number of criteria. In addition, EdTech could provide opportunities to engage with the Strategic Consulting teams – e.g. when undertaking locational analysis, it would be theoretically possible to identify where the best talent is based geographically based on their use of technologies in the education process.

How will the growth of EdTech impact the Corporate Real Estate Industry?

J Increased investment into EdTech business start-ups EdTech start-up firms are proving to be a safe investment due to the fact that the education market, unlike the financial markets, are sheltered from many of the pressures associated with the broader economic/political landscape. As a result, we are likely to see a mirroring of the FinTech start-up phenomenon, with plenty of EdTech firms securing investment and seeking to acquire office space in the ‘tech districts’ of major global cities.

J Impact on schools/teaching Craig Cassell, a Cushman & Wakefield specialist who works with education- sector clients, is observing the profound impact Edtech has had on schools and universities. He has seen EdTech provide the leading innovations in content, curriculum and platform delivery to students, all of which is helping students better prepare themselves for the workforce. Although the impact of EdTech on real estate belonging to educational institutions remains nominal, in as little as five years traditional lecture halls could be non-existent. Schools and universities will have to learn and adapt to successfully negotiate these changes.

Is it just the new buzz word or something that demands attention? EdTech is something that demands attention – it is not replacing the educational process but rather the use of technology to enhance the delivery of this process. The concept is strongly linked with the rise in Fintech (use of technology in banking services) as like Fintech, EdTech reveals modern societies’ demand for innovation and digital services – like all aspects of our life (healthcare, fashion, etc.) we want things to be made easier, more accessible and instantaneous. Nothing is left untouched by the current digital revolution.

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