After the Research Symposium (3&4 June) and the Student Festival (18 June), the 3rd section of EuroFM’s community – The Online FM Business Summit – had the honor to stage two eminent keynote speakers
During the session, the association celebrated its 30th anniversary with a discussion between current President Goran Milanov and one of the founding fathers, Keith Alexander. ‘Going Back to the Future’ is not only the theme of their debate but can also apply to the three finalists of the Student Competition who presented their videos.
The online Business Summit addressed current trends and developments in areas like technology, sustainability, and innovation. Yvette Watson is a co-founder of PHI Factory and helps organizations accelerate towards a circular economy and will present 5 innovations defining the future of FM.
Increasingly, companies are being asked to be more transparent and accountable when it comes to the environment, society, and the wellbeing of their employees. Most of the time the facility manager is asked to take a leading role in the transition towards a sustainable future. After all, it is their daily job to make buildings and the working environment more sustainable, use them more effectively, and reduce waste. In FM, we are actively looking for ways to consistently collect meaningful and reliable non-financial data to meet this challenge. Technical innovation and digital solutions will help us to accelerate.
| The other keynote speaker of this session was Andrew Mason, who leaped into the future to present an ‘FM Futurespective’ of the workplace. Andrew is the Chairman of the South African Facilities Management Association (SAFMA) and a member of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management. He is also the current South African Ambassador for Euro FM. “We know change is coming, but how will FM take advantage of this? The COVID-19 pandemic is a disrupter that promises to bring with it a tectonic shift in our paradigms regarding Property, Workplace, FM, and much more. We are on the cusp of what will be a dramatic change which will require traditional strategies and values to change in the way we support our people, our companies, and our clients. Change means risk but it also presents opportunities and we do not want to look back on this time in the future to see that we missed another chance to raise the profile of FM. Mr. Mason’s presentation will take a look back at our past where FM has not always done well adapting to change and where we have missed opportunities. We will also step into the future to take a retrospective view to visualise how we can take FM forward.” |
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