The annual i-FM Technology in FM Award recognises companies and organisations in the facilities arena that are utilising new technologies to achieve exemplary improvements in business processes and performance in the world of the connected workplace.
The Technology in FM Award is open to entrants from across the facilities management industry and its many associated sectors. Entries are welcome from end users or tech providers across a broad range of initiatives – service delivery or management, internal or external communications, projects, etc – anything that demonstrably contributes to enhancing work, the workplace or the environment for people at work. Joint entries, for example from a tech company and a client, are also welcome. And of course apps and any similar initiative designed to support hybrid or flexible work and today’s more flexible workplaces are welcome, too.
Past winners of this unique award have all been very different, spanning products, services, apps, websites and more. But they all have one theme in common: the use technology in compelling and innovative ways to support facilities management, the FM team and/or people in the workplace. In addition, they have all been solutions that are readily accessed and interfaced with other systems and elements of a particular environment to make demonstrable contributions to business processes and the wellbeing of the organisation and its employees. They keys to success here are innovation, problem-solving and evidenced success.
The 2023, winner, for example, was a team comprised of Softbank Robotics, H3 Dynamics and Bouygues Energies & Services. Their solution to a specific challenge was a robotics-as-a-service drone that performs inspections on building façades. Bouygues E&S has deployed the platform on customers’ solar farm sites to enhance the organisation’s digital lifecycle management capability across its construction, infrastructure and energy businesses.
The award judges noted that the solution created can be used across a variety of industries and applications, and is significantly faster and more accurate than traditional methods used before. In addition, the return on investment was quick and easily identifiable, demonstrating both benefits and value not only for the FM sector but also for real estate users, occupiers and investors.
In previous year, Arcus FM emerged top in 2022 for its Photovoltaic Energy Dashboard monitoring and management system designed to meet the large-scale needs of a specific client. In 2021, the award went to Wagestream for its employee financial support system, which is now used widely across the sector. And in 2020, the winner was GoSpace AI, a unique intelligent workspace allocation tool.
Details of all these, plus the other winners stretching back over the years, are available on the i-FM website.
All entrants are assured of a fair and impartial assessment by a judging panel on which the majority are independent FM and technology experts. Judges are particularly interested in the ‘who, what, why, where, when and how’ elements of each entry as they seek to understand and assess the drivers for its development and the benefits it delivers.
Entry is a straightforward process, with the deadline for submission being 1 December. The shortlist will be announced before the holidays. Judging will take place 23 January, and the 2024 Award winner will be revealed at the annual Workplace Futures conference in February.
Further advice on entering for the i-FM Technology in FM Award is here.
