Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore   

`Re-zone of buildings' to usher in next generation workplace

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE Dec. 9. The day has come when an employee of an organisation can browse the Internet to find what his future workspace looks like, if he is re-located to a new office. This is the concept of a next generation workplace where the blur between the virtual and real office gets minimised with new innovations in technology and aptly aided by facility management. A study in Europe is going into the changes in facility management, use of office space, and trends seen in FM that will usher in the "Re-zone of buildings," according to James Calder, Managing Director, DEGW, Asia.

This was the new mantra that would be adopted by builders, organisations, and facility managers. "The concept of innovative workplaces which will see minimised use of desk space and multi- menu desks will imbibe collaborative work culture and help organisations to cut costs and energy," said Mr. Calder, addressing the first day's session on "IT & Place" at the India Workplace 2002 organised by the International Facility Management Association here today.

Elaborating on the concept of next generation workplace, Mr. Calder said "interactive workplaces' would be the recurring theme over the next few years. The virtual workplace and NG workplace had come about due to the IT evolution and the growth of call centres. Besides, mobility of knowledge workers and shared workplaces were also driving new innovations in facility management. And the enablers in this revolutionary concept of the next generation workplace would be Palm Tops, mobile phones, PDAs, and the Internet.

In his keynote address, Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro Limited, said that optimisation of infrastructure resources through appropriate facility management would definitely reduce the cost for an organisation. Further, he urged the facility management services to adopt the Six Sigma benchmark to provide quality services. In the wake of the WTC episode last year, a new facet of security also needed to be tacked by facility management companies, he said.

These issues were incidentally some of the challenges faced by the FM segment across the globe. Listing these issues, Mr. Premji noted that a great deal of change had occurred in the facility management domain over the past 18 months. These changes had been greater than what had taken place over the past 12 years, he added.

"Over the years, facility management has moved from being an incidental to a critical function. Facility managers can create value propositions by addressing various aspects like security, power conservation, energy saving, being open to feedback, and creating opportunities for continuous learning," Mr. Premji added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Hegde shocked by tragedy
• Elbit introduces hi-tech MRI system at its centre
• State urged to set up human rights panel
• Seminar on supply chain management
• New Zonal Manager for LIC
• CPI(M) for swift action by STFs
• Doomsday predicted for wetlands
• `Re-zone of buildings' to usher in next generation workplace
• Environmental newsletter released
• Research institute for cutting tools likely

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu