FUTURE THOUGHT OF BUSINESS, 2016A W I P R O T H O U G H T L E A D E R S H I P I N I T I A T I V E
Smart BuildingsEnable Smart Cities
Table of Contents1. Introduction
3. What is a Smart City?Smart Cities arise from the shift that is occurring in the
ICT industry to a new technology platform for growth
and innovation.
Similar to Smart Cities, the concept of Smart Buildings is
rapidly emerging in the Gulf region. A variety of
technologies must successfully interact to transform a
normal building into a Smart Building.
A nation's economic and social development are often
an aggregate result of the development of its cities.
4. Why Smart Cities?
IDC de�nes a Smart Building as a facility that utilizes
advanced automation and integration to measure, monitor,
control, and optimize operations and maintenance.
6. What are Smart Buildings?
8. Stakeholders of Smart Buildings
The goals of building owners and city administration in
regard to sustainability and business sector development
are the same in most areas, and these common goals
serve as the basis for discussions among stakeholders
within the urban Smart Building ecosystem.
Developing an issue-based innovation ecosystem
involves building relationships among stakeholders that
are involved in various aspects of city functioning but are
often outside of city government.
10. Goals and Motivations of Smart Building Stakeholders
13. Emergence of Smart Buildings in the region
16. Challenges for Smart BuildingsShifting towards Smart Buildings is easier said than done.
Making incremental investments without a clear view of
the ROI and breakeven period is a major challenge and
inhibitor of Smart Building adoption.
City planners in the Gulf face exponentially increasing
urban populations, which are straining the existing
infrastructure, even while governments look to attract
new businesses and industries to support their
economies beyond oil.
Wipro is an Indian multinational IT consulting, systems
integration, and business process outsourcing (BPO)
services provider headquartered in Bangalore, India.
18. Wipro's approach to Smart Cities and Smart Buildings
As is the case with many other things, the push for
the development of Smart Buildings will have to come
from governments.
19. Essential guidance
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global
provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and
events for the information technology, telecommunications
and consumer technology markets.
21. About IDC
Setting up a Smart Building is different from managing it.
Regulations and administrative bodies can push the
agenda of setting up Smart Buildings, but if the buildings
are not managed properly, cohesively, and intelligently -
i.e., using ICT platforms and technologies - then it is
practically as good as not having one.
12. Role of IT services providers
Similar to Smart Cities, the concept of Smart Buildings is rapidly
emerging in the Gulf region. A variety of technologies must successfully
interact to transform a normal building into a Smart Building. These
technologies enable the optimization of facilities and generate
economic and environmental bene�ts, which are the key objectives for
developing sustainable Smart Cities. Smart Building initiatives are
generally developed and orchestrated independently from the larger
city or municipal efforts relating to energy management and
sustainability. Investing in Smart Buildings is a critical foundation that will
enable Smart Cities of the future.
In the Gulf region, Dubai and Abu Dhabi have the most mature and
ambitious plans for Smart Cities, as well as for Smart Buildings. That said,
Saudi Arabia and Qatar are quickly catching up as they continue to
advance along the learning curve. From a stakeholder's perspective,
local and federal governments are looking to meet goals relating to
carbon emissions, while simultaneously ful�lling citizens' expectations.
Provisioning better services within a given residence will improve
tenants' satisfaction levels and will ultimately attract premium
customers, and businesses that will generate greater economic value,
which represents the most tangible bene�t for planners and developers.
Meanwhile, utilities companies bene�t by reducing CO2 emissions and
curbing energy wastage. Additionally, Smart Buildings enable utilities to
improve their demand management and demand-based resource
allocation, contain their staf�ng costs, speed up their responses, meet
their corporate social responsibility (CSR) targets, and, most
importantly, improve their levels of customer satisfaction.
A smart start
02
Smart Building initiatives for publicly owned buildings are often developed without including the larger ecosystem of players.
Collaboration between stakeholders is likely to maximize the economic and environmental bene�ts for both private and public
building owners, which will extend to the larger Smart City ecosystem as well.
The key �ndings of this IDC white paper are outlined below:
• Governments should encourage collaboration between stakeholders in order to drive engagement levels. Those cities that
have meticulously developed ecosystems aimed at ensuring sustainability in buildings have been able to effectively promote
Smart Building technology adoption and maximize their progress toward attaining their Smart City energy, sustainability, and
private development goals.
• Governments, private and public building owners, and technology vendors share common objectives for driving facility cost
reductions, operational ef�ciencies, and sustainability improvements. As such, close collaboration among stakeholders is critical
to the successful development of Smart Buildings in the region.
Produced by Wipro Marketing team with featured research provided by IDC, a preferred knowledge partner.
What is a Smart City?
Smart Cities arise from the shift that is occurring in the ICT industry to a
new technology platform for growth and innovation. As cities operate in
a globally competitive environment - or workers, tourists, and
businesses - the ultimate goal of Smart City initiatives is to attract
businesses and citizens to ensure a vibrant city economy. To do this, cities
must tackle a wide range of urban challenges (growing demand for
power, waste management, traf�c management, etc.) through
coordinated and focused investment. Smart Building technologies
represent one such area of investment that cities need to consider as
part of the wider Smart City ecosystem.
IDC's de�nition of a Smart City or Smart City project is one that uses
intelligent devices, ICT, and instrumentation technologies to achieve the
explicit goals of sustainable economic development and quality-of-life
improvements for citizens. These goals are achieved via improved
service delivery, more ef�cient use of resources (human, infrastructure,
and natural), and the implementation of �nancially and environmentally
sustainable practices. Central strategic themes for Smart Cities include:
• Sustainable economic development/revitalization
• Sustainability
• Citizen, community, and business engagement
The vision of Smart Cities is to provide more inclusive, secure, ef�cient,
and effective services to citizens, thus ensuring the livability and
sustainability of the wider city community. Smart City solutions integrate
information and operations within and between city systems and
domains and engage with citizens, businesses, and the broader
community in new ways. In this context, engaging with city planners,
private developers, corporate building owners, and property managers
that have a portfolio of facilities becomes an essential aspect of
sustainable economic development, not only in the context of managing
public facilities more ef�ciently and sustainably, but also by encouraging
the more rapid adoption of Smart Buildings technologies in private
commercial properties.
A smart way
Why Smart Cities?
A nation's economic and social development is often an aggregate result
of the development of its cities. In addition to being places to live, cities
are platforms where companies run their businesses and provide a
variety of services - they are, in short, the centers of resource
consumption. As a driver of global economic and technological changes,
cities are challenged to combine competitiveness and sustainable urban
development in parallel. This challenge is likely to have a broader impact
on housing, economy, culture, and the social and environmental
conditions of the urban population. According to the United Nations
(UN), the global urban population surpassed the global rural population
in 2007, and it predicts that 70% of the world’s population will be urban
by 2050, with many cities having more than 10 million inhabitants. Surging
growth in demand for resources will make greater ef�ciency critical, and
governments and other public administrators will inevitably have to
evolve their city management models.
The continuous and exponential increase in urban populations will
translate into rapidly growing demand for new buildings, which will
ultimately lead to incremental challenges in managing both the existing
and the imminent infrastructures. For example, ten years ago there were
2.9 billion urban residents worldwide who generated about 0.64 kg of
municipal solid waste (MSW) per person per day (0.68 billion tons per
year). Today, these amounts have increased to about 3 billion residents
generating 1.2 kg per person per day (1.3 billion tons per year).
A smart move
By 2025, this is likely to increase to 4.3 billion urban residents
generating about 1.42 kg/capita/day of municipal solid waste
(2.2 billion tons per year). Similarly, with the number of street
lights around the world likely to hit 350 million by 2025, local
governments and utilities companies will be challenged to
generate suf�cient energy and simultaneously meet the
carbon emission mandates. Pollution, clean water and
air, traf�c, parking, and transportation problems will
represent additional woes to those currently experienced by
city stakeholders.
Smart Cities are expected to solve problems beyond the
basic issues related to power, water, and transportation.
Pilot projects are attempting to improve issues such as
asset utilization, energy conservation, quality of life for
citizens, healthcare, ease of transportation, and response
time for emergencies. Some interesting examples are
outlined below:
• Smart bins in Barcelona: Sensors on bins to test the
possibility of optimizing the routes of refuse collection
vans by only sending them to full bins. Approximately
10% of current costs could be saved this way.
• Intelligent streetlights in Glasgow: A pilot is underway to
test if sensors can save energy by allowing lights to
automatically turn on and off when people walk past
them at night.
• Traffic management in Singapore: Electronic road
pricing (ERP) and sensors attached to taxis to enable
mapping of traf�c conditions have also helped to
reduce the number of journeys undertaken by private
cars.
• Citywide sensing in Santander: Santander has one of
the largest citywide sensing pilots in the world, with
more than 12,000 sensors collecting data on everything
from parking space availability to air quality.
• Smart Buildings in London: Canary Wharf Group
launched the Cognicity Challenge to identify and pilot
Smart City technologies on the Canary Wharf estate. It
is currently testing technologies like Demand Logic, which helps
businesses to reduce their electricity costs by intelligently
monitoring electricity usage.
If planned, implemented, and managed well, Smart Cities are
capable of addressing many, if not all, of the problems facing
citizens within growing urban environments. The above examples
clearly indicate that Smart City technologies can address a
variety of complex problems to improve quality of life for citizens.
It is to be noted that, directly or indirectly, Smart Buildings will
become a part of many of such initiatives (or already are)
because many utilities services are deployed within them. The
bene�ts of Smart Cities are beyond the 'experience', and
provide signi�cant economic value in the long term. The current
pilots and work in progress projects across the globe have
potential to provide sizeable cost reduction and monetization
opportunities to the stakeholders. According to a recent industry
report1, cities can bene�t from up to 30% energy savings and up
to a 20% reduction in water losses. Up to 30% reduction in street
crime from CCTV security cameras can be delivered. Travel time
and traf�c delays can be reduced by up to 20%. Other major
non-environmental bene�ts include improved safety and higher
quality of life, which in turn drives job creation and increases the
talent pool, leading to higher tax revenue. If a city faces water
availability or disruption issues, implementing Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems to manage
water �ow can bring 30% savings on the energy used to manage
the water systems, 20% reduction in water loss, and 20%
reduction in water outage. A recent project to bring energy
ef�ciency to four water treatment plants in Beijing, China
delivered a remarkable 52% reduction in energy usage, allowing
the project to pay for itself in less than 18 months, and create
long-term cost savings that can be applied to other Smart City
initiatives. Another programme at Europe’s largest water
treatment plant in Budapest, Hungary allowed for the effective
treatment of 95% of wastewater - up from 54% before the
project. The results of these Smart City initiatives save money,
but just as important, they help to ensure the availability of
water for years to come. If cities have to be converted into Smart
Cities, then buildings too will have to be transformed into
Smart Buildings.
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Produced by Wipro Marketing team with featured research provided by IDC, a preferred knowledge partner.
What are Smart Buildings?
IDC de�nes a Smart Building as a facility that utilizes advanced
automation and integration to measure, monitor, control, and optimize
operations and maintenance. The enabling technologies are
characterized by a convergence of information technology and building
automation. Smart Building solutions give building owners, operators,
and other key decision-makers unprecedented visibility into equipment
operations and building use courtesy of the real-time data generated by
the sensors, monitors, and controls in a Smart Building solution
con�guration.
The development of a Smart Building is a process of investment and
transformation in facility management. The process is framed by the
integration of advanced controls and automation technologies that
utilize analytics and data management within an IT architecture. There is
no off-the-shelf deployment of technologies in a Smart Building. In
existing buildings, technologies are deployed as retro�ts or extensions to
existing infrastructure to increase the sophistication of the energy
management equipment in the facility. The most common problems
within traditional buildings include lighting, parking, lack of processes and
controls, poor services delivery, complex and redundant processes, high
energy consumption/costs, and improper waste management - to name
just a few. As these facilities are transformed into Smart Buildings, they
become increasingly instrumented, controlled, and automated, and
operators and key decision makers rely more heavily on the analytics and
data management aspects of Smart Building solutions to make the
information from the building systems actionable. The idea is that the
smarter the building, the more ef�cient its operations and maintenance.
This, in turn, drives down costs, energy consumption, and the facility's
environmental footprint. Figure 1 illustrates the process of transforming
an existing facility into a Smart Building.
A smart part
Information technology has a key role to play in the
development and operations of dynamic Smart Buildings.
Analytics and data management are fundamental to
enabling a real-time response to the ever-increasing stream
of data from the network of devices that manage building
equipment. These IT-enabled solutions become the bridge
to the Smart Grid and Smart City infrastructure.
From an energy perspective, Smart Buildings become an
important asset for the Smart Grid and help support the
Smart City goal of improved ef�ciency, in terms of reducing
energy consumption and increasing energy reliability. Smart
Building technologies create adaptive facilities that operate in
new ways by automatically responding to both internal policies
and schedules and external signals such as demand-response
events. By participating in utility programs such as
demand-response, building owners increase the value of their
properties and can thus charge premium rents from tenants.
Hardwareand Software
Building InfraManagement Platforms
Analytics & DataManagement
IT Security &Surveillance
Devices andMobile Apps
NetworkConnectivity
Sensors andControllers
Distributed EnergyResources Plug Loads
HVACSystems
Fire Alarmsand Systems
PhysicalSecurity Lighting Power
IT Components Non-IT Components
Building Management System
Figure 1 - Source: IDC, 2015
Smart Building Solution Components
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Produced by Wipro Marketing team with featured research provided by IDC, a preferred knowledge partner.
Stakeholders of Smart Buildings
Developing an issue-based innovation ecosystem involves building
relationships among stakeholders that are involved in various aspects of
city functioning but are often outside of city government. The aim of
developing an ecosystem around Smart Buildings is to bring diverse
stakeholders together to develop common goals and language and to
discuss how creating new processes, policies, and �nancing mechanisms
for new technology adoption can bene�t the whole community. Simply
put, an innovation ecosystem brings multiple viewpoints to the table with
the goal of creating 'win-win' solutions.
As is often repeated when talking about building Smart Cities, no one
stakeholder can do it alone. To meet city sustainability goals, the city
government cannot do it without the efforts of private building owners
and developers, technology vendors, environmental nonpro�ts, and
other levels of government. Input from the business community and
citizens is also essential.
A smartcollaboration
Developing a team-like approach to innovation across these
groups, and focusing on a targeted topic like Smart Buildings,
frames the discussion in a more manageable way. The
objective is to get commitment in terms of time and
resources from stakeholders, and to provide a forum for
them to share their unique expertise and perspectives. This is a
�rst step in tackling a systemic and interconnected city issue like
sustainability and de�ning actions that will reduce emissions or
energy consumption. Figure 2 shows the major stakeholders in
the urban Smart Building ecosystem.
Local Government
City, county, statePolicies, standards, coordination, incentives,
permitting/licensing
Technology and Domain Suppliers
ICT, HVAC, lighting, plug loads, �re and security, distributed energy resources,
analytics and data management
Utilities
Electric, water and gas utilities: city, municipal and private
Federal Government
DoE, energy policy, grants and other funding
Partnership Ecosystem
Public/privare partnershipsNew engagement models
Planners and developers
Urban planners, real estate developers, building owners
Individuals and Communities
Citizens, nonpro�ts, local businesses and environmental associations
Figure 2 - Source: IDC, 2015
Smart Building Stakeholder Ecosystem
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A smart visionGoals and Motivations of Smart Building Stakeholders
The goals of building owners and city administration in regard to
sustainability and business sector development are the same in most
areas, and these common goals serve as the basis for discussions among
stakeholders within the urban Smart Building ecosystem.
Table 1 highlights the shared goals of stakeholders in the context of their
motivators. IDC believes that it is these motivating factors - and the
decision makers who enact them - that determine the path to achieving
Smart Building goals. It helps all stakeholders to understand what is
driving each player in the ecosystem. This is especially important for city
decision makers who need to create the right �nancial and policy
incentives to drive urban sustainability.
Table 1 also generalizes how key stakeholders perceive a variety of
economic and environmental goals and can be used to identify
opportunities for the coordination of policy, strategy, and investment.
Smart Building technologies change how facilities operate, with a view to
reducing energy consumption and improving energy and business
ef�ciencies. Smart technologies change how maintenance and
engineering staff run their facilities and how equipment is operated.
These changes are measured, monitored, and veri�ed against the goals
outlined in Table 1 as an aspect of Smart Building solution functionality.
For example, a Smart Building HVAC system can
automatically precool a building or change when or how a
rooftop unit operates. These changes are monitored, and
the impacts are quanti�ed in the analytics layer of the smart
solution. Those changes in equipment operations lead to
reduced energy demand and/or a shift in energy
consumption to a time when there is less demand overall on
the electricity grid. The quanti�able cost savings may be
realized as lower utility fees, a reduction in the facility's carbon
footprint, or support for grid reliability through demand
response. In other words, the operational changes to the HVAC
system enabled by Smart Building technology can address the
goals and motivations across the stakeholders identi�ed in Table
1. Coordination of policy development, investment strategy, and
technology deployment can lead to greater use of Smart
Building solutions by building owners to magnify the bene�ts
generated by these energy management innovations.
Goals and Motivations of Smart Building Stakeholders
Goal Planners andDevelopers
Individuals andCommunities
Local/FederalGovernment Utilities Technology and
Domain Suppliers
Reduce CO2 emissions Attracting premium tenantsSustainability reportingand cost reduction
State, federal directives;citizen demands
Tied to �nding alternativesources of energygeneration driven by policy
Corporate socialresponsibility
Reduce energy usageChallenge for splitincentive, can overcomewith green leasing
Social responsibilityand cost savings
Cost reduction,resource conservation
Demand management toallocate resources tohigh-demand areas
Corporate socialresponsibility
Improve maintenanceresource deployments
Enhance tenant experience;increase satisfaction levels
Cost containment; avoid orreduce capital expenditures
Staf�ng cost containment;faster response timesto problems
Staf�ng cost containment;faster response timeto problems
Long-termmaintenance contracts
Improve predictability ofenergy and resource needs
Reduce downtime andtenant dissatisfaction
Reduce downtime andminimize business disruption
Better budget accuracyand �nancial andresource planning
Improve grid reliabilityfor customers
Enabling automation andanalytics platforms tosupport predictive analytics
Visibility into operationsPredictive maintenance;ef�cient use of maintenanceresources
Predictive maintenance;ef�cient use of maintenanceresources; identifyopportunities for spaceutilization
Process improvements formore ef�cient operations
Process improvements formore ef�cient operations
Opportunity to upselltechnologies, streamliningprocess and procedures, andmanagement of buildings
Quantify energyef�ciency efforts
Comply with city mandates,showcase commitments toattract/retain tenants
Comply with citymandates for disclosure
Meet citizen demandsand city targets
Meet energy ef�ciencyresource standards andimprove customersatisfaction
Monitor progress towardsCSR/sustainability goals
Increase value of building Asset value for portfolio assets Added value of portfolio assets Increase city revenue NA NA
Meet broader sustainabilitygoals and initiatives
Appeal to green tenants,green real estate brand
Showcase achievement ofsustainability goals,employee engagement
Gain political capitalon environmental issues
Meet corporateresponsibility goals
Showcase CSR
Table 1 - Source: IDC, 2015
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A smart playRole of IT services providers
Setting up a Smart Building is different from managing it. Regulations and
administrative bodies can push the agenda of setting up Smart Buildings,
but if the buildings are not managed properly, cohesively, and intelligently
- i.e., using ICT platforms and technologies - then it is practically as good
as not having one. The role of IT services providers or systems
integrators is one of the most critical in this entire value chain. Systems
integrators carry a holistic view of Smart Buildings, and are well
positioned to consult and collaborate with organizations from inception
to delivery, and the post-delivery operational management phase.
Systems integrators are quali�ed to deploy and manage devices,
communications, networks, and NoC, all of which are critical
components of Smart Buildings.
The key differences between a normal building and a Smart Building are
the collaboration, automation, and intelligence aspects that are integral
to the latter. Underlying these differences is a core IT layer. The idea is to
have a single, integrated view of a variety of electrical, mechanical, civil,
and IT components. IT platforms enable this, supporting smooth
management of the above component’s performance. There are multiple
examples of IT services providers deploying and managing sophisticated
platforms to manage Smart Buildings. Many of these management
platforms are complex third-party applications, for which the systems
integrators have developed speci�c skills. In certain cases, they have
developed their own intellectual property in the form of these platforms.
One of the other major factors distinguishing systems integrators from
their civil and electrical counterparts is their ability to convert or
transform a normal building into a Smart Building. At the end of the day,
software and automation is what makes any infrastructure intelligent.
There are multiple examples in Eastern and Western markets where
systems integrators have deployed platforms to smartly manage the
existing IT and non-IT infrastructure. In summary, systems integrators
have a critical role to play throughout the life cycle and value chain of
Smart Buildings.
A smart trendEmergence of Smart Buildings in the region
City planners in the Gulf face exponentially increasing urban populations,
which are straining the existing infrastructure, even while governments
look to attract new businesses and industries to support their
economies beyond oil. Additionally, the urban tenants too are becoming
aggressively demanding in terms of the expected services, experience,
and at least basic smart services. Governments are increasingly looking
to Smart Cities to provide the answer. The Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) has one of the fastest-growing populations in the world.
According to an Economic Intelligence Unit2 report, by 2020 this
population is forecast to increase by one-third, to 53 million people. The
vast majority will be under 25 years of age. The rapid growth and the
relative youth of the population both present serious challenges.
According to UN �gures, 85% of the population of the United Arab
Emirates, for example, already live in cities. This is expected to increase to
91% by 2050. City dwellers consume over three quarters of all the
world's energy production and are responsible for 80% of CO2
emissions. To help manage energy and other resources in these urban
environments, governments in the Middle East have started looking to
Smart City and Smart Building technologies.
The Gulf region is a massive open space for Green�eld Smart
Cities and Smart Building opportunities. IDC interviewed
different stakeholders to understand the relevance of Smart
Buildings in the Gulf region and found that Smart Buildings
are gaining signi�cant momentum in the region. Given the
rapid change in the demographics and demand patterns for
citizen services, the need for better services — as well as a
revamp of service delivery culture — is inevitable. These,
along with a strong emphasis on enabling green energy,
improving energy conservation, reducing carbon emissions,
and providing better services to citizens, will drive the
adoption of Smart Building technologies. The UAE has been,
by far, the most active country in terms of Smart City
initiatives — Masdar, DIFC, and DSO being some prominent
examples. Other Gulf countries are likewise ramping up their
Smart City efforts, which will subsequently increase traction
for Smart Building initiatives. The policy and decision makers
will have to prepare themselves to embrace this change, with
the identi�cation of opportunities to transform buildings into
Smart Buildings being a critical �rst step.
Smart Buildings in the region largely fall under the broader
umbrella of Smart Cities. Most of the Gulf countries are in the
early stages of Smart City technology adoption, but are
quickly ramping up their initiatives and pushing the Smart
Building agenda. Although there are numerous global
examples of new Smart Buildings, it is important to note
that Smart Building technologies may also be a component
of a retro�t. Here are some of examples of both from the
Gulf region.
• Private equity bank in Bahrain: A private equity
bank invested in a state-of-the-art Smart Building
solution for its headquarters. The building is run
economically and sustainably with the aid of a solution
that integrates all its maintenance and
engineering-related ELV systems. It gives the facility
management team �exibility to monitor and operate
the system from any device, at any time, and from
anywhere using a single, real-time GUI. It also includes a
smart datacenter solution that interlinks sophisticated
security and surveillance capabilities over its IT network.
The system is strengthened further by emergency response and
crisis management features that provide best-in-class IT and
physical security. The building is highly energy ef�cient, with
automated energy saving strategies that keep track of
carbon emission and energy consumption through
user-friendly dashboard capability. Maintenance teams are
automatically noti�ed of faults, and, in many cases, the
system can identify adverse operating conditions in advance
and �x problems before they occur. Maintenance and
engineering is able to benchmark suppliers using
service-level agreements that are linked to comfort and
safety standards. This allows facility management to measure
service standards against key performance criteria. The
system can automatically sense the presence of people in a
room and control blinds, lighting, and air conditioning.
Accessing Smart Building services via their desktop IP
telephones or PCs, tenants can control their surrounding
environment.
• Ministry of Higher Education in Riyadh: The Ministry
of Higher Education (MoHE) was recently certified by the
Smart Buildings Institute, a non-pro�t organization aimed at
promoting Smart Building technology. The MoHE integrated
all its systems onto a single platform, enabling users to
bene�t from its services, simultaneously creating a
comfortable work environment that re�ects positively on
all employees, while signi�cantly reducing energy
consumption. Through this central system at the MoHE's
headquarters, HVAC and building management are
interlinked with one another, along with an internal and
external monitoring system that is supported by CCTV
cameras and access controls. Integrating these systems into
a single platform allowed the building operators and
occupants to have better control and accurate real-time
information on how the building and all subsystems are
functioning, therefore enabling a 'smart' environment. The
building is equipped with advanced applications and
middleware with an open-vendor integration platform that
seamlessly integrates IP, lighting controls, �re alarm system,
computerized maintenance management system, elevator
controls, digital signage, and energy-pro�le tracking
applications.
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• The Saudi Sinnovate Smart Technology Hub in
Jeddah: The facility required a robust ICT
infrastructure to support the project goals for a smart
and �exible facility. The project includes four specialized
buildings on an integrated campus. A convention center,
innovation center, and joint-development center are
dedicated to support IT collaboration and lecture
spaces for student and business use. They include spaces
for classrooms, meeting rooms, knowledge incubators,
an auditorium, and a technology showcase. The fourth
building is a datacenter, with traditional and module
spaces, as well as an auditorium and business-tour route
for marketing purposes. The facility-automation systems
are all integrated onto a converged Ethernet network.
Monitoring of the facility-automation systems occurs in
dedicated building-management system (BMS)
monitoring rooms in both the joint-development center and
datacenter. The lighting controls, HVAC, leak-detection, and
water system controls were consolidated into hubs and
controllers that support Ethernet with devices that were
not Ethernet-capable. The power-monitoring system allows
most of the devices to use Ethernet to communicate directly
with the associated system server. Performance-monitoring
applications on kiosks in lobbies provide feedback on
metrics (e.g., energy-use intensity (EUI) in the Innovation
Center and power usage effectiveness (PUE) in the
datacenter). The IT network is converged and includes
common enterprise IT systems as well as integration with
the facility automation, security, and datacenter
infrastructure. Integration of the systems will become
economical and �exible as they evolve and require minimal
manual interference in the building spaces.
15
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A smart revolution Challenges for Smart Buildings
Shifting towards Smart Buildings is easier said than done. Making
incremental investments without a clear view of the ROI and breakeven
period is a major challenge and inhibitor of Smart Building adoption.
Additionally, it is still considered to be 'a good thing to have' rather than
essential by most planers and developers, because there are no clear
mandates to push the Smart Building concept. Some of the other
challenges are covered below.
• Readiness of the ecosystem: The Gulf region is quickly
catching up on the technology adoption curve. However, the
ecosystem of Smart Buildings that requires collaboration between
stakeholders, formation of consortiums, and close integration
between the public sector and technology providers is still quite
weak compared to more mature markets. Most of the stakeholders
are still operating in silos while trying to drive the overall agenda.
• Signi�cant capex investment: Given the general
aspirations of the regional developers to construct
state-of-the-art and eye-catching buildings, the civic
work investments are always signi�cant. Additionally,
regulating authorities are not pushing builders to
invest in technologies for Smart Buildings. Investing in
technologies to enable Smart Buildings within the
existing budget is always a challenge. The prospect of
incremental investments that lack immediate and clear
returns are a major inhibitor.
• Cost of connectivity or bandwidth: Network
connectivity remains a key enabler and critical success
factor for Smart Buildings. Despite the continued
correction in bandwidth prices, the cost of
connectivity in the region is still higher than in most
mature markets. Regional telcos are working closely
with the concerned authorities to tap into the Smart
Buildings opportunity. In the long run, the cost of
connectivity is expected to come down further. If it
does not, the adoption of Smart Building technology
could be adversely impacted.
• Monetization and ROI: From a stakeholder's
perspective, the idea is to provide better services to
tenants and then monetize the services in the long term.
However, one of the major challenges for investors is to
get a clear view of the breakeven period and eventual ROI.
Additionally, the lack of immediate returns and the
long-term monetization cycle are major challenges
for investors.
• Intangible immediate bene�ts: As with Smart Cities,
the majority of services delivered in Smart Buildings
enhance the 'experience' of building users, something that
is often intangible and extremely dif�cult to quantify. There
are no proven models to put a dollar �gure on this metric.
The immediate intangible bene�ts exist in the form of
quality of service, quality of life, enhanced productivity, and
so forth; however, the challenge is that this experience
comes at a signi�cant capex and opex investment, and the
ROI cycle is often quite long.
• Motivating the stakeholders: Given the above
challenges concerning investments, lack of collaboration,
delayed ROI, and monetization models, the major
challenge is to motivate the stakeholders to push the
Smart Building agenda. And in the absence of a centralized
body or an industry consortium, there is no clear owner to
drive that agenda.
17
Produced by Wipro Marketing team with featured research provided by IDC, a preferred knowledge partner.
Wipro's approach to Smart Citiesand Smart Buildings
Wipro is an Indian multinational IT consulting, systems integration, and
business process outsourcing (BPO) services provider headquartered in
Bangalore, India. The company has more than 150,000 employees
servicing over 900 of the Fortune 1000 corporations and boasts a
presence in 67 countries. Wipro's portfolio of services includes managed
infrastructure and applications services, systems integration, application
development and maintenance, and a variety of enterprise solutions
areas such as cloud, enterprise mobility, big data and analytics, Smart
Cities, Smart Buildings, digital, information management, Internet of
Things, open source, and engineering services.
In the Gulf region, Wipro has been serving customers across the banking,
telecommunications, transportation, retail, manufacturing, education,
healthcare, and other industries for over a decade. Wipro has multiple
offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Its
most sizeable presence is in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Wipro has completed multiple Smart City projects in Asia and the
Middle East through the implementation of end-to-end IT infrastructure,
network implementation, and building automation systems. From a
capability perspective, Wipro has a strong Smart City practice that is
capable of delivering solutions across core Smart City, infrastructure and
automation, and energy management pillars. Some of the key Smart City
solutions provided by Wipro are intelligent building management
systems, voice, data and video services, digital entertainment, site and
facility management, highway traf�c management, roads and toll
management systems, parking management systems, citywide network
infrastructure, and security, surveillance, and access control.
Over a period of time, Wipro has invested in developing a robust pool of
skilled professionals who are trained and certi�ed on a variety of
platforms and technologies. Additionally, Wipro has established
partnerships with all the leading vendors offering solutions in the Smart
City and Smart Building spaces. Key partners include Schneider Electric,
Honeywell, GE, Siemens, ABB, Rockwell Automation, National
Instruments, IBM, SAP, Oracle, and EMC.
A smart idea
A smart strategy Essential guidance
As is the case with many other things, the push for the development of
Smart Buildings will have to come from governments. Policies,
regulations, and mandates will be critical to increasing the adoption of
Smart Building technologies. Additionally, setting up a consortium
wherein stakeholders can collaborate, exchange ideas, and contribute to
driving the uptake of Smart Building technologies will be a good starting
point. Other recommendations are offered below:
• Invest in building an innovation ecosystem around Smart Buildings:
The inclusion of energy ef�ciency in sustainability programs has
always been a part of Smart Cities, but very few cities have
established a formal process for collaboration between different
stakeholders in the Smart Building discussion. In order to drive the
Smart Building agenda, the incorporation of Smart Buildings into
larger sustainability efforts is critical. Additionally, it is important to
extend the focus beyond publicly owned buildings to privately
owned ones.
• Influence C-level decision makers to enhance their
focus on private buildings: Improving the management
and operations of public buildings has become a key
focus of cities, and some cities in the region are
establishing programs for reducing energy use in these
buildings. Since these buildings fall directly in the
purview of government control, there is a higher focus
on these efforts than on in�uencing private owners.
This requires a different mode of in�uence; it is a
higher-level discussion with more senior decision
makers and involves regulations, policies, compliances,
and incentivizing/rewarding both the owners and the
tenants of private buildings.
• Incentivize retrofits: Most of the existing and upcoming
initiatives and regulations have been targeted towards
new constructions of Smart Cities and Smart Buildings.
This leaves a wide policy gap for existing or older
buildings. The policy makers need to take a balanced
view of models to encourage the adoption of green
and Smart Building technologies in older buildings, as
well as the long-term sustainability targets for cities.
• Reach out to citizens and foster education: There is a
signi�cant opportunity for city governments to reach
out to citizens by collaborating and partnering with
technology vendors. Budgeting for educational
materials to promote recycling and reducing usage of
energy, water, or other resources is common in many cities. Most
of the technology providers have sizeable marketing
budgets, which can be leveraged in coordination with city
governments to target building owners and citizens/tenants.
• Use city efforts as proof of concept for private building
owners: There is a reasonable number of successful Smart
City examples in the region. Policy makers and government
authorities should promote these to private builders by
positioning them as case studies or as proof of concepts.
Organizations tend to be more strongly in�uenced by
regional or local success stories than global ones.
Smart Buildings can address a variety of issues for citizens,
governments, and construction companies. These can range from
physical security, parking problems, and energy conservation to
climate control, general services, and quality of life. The key
bene�ts of Smart Buildings are experiential in nature, which is
dif�cult, if not impossible, to quantify in terms of a direct ROI in
absolute dollar terms. Currently, the main focus for Smart
Building initiatives should be on improving the overall user
experience by generating greater value for all related
stakeholders. This 'value' may take on many forms, including
improved services, better facilities and asset management, and
reduced carbon emissions. While the ultimate aim will be to
monetize this value in order to drive tangible �nancial returns,
this should be regarded as a longer-term goal.
20
Produced by Wipro Marketing team with featured research provided by IDC, a preferred knowledge partner.
21
Produced by Wipro Marketing team with featured research provided by IDC, a preferred knowledge partner.
About IDC
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information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and
the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,100 IDC analysts
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50 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the
world's leading technology media, research, and events company.
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