The ULI France 2022 annual conference took place on Friday 25 November 2022 at Altarea, Comet Meetings, on the FUTURE of our real estate sector, TECHNOLOGY and the CLIMATE crisis: the new PARADIGMS of our industry; or how technological innovation will TRANSFORM real estate and our businesses. The event gathered 300 participants around 15 speakers invited to share their views, experiences and actions taken.

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf”- Jon Kabat-Zinn, American Professor of Medicine. After the welcoming words of Mélanie Charpentier, ULI France, Sébastien Chemouny, President of ULI France / Head of France at Allianz Real Estate France, explained that “indeed, we will not be able to go against the technology that keeps evolving. But on the other hand, these evolutions are essential, if properly mastered, to meet the new and growing needs, to face the energy transition and the climate transition and the transition of uses, it is absolutely necessary to go through the digital transition.

Dean Hopkins, an expert and opinion leader on digital and technological transformations, set the scene and expressed his convictions by quoting the American playwright William Gibson: “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed”. Olivier Temam, onepoint, then gave the floor to explain how onepoint supports players in the real estate sector in the broadest sense of the term, both public and private, by sharing case studies, in their search for answers to the major challenges of real estate, urban development and the world of tomorrow.

The first round table, moderated by Sarah Fleury, Goodwin, confronted the – divergent – convictions of players in the promotion, investment and tech sectors, around the question: “Real estate and climate, choosing between frugality or technological innovation? with Arnaud Bekaert, Bouygues Immobilier, Philippe Le Fort, Patrizia SE, Matthias Navarro, Redman and Khadija Nadi, DeltaQ.

The moderators of the Product Council Technology & Real Estate ULI France, Emmanuel François, EnOcean and Michael Sidga, Vinci Energies, then took the floor and focused on data, particularly from the energy angle, and explained the importance of the subject of data governance.

Then, Jean-Christophe Fromantin, Maire of Neuilly-Sur-Seine and Vice-President of the Hauts-de-Seine Department, responded to Mélanie Charpentier, first sharing his vision as a city player, public decision-maker and visionary leader, on the impact of technological innovations on the city and how it is preparing for them; He then detailed the innovative and audacious project of the “Folies de Neuilly” or how technology is at the service of the city and rethinks its public spaces; to finally express himself on commerce or how the city must propose new experiences. He also interacted with the audience and answered questions.

The second round table, moderated by Thibault Weston Smith, Realty Corporation with Alexandra Goguet, Marriott International, Robin Rivaton, Stonal, Philippe Vimard, Doctolib and Stéphanie Zolésio-Roux, Casino Immobilier, discussed the question “Technology today, challenge or opportunity, reinvention or evolution, transformation or revolution?

In addition to these face-to-face speakers, there were podcasts, which we wanted to be informative, on different technologies, blockchain with Aurélien Onimus, the BOS orchestrator of building data with Alain Kergoat, Urban Intelligences with Hubert Beroche, the challenges of digital security with James Shannon, and finally the impact of quantum computing on real estate with Pierre Paperon.

Sébastien Chemouny, in his closing remarks, emphasised the complexity of technology, admittedly not our business, but that it is a wave that we will not stop. He insisted on the fact that we have to anticipate, store data today for tomorrow’s use, it will always be useful. Finally, he reminded us how much ULI helps with its open and unrestrained contributions, to make the industry evolve and benefit all its members.

The participants were able to continue the discussions over a cocktail reception.

See below the podcasts and photos.