The brightest minds and luminaries in the local real estate industry converged for the “ULI Philippines Conference 2019: The Futu/RE Summit” last April 4 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
The one-day conference was organized by the Urban Land Institute (ULI), an international membership-based non-profit research and education organization, and focused on discussions regarding real estate technology and innovation.
Raymond Rufino, current chairman of the ULI National Council, and president and director of The Net Group, shares the importance of the summit to the Philippines and the real estate sector.
“The Futu/RE Summit is being staged by Urban Land Institute (ULI) Philippines to showcase exciting opportunities and developments as the real estate industry is transformed by technology and innovation,” Rufino notes. “By featuring experts and thought leaders at the forefront of this wave of transformation, ULI hopes to inspire meaningful dialogue, close collaboration, and responsible leadership as we work on building better cities together,” he adds.
For his part, Buds Wenceslao, CEO of D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc., believes that technology and innovation have started breaking the barriers of brick-and-mortar models of real estate. “Gaining insight into global and ground-breaking trends and disruptions is key to creating future proof strategies in a rapidly changing real estate environment,” he stresses.
The talks and panel discussions centered on the following: the disruption of real estate, blockchain technology and its impact on real estate, how innovation has transformed urban planning in the 21st century, workplace revolution, sustainable urban development, local property tech trailblazers, Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) on Poblacion, the urban innovation challenge, smart cities, and the future of real estate.
Conference speakers and panelists included Nigel Barnes of the International Workplace Group, Nicholas Brooke of the Professional Property Services Group, Jordan Kostelac of JLL Asia Pacific, Sec. Raul Lambino of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, Amor Maclang of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications Inc., Angeline Tham of Angkas, Bhavna Suresh of Lamudi, Julian Kwan of InvestaCrowd, Mark Gorriceta of Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra, Jack Fitzgerald of Lendlease Singapore, Mario Berta of Flyspaces, Kristina Bautista of OLX, Jean Jacquelyn Nathania De Castro of ESCA International, Jaime Enrique Gonzales of IPVI, Ram de Guzman of Thinking Machines, Peter Hyland of Cistri, Phil Kim of Jerde Partnership, Victor Maningo of Haworth Organic Space Philippines, Dustin Jefferson Onghanseng of uHoo, Tyler Staton of Talox, Neva Talladen of Swoop PH, Imelda Ceniza Tiongson of Opal Portfolio Investments Inc., Edison Tsai of SeedIn Technology Inc., Lars Wittig of Regus Philippines, and Sylvester Wong of AECOM.
“As the global real estate industry expands with incredible speed, the Philippine property landscape is itself making its own impressive shift,” notes Amor Maclang, executive director of Fintech Philippines and co-founder of GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications. “Now, we see local property companies using big data and analytics in their marketing and sales strategies to give buyers a fuller experience at all touchpoints, among other things.”
Founded in 1936, the Urban Land Institute presently has almost 40,000 members worldwide representing the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines.
ULI has over 2,000 members across the Asia Pacific region. The regional office is headquartered in Hong Kong, and have active national councils in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea.