The Office Property and Big Data Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together

By: Kimberly Winson-Geideman, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, Property, University of Melbourne, Melbourne School of Design, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

The use of big data offers great potential, while it also presents challenges. This white paper seeks to define big data and to identify some of the obstacles and opportunities associated with it in the context of managing office properties. It includes a general overview of the topic as well as examples of how property managers are collecting and analyzing data within their office properties.

Although much of the big data now being collected by office landlords fails to trigger any privacy issues (e.g., building systems data), disclosure and permission are advised in some instances, such as cases where a landlord is monitoring tenant movements using Wi-Fi. Because of these complex issues surrounding personal data, landlords and tenants should approach data collection with a clear understanding of privacy laws and a great deal of transparency.