The First Global Henley Prop Tech Forum

Henley Prop Tech Global aims to improve the link between academia and the industry environment, discussing the impact of new disruptive technologies in the real estate world!

On Tuesday 8^th November 2022, as part of the Managing Change in the Real Estate Sector module, undergraduate students attended the first Global Henley Prop Tech Forum. The event led by Dr Matteo Borghi, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Henley Business School, UK, with the conjoint support of Kee Liang Chin, Chartered Surveyor and Lecturer in Real Estate and Dr Janice Lee, Associate Professor in Real Estate Management from the Henley Business School Malaysia, connected our Reading and Malaysia campuses in real-time seamlessly. The forum has been devised in partnership with the UK PropTech Association, The Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship, the Malaysia PropTech Association, the Reading Real Estate Foundation and more broadly the Real Estate and Planning, and the Leadership, Organisations and Behaviour departments at the Henley Business School.

This event, specifically designed for Real Estate and Planning students, aims to convey the experience, knowledge and thoughts of technology and real estate sector experts from the UK and Malaysia about the impact of new disruptive technologies in the real estate world. The forum is an integral part of the second-year module Managing Change in the Real Estate Sector (RE2MCRE). A blended mix of presenters ranging from technology experts to senior venture capitalists provided – from different perspectives – an answer to the following question: what is the impact of new disruptive technologies in the real estate world?

The forum was organised as a series of brief presentations provided by the guest speakers, followed by a debate and a co-creation moment between students and guest speakers, for ensuring a high level of student engagement during the session. Moreover, to provide a global cross-fertilization flavour, the event has been conducted face-to-face and streamed live online between the Henley Business School campuses in Reading and Malaysia.

The internationally recognized speakers featured in the event were:

UK Panellists

• Matt Webb, Technology lead with over 20 years experience at global CTO level for large digital agencies, BIMA 100 Tech trailblazer 2021, talked about “IoT, Augmented Reality and Web3 impact on the Future of Prop Tech”
• Dr Mininder Sethi, Lecturer at the ICMA Centre, University of Reading, specializes in Machine Learning and Big Data with over 15 years of experience, talked about “Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning impact on the Future of Prop Tech”
• Sammy Pahal, Managing Director of the UK PropTech Association, a not-for-profit organisation set up to drive the digital transformation of the UK property industry talked about “Prop Tech Future in the UK”
• Ami Kotecha, Co-Founder and lead of the technology and venture investments team at Amro Partners, a real estate and technology investments company, talked about “A sustainable future for real estate – a venture capitalist’s perspective”

Malaysia Panellists

• Dr Daniele Gambero, President of the Malaysia PropTech Association, co-founder of PropTech start-up Propenomy.com, talked about “How PropTech is RE-shaping the Malaysian Real Estate ecosystem”
• Prof Teck Yong Eng, Head of Henley Business School Malaysia and Director of the Centre for Global Business Enterprise & Cloud Analytics, talked about “The role of educational institutions in the future of Prop Tech”

This event is part of an overarching project which aims to improve the link between the academia and the industry environment.

Our speakers and organizers' comments after the event

Matt Webb: “The Prop Tech forum event was a fantastic blend of speaker disciplines offering up different perspectives, in a fun and engaging way. The passion clearly shone through and was reflected brilliantly by the engagement and curiosity of the students.  Well done to Matteo for organising a wonderful event – across multiple time zones too!”

Ami Kotecha: “Presenting the potential for a sustainable, resilient future for the real estate sector to a group of 2^nd year undergrads at the Henley Business School was an absolute pleasure. The event co-ordinator, Matteo Borghi, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship & Innovation, made it possible by curating a panel of multi-disciplinary experts at the first Global Henley Prop Tech Forum. The challenges and opportunities presented to the students inspired an interesting and pertinent line of questioning from them. I personally hope that they dare to dream and to innovate for a sustainable and equitable built environment.”

Dr Daniele Gambero: “Bridging academia to the start-ups is extremely important to prepare the students for their future professional practice. Widening up their views to global markets enormously help them in better understanding the future challenges of the build environment ecosystem. The Global Henley PropTech Forum, pulling together insightful speakers from the west and the east, has allowed the students to be exposed and better prepared to turn teaching of today in actions of tomorrow. A sparkling Q&A session at the end of the forum is the practical demonstration of the positive impact of this event and I hope to see and participate in more in the forthcoming future. Well done to Matteo Borghi, the Henley Business School and the University of Reading, UK and Malaysia campuses, for organising it!”

Professor Teck Eng: “The Global Henley Prop Tech Forum 2022 combined academic theory with practical evidence through up-to-date insights from academics and industry leaders. It was an engaging forum providing much food for thought and bridging theory and practice. The forum demonstrates the potential of Prop Tech in terms of exciting opportunities for our students (future leaders) and other stakeholders to contribute and achieve sustainable development goals. Thanks to Matteo for organising this event”

Dr Mininder Sethi: “It is very rare to have such a gathering of a diverse set of academics and industry practitioners from within the different areas of proptech in one forum. In addition, the global coverage with colleagues from Henley Business School Malaysia made this event even more special. Matteo and team did a great job to organise this exciting forum.”

Sammy Pahal: “It was a pleasure to be part of the first Global PropTech Forum at Henley Business School. As the next generation embark on their careers into the real estate industry or start their entrepreneurial journey, it's imperative that they are equipped with the knowledge and insights into industry trends and specifically the impact of digital and technology - especially as the world is changing at a fast pace and requires innovation to meet the challenges we face today. It was inspiring to see Matteo and his colleagues take the lead in bridging the gap between industry and academia and the critical thinking that is encouraged amongst the students.”

As a final remark after the event, Dr Matteo Borghi said:

“The Global Henley Prop Tech Forum is a unique event for Real Estate and Planning students to help them understand the link between entrepreneurship, technology disruptors and the real estate sector in a global fashion. I am impressed by the pertinent questions posed by the students as well as by the high level of engagement they displayed during the co-creation moment seeking feedback from our guest speakers. I truly hope this event has helped our students to further consolidate their business ideas for their final Dragons’ Den challenge!”

Dr Janice Lee added:

“The Global Henley Prop Tech Forum provides a rare opportunity for students from Malaysia to learn from UK proptech-relates experts in real time and vice versa. I hope more collaborations like this could be held so students are exposed to international perspectives which enhances their student experience and ultimately their graduate employability.”

Kee Liang Chin concluded by saying:

“This is the first time the Reading University UK and Malaysia campuses jointly organized the ‘Henley Global Prop Tech Forum’. Technology has connected us to mutually share knowledge across the world with many experts. I believe the students have benefited a lot by standing on the shoulders of these giants. They have enabled us to see further the innovative development of prop tech.”