Siemens will launch an IoT-enabled suite of hardware and software technologies designed to create smarter, more flexible, human-centric working spaces in the Middle East. Announced as part of the company’s activities at GITEX Technology Week in Dubai, the suite is a complementary portfolio of Siemens technologies which enable office buildings to respond intelligently to user input and environmental data. With real-time analytics, office spaces can adapt to the needs of employees for increased productivity and energy efficiency, while reducing costs.

A recent study by consulting firm PwC found that positive working space conditions, plus a healthy work-life balance, are more important than salary to 75 percent of employees. A meta study by Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) shows that targeted measures to improve the work environment have been found to reduce illnesses and absences by up to 20 percent, with some studies suggesting this could be as high as 60 percent.

“Today’s workforce deserves a more productive, agile and flexible working environment,” said Markus Strohmeier, Senior Executive Vice President of Regional Solutions and Services, Siemens Middle East. “A digitalized, data-driven approach to the office environment ensures that workspaces are optimized for both employee and building performance. With the Middle East focusing on smarter, people-focused cities, it’s a perfect place to embrace these technologies for the future of work.”

The Smart Office suite empowers firms to develop offices which support productivity and innovation, while giving employees a voice in deciding how and when office spaces are used. Sensors and real-time data analytics respond intelligently by learning from people, picking up behavioral patterns and personalizing the environment around them.

The suite includes technologies from Silicon Valley firms Comfy and Enlighted, both recently acquired by Siemens. Comfy, a workplace experience platform, is designed for global enterprises seeking to optimize the overall use of workspaces and amenities, while boosting overall employee engagement and productivity. Comfy’s occupant-facing app empowers employees to find, reserve, and adjust the workspaces they need, when they need it, while Comfy’s workplace analytics platform provides visibility and transparency into key business metrics, like space utilization. Its open, vendor-agnostic reporting platform integrates with building automation systems, IT systems, workplace collaboration systems, and IoT systems to provide a true end-to-end solution to workplace management.

Enlighted is an IoT platform for smart buildings consisting of multi-function sensors, distributed computing and its own network and software applications. Smart sensors installed at light fixtures collect data 65 times per second to measure occupancy, motion, ambient light and temperature. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems can then be adjusted appropriately in real time. The platform is able to locate people and assets within a building and analyze the occupancy of individual rooms and entire floors, securely streaming data to the cloud for analysis and visualization. This allows the system to optimize energy and space utilization to create better, human-centric working environments.

These platforms complement and integrate with existing technologies in the Siemens Smart Infrastructure portfolio, forming a comprehensive offering for Smart Offices in new and existing buildings. These include Desigo CC, an open building management platform; Desigo Room Automation, a range of building automation systems which integrates HVAC, lighting and shading systems; fire safety and security products and systems, and advisory and performance services.