Megatrends

MegatrendsMostly, disruption captures people off-guard.As Bill Gates says “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.”Few imagined how Amazon, Uber, Apple, Google, AirBnB, and Tesla would transform so many established industries.As consumers, this transformation is making our lives easier, but for businesses who don’t prepare for change, it can be traumatic. And for those that embrace innovation and change, there can be an immense upside.The Prime Minister’s call for business ‘agility’ is not a glib line, it is wise advice from someone who deftly navigated the tech-boom of the late 1990s.Some in our industry might say that innovation is not a first-order issue for us because there will always be a need for houses, offices and community infrastructure. However, this denies the profound changes already occurring across our industry.Because members are at the heart of what we do, we want our members to be ready to grasp the forces that will shape our industry – and their own businesses.This year, the Property Council has been collaborating with the Green Building Council of Australia and EY on the question of how “will the Australian property sector seize the upside of disruption?”.The result of that collaboration is research which studies the megatrends of our times. I encourage you to read it and to consider the questions it raises as you prepare for 2017.