An Insider’s Look at the Evolving Landscape of Real Estate Data
Interview with: PRISM Advisory Board Member, Patrick Jacolenne, Founder & Chief Data Strategy Officer, DataLogIQ 360
As the universe of property data expands, the challenge of accessing information quickly grows exponentially. Principal Analyst Dianne Crocker connected with technology expert Patrick Jacolenne about the challenges associated with accessing property data from multiple sources, and what he sees as the key step for advancing the digitization of commercial real estate (CRE) property data.
In an industry like ours where data is king, the availability of more and more property data is both a blessing and a curse. What do you see as the greatest challenges in accessing and leveraging the growing universe of data in CRE?
Patrick: First, data fragmentation is a significant challenge. CRE data often originates from various sources, including property listings, transaction records, market reports, and legal documents. However, this data is frequently siloed across different platforms and formats, making it difficult to aggregate and analyze effectively. Many CRE transactions still rely on manual processes, such as paper-based documentation and manual data entry. This manual handling of data introduces the risk of errors, inconsistencies, and delays, leading to inefficiencies in decision-making and transaction processes.
The second challenge centers around the issue of data timeliness. CRE transactions involve a wide range of parties, including buyers, sellers, agents, lenders, and government agencies. Each of these entities maintain their own databases and records, leading to fragmentation of data. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration among stakeholders, adoption of standardized data formats and protocols, investment in technology infrastructure, and implementation of robust data governance practices. In addition, real estate transactions can be complex and involve numerous steps, such as property inspections, appraisals, financing approvals, and legal documentation. Each of these steps introduces their own timelines and delays in the transaction process, impacting the timeliness of data updates.
Last is the challenge of data connectedness which begins at the source. Each individual data point is only a snapshot in the overall blueprint of a commercial property. The absence of a unique identifier complicates data connection. It poses challenges in data linkage across related datasets, cross-referencing property data with other relevant data, and hinders the standardization and organization of property characteristics into a format and model capable of effectively tracking and reporting changes to a property. In the absence of a unique identifier, duplicate or conflicting property records may exist across multiple datasets, resulting in data inconsistency and inaccuracies. This can lead to errors in property valuation, assessment, and transactional processes, undermining the reliability and trustworthiness of the data.
How do you envision the CRE industry bridging the gap and addressing these challenges?
Patrick: I think there are three key steps that need to happen. First, organizations need to embrace digital transformation by investing in modernizing their data infrastructure. This includes implementing cloud-based databases, digital transaction platforms, and data visualization tools to streamline processes and improve data accuracy. Next, we need to establish data governance principles. These data standards and governance frameworks will play a crucial role in ensuring consistent quality, formatting of data across systems and platforms. Last, we need to champion the use of a unique identifier that underpins CRE data, which will enable aggregating comprehensive, highly accurate data.
What do you see as the key benefit of being able to aggregate disparate data sets at the property level?
The implementation of a unique property ID system stands out as one of the most critical and fundamental steps in advancing the digitization of CRE data. It has the combined benefits of significantly enhancing data quality, transactional efficiency, regulatory compliance, and risk management, thereby fostering more informed decision-making, and promoting sustainable business practices. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration among stakeholders across the entire CRE lifecycle, championing the adoption of standardized data formats and protocols, aligning investments in technology and automation, as well as collaborating on the implementation of robust industry standard data governance practices.
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ABOUT PATRICK
Patrick has a diverse and extensive 20+ year data career holding a number of c-level positions across the Finance and Real-Estate industries as an accomplished corporate strategist for JPMorgan Chase, CoreLogic and a number of PE firms. Aligning innovation with organizational objectives resulting in a high return on investment, he is recognized for his ability to deliver compelling C-level business cases and board of director presentations to secure over $100+ million dollars in funding for transformative investments and the commercialization of $700 million dollar data monetization businesses. A key driver of his success is Patrick’s ability to build and lead 300+ personnel global teams, delivering new data products and solution into the market. Over a decade, he managed high-performing teams across Europe, India, and Asia, navigating the complexities of varying banking regulations, standards, and cultures within a global organization. He is now the Founder & Chief Data Strategy Officer of DataLogIQ 360 and DC4+AI a data & analytics firm that has developed a SaaS based data certification product for data compliance requirements across the banking, real estate, and insurance industries.
