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The data revolution: It’s time for real estate investors to embrace digital infrastructure
- October 1, 2021: Vol. 14, Number 9

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The data revolution: It’s time for real estate investors to embrace digital infrastructure

by Thomas Liu

The increasing use of data continues to transform businesses and consumer behavior around the world. Whether it is the rollout of 5G, the growth of ecommerce, our increased reliance on the cloud or the development of artificial intelligence across industries, our need for data is always increasing, as we have seen in the management of our energy assets, or greater connectivity in the workplace and at home. Between 2017 and 2030, HSBC estimates data use will increase 19-fold. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has served to accelerate the already rapid rate of change we have seen in the recent past. Indeed, what would have developed in five years is now happening in only two. The scale of the opportunity for investors to participate in this growth by backing the digital infrastructure needed to support it is clear. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, for example, shipments of smartphones are set to be 1.38 billion this year, 7.7 percent higher than 2020. An

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