Smart or Intelligent Assets or Infrastructure: Technology with a Purpose

Smart or intelligent built assets including infrastructure, buildings, real estate, and cities provide enhanced functionality to their different users such as occupiers, passengers, consumers, patients, managers or operators. This enhanced functionality enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Mobile Apps, Virtual Reality (VR) and 5G does not only translate into a superior user experience; technology also supports sustainability and energy consumption to meet regulation (ESG, NZC) while optimising asset management and operations for enhanced business economic performance. The main peculiarity is that technology is standardised, ubiquitous and independent from the physical built assets whereas asset users including humans, machines and devices are also common to different assets. This article analyses the atomic differences between built assets and proposes an asset omni-management model based on micro-management of services that will support the macro-functionality of the asset. The proposed key concept is based on the standardisation of different assets based on common and specific functionality and services delivered by the technology stack that is supporting already the transition to Industry 5.0 based on Web 3.0 and Tokenisation.