DISCUSSION

PUSHING FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY

In a recently concluded E-Live Webinar, in partnership with du and knowledge partners Tafawuq Facilities Management, Kasun Illankoon spoke to Andrew Law, Technical Services Director at Tafawuq Facilities Management, Khurram Nazeer, General Manager – IT at EFS Facilities Services Group, and Rachid Hamida, Technology and Performance Director at Enova, on how their organizations addressed the COVID-19 pandemic, and how technology and innovation played a crucial role in overcoming this issue

INITIAL STEPS AND MEASURES TAKEN TO COMBAT COVID-19

Andrew Law: Tafawuq Facilities Man agement has immediately created a clear response plan as soon as cases of infection have surfaced in the UAE. The directives of the global and local health authorities guided us through out this process.

The plan is also in line with the actions taken and being implemented by our parent company, Eltizam Asset Management Group.

As part of our initial and proactive steps, we have immediately enforced the government's precautionary mea sures across our workplaces and communities under our management.

We have also been consistently raising awareness about COVID-19, particularly emphasizing how staying at home can limit, if not eliminate, the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. Our regular awareness initiatives take place on our official digital channels.

We have been subjecting all Tafawuq's staff, especially our field workers, to regular briefing sessions to update them about the latest de velopments and newest government directives. We believe that these ses sions are helping them perform their tasks safely and confidently.

Tafawuq has launched new sanitation and disinfection services for homes and communities which use non-toxic disinfectants to clean houses and public areas. It has natu ral and organic chemicals that ensure the health and safety of people and pets alike.

Transparency is also part of our

response plan. We regularly inform customers and suppliers about our COVID-19-related guidelines to ensure smooth and safe transactions between us. Rachid Hamida: First of all, we focused on the healthy & safety of our em ployees. Getting everyone through this difficult times physically and mentally was crucial and brought an over whelming team spirit to light. In parallel, we set up clear and transparent communication with our clients, acting as a true partner to overcome this cri sis period. After the phase of business continuity support, we adapted our approach to the recovery phase.

Overall, we have to highlight that our teams on the ground have shown great agility and flexibility on all op erational levels, adapting smoothly to any changes in our customers' busi ness conditions.

Khurram Nazeer: We took the matter very seriously, followed all government requirements and recom mendations, and developed an EFS COVID-19 Corporate Level Frame work to deal with this. We needed to look through the COVID-19 lens and address the following challenges, which included two-fold: • Staff Management – health con cerns, job security fears, motivational challenges • Business Continuity – financial control, client's expectations, renegotiations

In terms of staff management, communication was a vital part of this process. We need to ensure that all HSE Guidelines, PPE Instructions, sanitization practices in accommoda tions, transportation, and workplace were communicated efficiently and put into practice. EFS ensured that all staff was observed and moni tored during the pandemic and that social distancing strictly adhered too. In order to continue and moti vate the staff conducted staff coaching to help alleviate any pressures cause by this crisis.

ANDREW LAW T E C H N I C A L S E R V I C E S D I R E C T O R A T TAFAWUQ FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

KHURRAM NAZEER G E N E R A L M A N A G E R - I N F O R M A T I O N T E C H N O L O G Y A T E F S F A C I L I T I E S SERVICES GROUP

RACHID HAMIDA T E C H N O L O G Y A N D P E R F O R M A N C E DIRECTOR, ENOVA

TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, AND R&D

Andrew Law: Technology has played a critical role in ensuring all buildings and occupants are safe even before the pandemic. This role has only been further amplified during the global crisis.

Amid COVID-19, FM companies have been utilizing various technolo gies to provide uninterrupted services and maintain business continuity.

For instance, at Tafawuq, we have deployed a five-year technology roadmap, which has already brought multiple benefits to the company, especially during this pandemic.

One example of our technology is Tafawuq GO, a maintenance mobility solution. This tool allows our techni cians to receive, carry out, and close work orders digitally without faceto-face interaction with other staff. Further, it was developed to reduce the organization's carbon footprint. Through Tafawuq GO, we now spar ingly use our printers, scanners, and other devices.

Another is the next-generation SAP4 HANA enterprise resource planning (ERP) system used for remote ap proval of transactions. The real-time approvals can also be done using our mobile devices. The ERP system has reduced the need for printing and transporting documents that require a signature.

NESTROM, an online management system for quality, health, safety, and environment (QHSE) inspections, has paved the way for paperless and con tactless work within our company as well. Its e-banking integration facili tates payments through bank transfers.

Tafawuq also takes great pride in QuickPay, which enables our custom ers to complete payment transactions for home maintenance and cleaning services using their digital devices.

By the end of 2020, we are also set to launch a new service enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT). Through this upcoming connected building project, Tafawuq is set to pave the way for a new era in FM in the UAE and the region. Khurram Nazeer: In a recent article for a leading newspaper, our CEO, Mr. Tariq Chauhan, has called this a Technology Renaissance. According to him, the technology has been there for years before the COVID-19 crisis, but the crisis has now transformed mind sets and disrupted workflows. This has significantly accelerated technol ogy adaption. Here are some specific examples; we've introduced real-time communication and collaboration by

utilizing Microsoft Teams, Meetings, Chats, Chat Bots, and Work Tracker as a way to maintain remote working conditions. At the offices itself, we've introduced IOT and Smart Connected Devices to keep track of the staff using count sensors and thermal cameras, ensuring staff are wearing masks and shoe sanitizers. This has enabled EFS to maintain a high level of productivity and efficiency during the pandemic.

In terms of innovation, we've in troduced new business services that cover bio cleaning and new disinfec tion services approved by the Dubai Municipality. We also have a nearreal-time analysis and reporting of suspected, confirmed, and recovered cases and improved resource manage ment and deployment planning.

Rachid Hamida: During the lock down, in parallel to keeping our workforce and building occupants safe and healthy, another challenge was to keep the buildings them selves and their assets healthy. This was possible by running utilities at a minimum rate or even putting them into hibernation mode while continu ously monitoring. This was possible thanks to Enova's well-advanced digital transformation and the below digital support tools such as a fully operational remote 24/7 customer service center, smart sensors and realtime monitoring with our hypervision platform 'Hubgrade,' remote expert support through Smart Glasses, and asset inspection and thermal imaging through drone inspections.

Our teams were consistently avail able and mobilized for any reactive maintenance works on site. Besides, some of our clients used the lock down period to conduct maintenance works in areas that are hard to access under normal circumstances.

Now that buildings are being repopulated ensuring all assets and sys tems are in sound condition is crucial.

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

Andrew Law: FM companies are crucial to ensuring a safe environment for all building occupants during these unprecedented times. Building a safe environment is not just being compliant with the existing regula tions but also conforming to proven sustainable practices.

We need to enact policies that will sustain the implementation of sustain able FM practices, which mainly focus on reducing the environmental impact of facilities and buildings.

At Tafawuq, sustainable operations are part of our 5-year strategic plan. Under this strategy, we continuously monitor our operations to identify where our work negatively impacts the environment and find the most appropriate and practical solutions.

In line with this, we have imple mented an Integrated Management System, which comprises ISO 9001 Quality Management System; ISO

14001 Environmental Management System; and OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System. Khurram Nazeer: Since the FM industry is so people-driven, CO VID-19 was a stark reminder about sustainability's fundamental prin ciples. It moved the focus from the environment and climatic issues towards people (staff and clients) and their health. It increased reliance on technology for improved effi ciency, speed, delivery, and quality of services. Responsible workplaces, efficient work practices, waste reduc tion, procedural capabilities through the use of technology has help EFS with this transformation.

When it comes to clean air technol ogy, various techs have been used around the world, such as airlite paint, which uses sunlight to purify

polluted air. Another alternative to gain clean air is the usage of biosolar leaves where the panels are covered with tiny plants that convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. You also have smog-reducing granules on roofing shingles which uses a photocatalytic coating, activated by the sun's UV rays, generate radicals that bind with the chemicals in smoggy air and transform them into water-soluble ions that eventually wash away. Rachid Hamida: Thanks to Enova's internal processes, we managed the Covid-19 crisis in a flexible and agile way. We did face some new challeng es and limits that we needed to adapt to, which made us become stronger in return.

Indeed, already before Covid-19, Enova pioneered the combination of FM with sustainability, supporting clients of many different industries with their sustainability targets. Our experience has shown that already through digitalizing the FM approach, areas of optimization can be identi fied both in terms of efficiency and sustainability. One concrete example for this would be the office building Majid Al Futtaim Tower 2 in Deira Dubai. For this pilot project, Enova was able to achieve savings of 10% with no CAPEX investment. All sav ings were achieved based on Energy Conservation Measures that were free to implement, with our hypervision platform 'Hubgrade'.

CHALLENGES FACED FROM FM WORKERS

Andrew Law: As front liners, FM workers are at a higher risk of being exposed to the virus. This is why key measures have been put in place to en sure their health and well-being while doing their job. Challenges include the risk of virus exposure, contamination, and safety protocol breaches.

To address these challenges, Ta fawuq's employees regularly undergo proper training and briefing sessions. Our main objectives are to raise their awareness and enhance their skills in line with company and government rules and regulations.

We have also enhanced our usual training curriculum to align it with the standards set by the British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc), in ad dition to increasing the frequency of deep-cleaning of high-traffic touch areas such as door handles, handrails, elevator buttons, and taps.

In coordination with the Dubai Health Authority and Dubai Munici pality, we are continuously reviewing, updating, and improving our meth odologies to prevent cross-contamination and the spread of infection. We only use products that have been approved by the local authorities. Rachid Hamida: Thanks to our con tinuous efforts in Health & Safety, our teams were quick and efficient in implementing the new safety guidelines. Our workforce went above and beyond with their commitment, which we honored through our internal rec ognition program "Frontline Heroes"

We can also proudly say that our digital transformation over the last couple of years enabled us to have only minimal manpower physically present on site, thus reducing virus spread through human interaction. To name only two innovative Enova solutions: • 'Hubgrade': more than 15,000 IoT and smart sensors are connected to our live monitoring platform 'Hub grade' for remote real-time monitoring and even control; • Drone inspections: only the drone pilot goes in the field to collect the footage and data, afterwards the team of analysts remotely goes through the data and recommends the best follow-up solutions. Khurram Nazeer: Employees always come first at EFS as such, we were aware of the critical challenges faced by them. We introduced PPE gear, which put additional effort into the workers, which may have impacted their productivity and efficiency, and the weather in UAE did not help with that matter due to the heat. The staff had to adhere strictly to social distancing rules at all times at the site. Being in the frontline, there were some cases where the team tested positive for COVID-19, but we provided separate accommodations for them to recover. These challenges vary from residential and commercial buildings. At commercial buildings, you have multiple entrances, various timings, and SOP compliance, which means the challenges varied too. Physical checks needed to be con ducted and ensure that all occupants' temperatures were checked and had masks on. In a commercial building, the variety of locations also mean that a more extensive area had to be sanitized and cleaned, such as doors, rails, lifts, and common areas.