Proptech firm WiredScore is expanding into the industrial sector to capture growth in a real estate submarket whose assets house increasingly sophisticated technology, Bisnow can reveal.

WiredScore analyses the connectivity and tech readiness of buildings and provides a certification service for owners. It started by certifying office buildings before moving into rented residential and, now, industrial properties.

Its industrial push has launched in the UK and Ireland, with eight clients undergoing the certification process on their portfolios: Segro, Panattoni, Ergo Real Estate, Harleyford Capital, Iput, Rohan Holdings, Trammell Crow and Wrenbridge.

WiredScore plans to expand its industrial certification service to other markets globally later this year.

Traditionally, industrial real estate was seen as the technologically simplest of the industry's main subsectors, hence the nickname “sheds.” At one time, the activities going on inside, like storage and distribution, were fairly simple.

But now, large occupiers like Amazon are fitting out their sheds with ever more technology — robot pickers, drones, order management systems that are updated every second — that require huge bandwidth and are necessary to keep businesses running on time.

Systems required to ensure buildings are energy-efficient also require good connectivity.

“Owners and developers in the industrial space have much to think about: evolving occupier demands, pressure to keep up with the drive towards net zero, higher operating costs and the omnipresent potential for disruption thanks to AI,” WiredScore Regional Director, UK, Ireland and Middle East Tom Vaughan-Fowler said in a statement.

“What these challenges all come back to is a pressing requirement for a robust, long-term strategy with technology at its heart.”

Industrial tenants have entered a new era that is increasingly reliant on smart technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence and data-driven operations, Panattoni Head of Portfolio Management and ESG Oliver Winchcombe said in a statement, adding that “ensuring our developments are at the cutting-edge of connectivity is a strategic priority.”