NUS pilots Samsung-Microsoft solutions for smart real estate

The National University of Singapore (NUS) will serve as a pilot for solutions pioneered under an alliance between Samsung Electronics and Microsoft as part of the university’s ongoing efforts to create a smart, safe and sustainable campus for students and staff.

Samsung Electronics and Microsoft have partnered for a global collaboration focused on digitally transforming the real estate development and property management industries.

This collaboration, combining smart appliances and digital cloud technologies, aims at helping to drive improved building operations and maintenance, along with creating better experiences for both service technicians and residents.

This new strategic alliance, with pilots currently under development, brings together the power of Microsoft’s Azure IoT platform and productivity cloud services with Samsung’s smart devices and SmartThings platform, to help optimise building operations, equipment maintenance, energy management, asset performance, and new tenant experiences for commercial, hospitality and residential buildings as well as mixed-use developments.

“NUS is very excited to work with Microsoft and Samsung in piloting smart building management solutions on our campus,” said Yong Kwet Yew, SVP of campus infrastructure at NUS.

“The experience gained from this trial could help us transform the way we maintain our buildings with predictive maintenance, enable better user experiences and create a smart campus ecosystem, and it has potential to scale up at the national level,” the professor added.

Samsung and Microsoft will leverage Samsung’s smart home appliances, HVAC systems and smart TVs integrated with SmartThings, together with Microsoft’s Azure Digital Twins technology and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service, to improve building maintenance and management by aggregating and analysing IoT data from building systems and connected appliances.

For example, with this new capability building managers can not only create an integrated dashboard for handling building issues in real time but potentially before failure, saving time and resources.

The alliance also covers Samsung mobile devices, including the XCover Pro mobile phone, to create improved experiences for frontline workers involved in handling building issues. Additionally, Samsung plans to offer SmartThings mobile development tools to enable builders to craft custom, tailored connected living experiences for their end users