Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1414667
46 I ICT TODAY Smart office furniture can be tied to smart desk apps that show which desks are available, and it will likely let a user "book" the desk for a certain time slot. In add- ition, when a desk becomes free, an alert can be sent to the cleaning team that it is ready for cleaning and disinfection. Once cleaned, the desk can be marked "available" on the app. PoE lighting infrastructure, as part of an intelligent building network, could also help support social dis- tancing with lighting prompts. In addition, there is aid for spatial reconfiguration by supplying data around which office areas were already overcrowded and which innately had lower occupancies. This, in turn, can help companies determine how to restructure existing physical spaces. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: Giovanni Frezza is the director of products in Molex's Connected Enterprise Solution Business Unit. He leads the product management and engineering organizations for network-connected solutions. His vision and contributions in recent years have influenced and impacted the company's digital building partner eco-system initiative and entire PoE connected lighting segment. Giovanni received an M.S. in physics from the University "La Sapienza" of Rome (Italy) in 1998. Currently, he is involved in Ethernet-based solutions, IoT applications, building technologies, Industrial automation, cloud-based platforms, and smart grid applications, while promoting with other industry leaders open standards and interoperable architectures for innovative systems integration. Giovanni is the author of several publications and patents for smart building and building connected solutions. He can be reached at giovanni.frezza@molex.com. REFERENCES: 1. Maxwell, Krystal. "PoE is Poised to Accelerate Intelligent Building Growth," LEDs Magazine, 25 February 2020. 2. "Preparing for the Smart Buildings of Today: A History of Change and Technology Leadership," Security Magazine.com, BNP Media, 23 March 2020. 3. "Smart Buildings and The IoT," FacilityExecutive.com, 17 September 2019. 4. "Smart Building Market: Growth, Trends & Forecasts to 2025," Research and Markets, GlobeNewswire, 21 January 2020. 5. Stone, Adam. "The Tech Behind Smart Building Automation Systems," FedTech, 23 January 2020. 6. "Pre & Post COVID-19 Market Estimates-Smart Office Furniture Market 2020-2024 Developments in Connectivity Technologies to Boost Market Growth," Technavio Research, Business Wire, 24 April 2020. 7. Donati, Angelica K. "What Areas Should You Be Excited About in Smart Building Tech?" Forbes Magazine, 21 February 2020. Another approaching use case could be the inte- gration of antibacterial or antiviral lights for automatic sterilization purposes. This could be accomplished by smart furniture or overhead lighting, which could be programmed to run overnight or after occupants leave a room or a desk. How quickly this use case comes to fruition is uncertain—likely sooner than later. What is certain is the intelligence provided by a digitally-based PoE platform will afford the flexibility to allow for easy spatial reconfiguration and adjustment based on both occupant behavior and evolving workspace requirements. CONCLUSION Global revenues for smart commercial-building IoT is expected to increase to $84 billion by 2022, a 19.4 percent CAGR. 7 IoT technologies will continue to deliver smarter, more automated and better-connected systems in new and existing buildings, especially as the demand for convenience and greater attention to the space and layout continue to rise. PoE-connected lighting is a key component of an IoT-driven smart building, bringing with it the ability to converge different functions within a single infrastructure to form the foundation of a highly integrated structure. As people continue adapting to the "new normal" in the physical workplace, PoE-connected lighting will grow as a foundation for IoT innovation that supports intelligent disinfection of work surfaces and office spaces, enabling a safer environment, potentially without the need for human intervention.