Seven Finnish companies have formed the Keko consortium to create a global standard for in-building data ecosystems and a smart platform into which other parties can tap.
 
Caverion, Halton, Kone, Netox, Nokia, VTT and YIT, have founded the ecosystem supported by funding from Business Finland. The platform will enable the collection, analysis and automatic application of data in building maintenance and design.
 
In developed countries, people spend up to 90% of their time indoors. Buildings are also the source of over a third of the EU’s carbon dioxide emissions. As buildings play such an important role in society, the data generated by buildings are extremely valuable.
 
The Keko ecosystem aims to improve the comfort, productivity and sustainability of buildings by integrating the data of all the technical systems in the built environment into one platform.
 
“Services designed for smart buildings will become increasingly connected,” said Rauno Hatakka, head of Kone’s technology management unit. “They will form ecosystems and create new value for customers and better experiences for building users. In Keko we will build a digital platform, together with the best industry players in Finland. We will use the smart building data to innovate new solutions that will predict the needs of building users, and make these environments more functional and responsive. At Kone, our mission is to improve the flow or urban life and Keko supports this perfectly.”
 
The ecosystem’s founding members are Kone, a specialist in the elevator and escalator industry, Nokia, which offers a portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities, YIT, a city developer and builder, Caverion, a building technology company, Halton, a provider of indoor air systems and integrated, human-centric lighting, and Netox, an IT and cyber security company. The research partner and coordinator of the project is VTT.
 
The ultimate goal is to grow the ecosystem beyond the founding members. SMEs with smart building expertise are invited to take part in different Keko projects.
 
“There is an unprecedented amount of building data as well as companies and organisations producing it in the world today,” said Halton’s strategy and business development director Mika Nieminen. “By making the data easily available in one platform for players of all sizes and points of view, we are opening whole new possibilities for creating human-centric indoor environments. These environments will offer smart comfort, security, sustainability and profitability. The Keko partnership fits nicely to the core of Halton’s business: we want to be a part of producing the world’s best indoor environments where people feel great.”
 
Keko is a two-year project, which begins with the identification of one hundred new use cases for building data. After that, possibilities will be developed and tested.
 
The use cases have been identified by monitoring the everyday activities of building users and operators. The identification of possible use cases has been on-going since the end of 2019.
 
The use cases will then be used as the foundation for developing concepts for potential digital offerings. The concepts are already incorporating the buildings’ own data as well as external data. Ultimately, the viability and feasibility of the concepts will be validated in 2020 and 2021. Business Finland has provided funding for the project.