RE-SEARCH makes IT-Label part of the search

RE-SEARCH wants to be the first broker and real estate platform to structurally address the digital delivery level of buildings. Alongside square meters, rent and location, a new question is becoming increasingly important: what can a building handle digitally? The company, with offices in Venlo and Amsterdam, does not see this as a theoretical issue but as a practical choice that comes up in virtually every leasing process.

Commercial real estate is measured and made insight into on more and more fronts: energy labels, BREEAM, WELL, NEN and ISO standards. From sustainability and health to safety and technology, there is now a language to describe quality. Yet RE-SEARCH identifies a notable blind spot: what does a tenant actually receive digitally at delivery?

Why the IT question comes too late

A leasing process is largely about speed. How many square meters are needed, how many workstations fit, what is the rent, and when can the tenant move in? Floor plans are drawn up, workstations are mapped out, and parties work toward the deal.

One topic strikingly often only comes up later: what about the IT? Sometimes only after the lease has been signed and the fit-out has already been determined. At that point, decisions still need to be made about internet, fiber, cabling, WiFi, network equipment, cybersecurity and the division of responsibility between tenant and landlord.

RE-SEARCH sees this precisely as a commercial opportunity. A clear digital delivery level provides upfront clarity about what is present, what will be delivered, and what a tenant needs to arrange themselves. That prevents surprises, makes buildings easier to compare, and can even speed up the decision-making process. Transparency about IT does not have to make a real estate deal more complicated. It can actually make the deal easier.

Anyone who knows exactly how many square meters they are renting should also know what that space can handle digitally.

Making the invisible visible

IT-Label emerged from this practice, and frankly, also from a degree of frustration. Not as a new quality mark, since that is explicitly not what IT-Label currently is, but as an awareness initiative. The ambition is simple: make visible what is currently invisible.

A building's digital delivery level already exists. It is just rarely communicated in a uniform and understandable way. "In real estate, we can tell you down to the decimal how many square meters someone is renting," says RE-SEARCH founder Colin Westerneng. "But when it comes to the question of what a tenant actually receives digitally at delivery, everyone suddenly starts looking at each other."

IT-Label therefore focuses primarily on making that translation. What is present? What is delivered? And what does a tenant still need to arrange themselves? These three questions form the core of a classification that runs from IT1+ PREMIUM to IT5 SHELL.

Sign today, work tomorrow?

No two buildings are the same. In a modern business center, you can sometimes sign a lease today and walk in with your laptop tomorrow. Internet, WiFi, network and other digital provisions are already arranged.

In conventional real estate, a landlord might, for example, provide a fiber connection up to a certain point, after which the tenant arranges their own network, WiFi, cabling and security. There is nothing wrong with that. It actually gives companies more freedom to set up their own IT environment. But a tenant needs to know this in advance. According to RE-SEARCH, this distinction is still not sufficiently factored into the search for real estate.

Research first, then search

The name RE-SEARCH was not chosen by accident. According to the founders, finding the right space does not start with searching, but with proper research. What does an organization need today? How will it work tomorrow? What technology does it use? And what do cloud, data, cybersecurity and AI demand of the new work environment?

That is why, when handling a search request, RE-SEARCH wants to ask not only how many square meters someone needs, but also what the workplace needs to be able to handle digitally. Where RE-SEARCH examines the user's needs, IT-Label aims to clarify what a building offers digitally. This allows supply and demand to align better digitally as well. You can read more about that approach at www.re-search.com.

From SMART building to digital real estate

Internet use in buildings is relatively young. In just a few decades, digital connectivity has changed from an added feature into an absolute basic need. AI is accelerating that development once again.

"We are making buildings increasingly SMARTER, but SMART does not automatically say what a tenant can actually do with it," says co-founder Miquel van Dongen. "In the end, a business owner simply wants to know: can my organization function well here digitally?" According to RE-SEARCH, that is the next step toward digital real estate: no longer viewing bricks, data and digital infrastructure as separate worlds.

Not a new standard, but a shared language

IT-Label explicitly does not aim to replace existing standards, technical inspections and certifications. That knowledge is actually needed to eventually arrive at an understandable translation. That is why an independent knowledge collective is being built, bringing together professionals from real estate, leasing, fit-out, IT, cybersecurity and AI, among other fields.

The goal is not for a single party to determine what is right or wrong, but to jointly explore how a building's digital delivery level can be communicated simply and understandably. The Netherlands wants to lead in AI and the knowledge economy. That requires companies to have data, connectivity, security and a healthy digital infrastructure. And all that technology ultimately has to land somewhere: in our offices, business spaces and workplaces.

What you can do now

Tomorrow's real estate question is not only about where a company wants to work, but also about what that place can handle digitally. If you want to know how the digital delivery level fits into a search or leasing process, read about how to get IT information on the table in advance and explore the classification from IT1+ PREMIUM to IT5 SHELL. That way, the next time you look for space, you will know not only how many square meters you are renting, but also what those square meters can handle digitally.