Activity Report
2019

Professional Standards

INREV’s Professional Standards programme develops and promotes industry guidelines and standards for the European non-listed real estate investment market, which are increasingly global in focus. The programme is rolled out in close collaboration with our global association partners and related INREV committees and focus groups. Key topics cover the relevant stages of the real estate investment journey, and include fee and expense metrics, performance measurement, financial and investor reporting, due diligence, secondary markets and liquidity, and ESG.

Bridging the fee transparency gap

Since 2015, we have been collaborating with our global partners, NCREIF, PREA and ANREV to develop global standards. In 2019 we continued to make progress in the area of fees and expenses, and we finalised our first global measure of fees and costs, the Total Global Expense Ratio (TGER). This new standard harmonises the approach for measuring the total fees and costs of real estate investment vehicles, enabling investors and managers to compare vehicles across different regions of the globe. During the industry consultation we received positive responses and unanimous buy-in from industry participants for global standardisation of ratio computation, appropriate categorisation and disclosure of fees and costs. In 2020 we will implement TGER into the fees and expense metrics module of the INREV Guidelines and related standards and tools, followed by a transition period. In January 2021 it will become a required element of the INREV Guidelines.

First gap analysis of regional NAVs

The industry looks for common metrics to report and compare performance of real estate investment vehicles that operate across different regions of the world. However, in practice we use different NAV calculations in different regions. In December 2019 we published a comparison paper together with our global partners INREV, NCREIF/PREA Reporting Standards and ANREV to explain the main differences when calculating NAVs across regions and the potential impact of these differences.

Definitions harmonised across the globe

In 2019 we continued to enrich the Global Definitions Database - a single depositary of definitions for the global real estate market. Over 100 definitions were added to the GDD in 2019 and now includes consistent definitions for debt vehicles, investment vehicle structures and ESG. We will continue to further develop the Global Definitions Database in 2020 with improved search functionality.

Compliance with the reporting guidelines reaches record levels

This year’s Trends in Investor Reporting Study shows that overall compliance with the INREV reporting guidelines has gone up to 85%, compared to 80% in 2017. INREV NAV compliance reached new highs at 94% highlighting the importance and wide use of this key standard by industry participants. The study also highlights that investor reporting and processes have improved and that there has been a shift in the mindset of investment managers towards a more digital environment, and ESG considerations, including climate risk and impact investing, are becoming increasingly important.

DDQ goes from strength to strength

The Due Diligence Questionnaire (DDQ) remains INREV’s most popular tool, used by more than 61% of our members in 2019. We continued to work on promoting awareness and in supporting our members to implement the questionnaire into their due diligence processes. We revamped the INREV Data Room Guidelines, a practical tool to transparently and efficiently structure and share information with prospective investors during the fundraising process. Furthermore, we developed a short eLearning module on the role of due diligence in the real estate market, the fundamental aspects and how to prepare for the due diligence process. Also, initial steps were taken to update the INREV Debt DDQ, further supporting the industry to invest in the evolving range of investment vehicles. This update will be completed in 2020.

Open end fund pricing study: Phase 2 consultation

In 2019, together with AREF, we continued to work on the second phase of an industry wide consultation into open end fund pricing in Europe, aiming to foster greater consistency and clarity on pricing policies and their surrounding governance. Phase two focuses on identifying areas where existing practice can be improved and suggests recommendations for strengthening the governance over pricing. The resulting paper is expected to be ready for industry consultation in the first half of 2020.

Accelerated ESG initiatives

We combined membership expertise for a unified ESG view by establishing a dedicated ESG committee through a merger between the Sustainability and Corporate Governance committees. We continued to expand the Global ESG Library for the non-listed real estate industry with new case studies and papers. The library includes over 40 publications and continues to grow.

We organised a round table on Climate Risk to discuss the issues around data availability and how to define and implement a strategy on climate risk.

While impact investing is still a relatively small sector of our industry, it is viewed as one of the fastest growing areas of asset management around the globe. We looked at defining what impact investing means and created a framework to map out the different investment approaches for real estate, depending on investors’ ambition for environmental and social impact. The results will be published early 2020.

INREV provides various guidance and tools around ESG issues - this is expected to grow in the future to offer INREV members the most practical ESG toolkit.

Research

INREV research is the go-to platform for insights on the European non-listed real estate industry set out in a global context Drawing upon INREV's extensive proprietary data which covers a range of topics, the research seeks to anticipate the direction of the non-listed real estate industry globally.

In 2019 we introduced a new series of monthly briefings enabling INREV members to achieve deeper insights into the various research publications. Topics throughout the year included the 'Coming of Age' paper and a series of seven country specific papers and one comparison paper of investor universes.

Published in 2019

6 Evergreens: Investment Intentions Survey, Capital Raising Survey, Fund Manager Survey, Funds of Funds Study, Funds Termination Study and Management Fees and Terms Comparison Study.

The three global surveys, carried out in conjunction with ANREV in Asia Pacific and NCREIF and PREA in the US (Investment Intentions, Capital Raising and the Fund Manager Survey), reached record numbers of participation and market representation grew further.

While increased participation has been evident throughout 2019, members have also continued to engage positively with output and the Investment Intentions report was again the most popular report according to the membership satisfaction survey conducted at the end of the year.

2 ad-hoc reports: Coming of age: The evaluation of the catalysts driving the rebirth, renewal and coming of age of the non-listed real estate industry and Flexible offices call for flexible owners.

Positive growth for the non-listed industry

The coming of age paper sets out the evolution of the industry from 2004 to present, evaluating the catalyst driving the re-birth, renewal and coming of age of the industry and the changes participants and products in non-listed real estate have experienced during this period. This important piece of research allows the industry to reflect and recognise that our experience and professionalism has resulted in better products for investors and an environment in which new ideas and approaches can evolve.

A new lens on the universe

With overall real estate allocations rising, it was time to revisit the investment universe series, which initially ran between in 2010 to 2012. The research aims to explore the European institutional investor landscape, the motivations for investing in real estate and the hurdles that prevent from doing so. A series of seven studies were carried out on Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK and completed with a comparison report. This series of studies were highly regarded by members, rating it as the fourth most popular research after the global surveys.

Flexible offices call for flexible owners

Flexible office space has played a growing role in office markets in Europe and globally, with significant implications for investors in non-listed real estate. Growth has been rapid, with the volume of flexible space in the world’s 20 largest cities doubling between 2014 and 2017. Given that European real estate investors are currently raising their allocations to the office sector, this paper enables insights into the potential and the risks that are associated with flexible office space.

Market Information

INREV market information is an independent source of comprehensive data on the European non-listed real estate industry. Our market information suite – indices, vehicle universes and online interactive analysis tools supports all aspects of the real estate investment process, from asset allocation to performance measurement.

In 2019 we launched two new consultation indices, the European Open-end Diversified Core Equity Index (ODCE) and the Asset Level Index along with a new series of monthly briefing enabling INREV members to achieve deeper insights into the various publications. Topics throughout the year included a deeper dive into the results of the INREV Quarterly Index and first results of the Asset level Index.>

The market information programme includes:

12 Indices: Annual and quarterly: INREV Funds Index, German Vehicles Index, IRR Index and European ODCE Index, Asset Level Index *. Global: Global Real Estate Fund Index (In collaboration with our global partners NCREIF and ANREV)), Global Investor Index INREV

3 Databases: INREV Vehicles Universe, Debt Funds Universe and Funds of Funds Universe

4 Online analytical tools: Index Analysis Tool, German Vehicles Index Analysis Tool and Investor Vehicles Analysis Tool

* Full results and analysis tool only available to members with an Asset Level user agreement

In 2019, INREV published 34 market information reports and launched two new consultation indices; the INREV Asset Level Index and the European ODCE (Open end Diversified Core Equity) Index.

Asset Level Index unveiled

The INREV Asset Level Consultation Index was unveiled to the European non-listed real estate industry at the INREV Annual Conference in April, with a special introductory video and complemented by a series of video interviews from founding and focus group members. Throughout the year, we continued to build awareness and promote the benefits through one to one webinars and through frequently highlighting this important index through member communications, industry events and in the wider press.

In response to an industry wide call for a reliable and independently managed asset level performance indicator, the index is the first pan-European quarterly index with the potential to become much larger and to provide an even greater depth of insight. This new index was developed with the support of 32 INREV members, the Asset Level Index founding members, and by the end of 2019 it had already covered more than 8.000 assets worth more than €160 billion AUM.

European ODCE bridges regional gap

The European Open End Diversified Core Equity (ODCE) Consultation Index, is the first pan-European performance index wholly comprised of open end core commingled equity real estate funds that have a pan-European strategy and across multi sectors. This index complements the regional ODCE indices in the US and Asia Pacific of our global partners NCREIF and ANREV respectively. The European ODCE at the end of 2019 includes 13 funds which represent GAV of €28 billion.

A broad range of promotional activities

In 2019, promotional activities organised to increase usage of INREV’s suite of market information tools covered a wide range of platforms including regular 1:1 demos of the website and tools, presentations to members and prospects, press releases, round tables, contribution to media articles and an active and engaging twitter account.

Public Affairs

The Public Affairs team in Brussels, together with the Public Affairs and Tax committees, work to improve awareness and understanding of the non-listed real estate industry and the significant contribution that it makes to the European economy among European policy makers. Our aim is to ensure that members’ interests are fully accounted for in any new EU legislation or policy initiatives.

Real Estate’s significant contribution to sustainability, the real economy and European cities

In September, INREV held an event in Brussels together with GRESB and RICS, where the results of the GRESB annual survey were presented and we discussed the role of real estate investment in supporting European sustainability goals, while supporting the Commission’s work on sustainable finance.

Every other year, we release an update of the Real Estate in the Real Economy study, which again confirms that commercial real estate significantly contributes to European economic growth and job creation. This study is highly effective in discussions with European policy makers and the new roster of MEPs following re-elections.>

Following the spring elections for the European Parliament, we met with MEPs, Commission officials and other policy makers and successfully advocated for the re-establishment of the European Parliament Urban Intergroup Chaired by MEP Olbrycht. The influential group has been a strong supporter of efforts to inform and educate policy makers about real estate investment’s important role in shaping the future of Europe’s cities.

The impacts of Brexit

The impacts of Brexit on the non-listed industry, especially a worst-case hard Brexit, continued to be a focus in discussions with members in events, training courses, tax and regulations briefing calls and snapshot briefings. INREV led the development of an aligned real estate industry statement on the guiding principles for future EU-UK relations, which was re-issued just before the beginning of the year in hopes of informing Brexit negotiating policies.

Leveraging on MSCI’s Solvency II update on real estate volatility

In a private meeting with EIOPA Chairman Bernardino in Frankfurt and meetings with other policy makers in Brussels, INREV presented the update of the Solvency II study carried out by MSCI that was released in 2017. This update, which provides an additional six years of investment data and five new countries, provides fresh evidence to support a Solvency Capital Requirement for real estate that more accurately reflects the volatility of real estate investment in Europe. We are hopeful that the data will lead to a more appropriate standard model real estate solvency capital requirement for European insurers as part of the EIOPA 2020 review of Solvency II.

AIFMD: A collaborative review

During the year, INREV worked closely with KPMG as it conducted a review of AIFMD for the European Commission. We organised meetings between the KPMG team and both the Public Affairs Committee and the European Real Estate Forum, and provided data useful for the review, resulting in a report to the Commission that well reflected our views on the impact or AIFMD and areas such as differing definitions of pre-marketing and external valuer liability where improvements can be made.

European Real Estate Forum: Close knit collaboration

INREV continued to play a leading role in the European Real Estate Forum (EREF), which now has 37 participating associations, including European, national and global associations. Four live EREF meetings were organised during the year to increase information sharing and alignment of efforts among European real estate industry bodies and an informal discussion during MIPIM took place. The group is an important platform for improving co-ordination on a European level in a spirit of open dialogue and exchange. Its objective is to share knowledge and align efforts to improve awareness about institutional investment in real estate among policy makers and to increase their understanding of its social and economic value.

Industry responses to EU and OECD Policy Proposals

In 2019, INREV drafted five and submitted four responses on a wide range of policy issues: Responses were submitted on OECD GloBE (base erosion) proposal – Pillar two, ESMA consultation on liquidity stress testing, ESMA consultation on integrating sustainability risks, FCA Consultation on illiquid assets and open end funds, and a response was prepared for filing in January 2020 in relation to the EIOPA Consultation on Solvency II standard model SCR for real estate.

Tax and Regulations Briefing Calls

INREV continued to offer and promote the Tax and Regulations Briefings, a monthly conference call presentation where experts present their insights and answer questions on current tax and regulatory issues facing our industry. On average, approximately 30 members joined the calls and another 40 to 50 members listened to the recordings. Topics covered included Hybrid Mismatch rules under ATAD, Taxation of non-resident investors in UK real estate, DAC6 requirements, AIFMD Fundamentals and Brexit developments impacting real estate fund managers and investors.

Compliance and Legal Officer Roundtables

INREV organised three roundtables in a closed-door setting to discuss legal and regulatory issues faced by compliance officers. These much-welcomed events were complemented by a new initiative as two roundtables for legal counsel were also organised during the year with a similar format and goal.

Training and Education

The INREV training programme provides best-in-class content, by professionals for professionals, through a suite of classroom training courses, webinars and a specialised certificate from the Henley Business School. In 2019, we enriched the programme further with the first INREV eLearning module to make training more accessible to more members across the industry and to increase the quality with blended learning courses.

Throughout 2019, INREV hosted 796 attendees at classroom training courses and online briefings.

eLearning for all

After a lengthy planning and design process, INREV launched its first eLearning module in September 2019 following a call from 82% of members who said they would be interested in eLearning. While INREV has no plans to discontinue its classroom learning courses, eLearning aims to make training and education much more accessible, and in some instances can be utilised by members as a pre-cursor to a classroom training of the same topic, to ensure the same level of prior knowledge across all participants, enhancing the learning experience of all attending. We launched eLearning with a first module: Introduction to INREV NAV and plans are in the pipeline for further modules including Due Diligence scheduled for launch in Q1 2020.

Training courses enhanced and still highly rated

Courses that took place in 2019 were attended by 362 attendees, representing 117 member companies. Investors, including multi managers, represented a significant proportion of attendees comprising 22%. The courses continued to be rated highly, averaging 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5 with the Effective Due Diligence in Today’s Market and Advanced NAV course achieving a score of 4.7 and the Foundation Course, Investor Relations and Communication, ESG course and Financial Analysis all receiving a score of 4.6. Existing courses were refreshed with the introduction of new case studies, introducing new perspectives and the opportunity for course participants to test their knowledge on the latest real-life examples.

First INREV Masterclass on enabling innovation and digital transformation

Responding to the evolution of the market and the changing needs of the industry, INREV held the first Masterclass on enabling innovation and digital transformation attended by a select group of invitation-only members of the management board and advisory councils. The course was designed to test the content for further editions of the masterclass and to act as a closed forum for INREV to solicit feedback on its own digital transformation journey.

Training the trainers

In 2019, INREV invited its most regular course leaders and faculty members to a ‘train the trainer’ day delivered by professional development agency, The Impact Factory. The course aimed to equip regular course leaders and faculty members with insights and helpful tips on how to better engage with course participants and how to motivate and inspire them, ultimately improving the quality of the course.

Nine more achieve the INREV/Henley Certificate

In 2019, nine more students went on to complete all required courses and achieve the INREV/Henley Certificate in non-listed real estate which was a collaboration established in 2016 to enable members to formalise their expertise into an industry recognised certification and combines practical application with academic rigour. Nine students graduated in March 2019 and 22 further members enrolled in the certification.

Academic outreach still a top priority

In 2019, INREV remained committed to the University outreach programme to increase the knowledge and understanding of the non-listed real estate industry. Lectures and visits were arranged with the University of Groningen, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Glion Institute of Higher Education, Amsterdam School of Real Estate, ERES (Research Conference), Oxford Brooks University, HSLU (Lucerne), University of Reading/Henley Business School, Cass Business School and the University of Ulster.

Events

INREV offered a wide variety of events in 2019, including three flagship conferences, seminars, breakfast meetings, Round Table discussions and a series of Link and Learns and networking events for Young Professionals. In total, 33 events were held, attracting 2635 attendees from 341 member companies, compared with 24 events, attracting 2374 attendees from 332 member companies in 2018.

INREV offered three flagship conferences: The Annual Conference in April, the Young Professionals Conference in July and the Autumn Conference in November.

INREV Annual Conference

Over two days, the crowd heard presentations centered around a theme of ‘How to invest in uncertain times’, the thought provoking programme and impressive speaker line up kept everyone on the edge of their seats while they listened, learned and engaged on hot topics such as impact investment, global capital flows and digitalisation.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem suggested Europe should stand and work together in educating politicians on the interconnectedness of our industry. Ruud Veltenaar stressed that together we should do good whether that be on a personal or corporate level which was a great setting for the discussion that followed on the merits of impact investing, intertwining nicely with sub themes of ESG, digitalisation and globalisation, and how these are affecting or will be affected by the muddy waters that may lie ahead.

We launched the eagerly awaited Asset Level Index – a game-changer for our industry, enabling greater insights into drivers of fund performance, market comparison, new levels of granularity and improving investment decisions and significantly increasing transparency across the board.

INREV Autumn Conference

In 2019, Rome played host to the fourth INREV Autumn Conference, attended by 190 of the industry’s mid to senior level INREV members to listen, discuss and network around a central theme of, ‘Building tomorrow’s industry today.’ Over 60% of the audience were first time attendees and collectively represented 16 different countries.

Climate change, digitalisation and the multi-generational workplace were the three themes discussed in the programme during the one-day conference. Joined by a mix of industry experts and outside industry professional speakers, attendees left with a renewed knowledge of the latest trends and insights set to impact the non-listed industry.

INREV Young Professionals Conference

The 12th INREV Young Professionals Conference took place over two days on 4 and 5 July, in Lisbon where 187 of the industry’s future leaders joined to hear thought-provoking, presentations delivered by thought leaders from the industry and beyond.

The programme built around the theme of generational change, musing that economic and environmental changes coupled with lessons from the past are set to shape the industry of tomorrow, but that change can be both temporary and permanent. 60% of attendees were between 25-30 and 55% were attending for the first time.

Young Professionals high on the agenda

In 2019, the Young Professionals Programme also included a Link and Learn series in February held in Amsterdam and Munich and September held across Amsterdam, Munich, Helsinki and London and we hosted Christmas Drinks in London and Amsterdam. Overall the Young Professionals Programme was attended by 367 (not including conference participants).

Investment Intentions Road Show 2019

INREV kicked off 2019 with a series of events across Europe to launch the results of the annual Investment Intentions Survey, which reviews prospects and trends for non-listed real estate. Over 400 attendees joined us in four different cities across Europe, starting in London and Amsterdam, followed by Munich and Copenhagen.

Investor Universe Road Show 2019

INREV held five roadshow events around Europe to present the results of the local Investor Universe report. Events were held in Zug, London and Amsterdam in May and in Frankfurt and Milan in June and November, respectively.

North American Conference 2019

In September, INREV hosted the seventh North American Conference in New York. The event, which attracted over 100 senior professionals, featured European and US experts who delivered insights on the latest trends in investing in European non-listed real estate, including a comparison of growth opportunities in Europe and the US and an update on political and economic developments around the theme of Brexit.

Advanced Tax Round Table

The Advanced Tax Round Table held on October in Berlin welcomed 40 senior tax experts to lead a discussion on the changing tax climate in Europe and the US and look to how fund structuring has shaped as a result. The roundtable also addressed investor strategy for managing tax-related risk.

Finance Operations and Technology Round Table

The Advanced Tax Round Table held on October in Berlin welcomed 40 senior tax experts to lead a discussion on the changing tax climate in Europe and the US and look to how fund structuring has shaped as a result. The roundtable also addressed investor strategy for managing tax-related risk.

Additional Events in 2019

• Nick Tyrrell Research Seminar, February 2019, London – 35 INREV member participants
• Cannes Seminar, March 2019, Cannes – 230 participants
• AGM, April 2019, Venice – 110 participants
• Investor-only Seminar, April 2019, Venice – 88 participants
• German Vehicles Index Event, June 2019, Frankfurt – 45 participants
• Breakfast Round Table for compliance and legal officers of fund manager members, June 2019, London – 25 participants
• Afternoon Round Table for law firm members and other external counsel, June 2019, London – 10 participants
• Asset Level Index Round Table, July 2019, London – 30 participants
• Climate Risk Round Table 2019, September 2019, Copenhagen – 35 participants
• EXPO REAL Breakfast, October 2019, Munich – 220 INREV member participants
• Compliance officers Round Table, October 2019, London – 11 participants
• Round Table for legal counsel, October 2019, London – 15 participants

Marketing and Communications

In 2019, INREV gathered insights from the Vision Project which took place in 2018 and used these to fine-tune our activities to better reflect the evolving needs of the INREV community. Throughout the year, there was a strong focus on reinforcing the value of INREV membership, and further tailoring our services to the needs of the growing member base.

Reinforcing value and paving the way to a stronger and more resilient INREV

In January of 2019, we began a year-long campaign to educate members on the value of INREV and to inform members of a proposal to restructure the current membership fee that was brought forward for vote at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in April. To fully brief the membership on the rationale behind the restructure, a series of communications, webinars and the creation of a dedicated Q&A information page informed members that the current structure was outdated, and in line with the changing industry needs, a new structure would be required. We communicated that a revision of the current structure was needed to ensure membership would comprise of a representative sample of the industry, to enable INREV to, at the very least, continue with the services offered and to increase and improve these.

Following a unanimous vote in favor of a restructured fee, communications continued to clearly inform members of the new fee structure which would come into effect as per January 2020.

In 2019 we ran a campaign to increase awareness that there was no limit to the number of representatives that could utilise the INREV corporate membership and in 2019, results from the annual membership survey showed that a 14% increase in members were aware of this benefit from 52% in 2018 to 66% in 2019.

Member Outreach Programme

In 2019, with the support of our Member Relationship Manager, over 170 one-to-one meetings with members took place, to ensure they were informed on the wide-ranging benefits of INREV membership and to see if there was anything INREV could do to support them further. In addition, various webinars were held to present the benefits to members online. Over 80 web-based demonstrations were held for members as training for the use of our different tools and for non-members to demonstrate their potential.

A top priority for the year was to continue to reach out to existing and potential new investor members. Prospects attended our flagship events and several investor invitation-only meetings were held as part of the investor outreach programme. Forty-two new members joined during the year, including 8 institutional investors.

As capital flows increased across borders so did global interest in INREV membership. In response to this, we spent time talking to, presenting at and visiting current and potential members in Asia, specifically Japan and South Korea and in also North America, specifically New York and Toronto.

Community is key

In line with the overarching objective to strengthen and grow the non-listed real estate industry, our online presence and engagement was given a boost in 2019. We increased the amount of content shared, increasing overall visibility on social channels. In 2019, Twitter followers increased by 18% from 1,209 to 1,425 and our LinkedIn community grew by 38% from 2,973 to 4,101 members. The IQ, INREV’s quarterly community magazine went online, with a limited number of magazines handed out only at the flagship events. Readership of the magazine continues to increase with readership increased by 26% in 2019 in comparison to the previous year.

Uncovering a new layer of insights

In 2019, we increased the number of online briefings to include a monthly Research and Analytics briefing call featuring insights from INREV and member representatives who discussed in greater depth a range of research, market information and professional standard topics, inviting members to ask questions on the live call and sharing the recording in the library for playback afterwards. Topics in 2019 have included Investment Intentions, Capital Raising, the Asset Level Index, and The Investor Universe Comparison study. We also held briefings on the fee restructure proposal and topics related to professional standards including the Trends in Investor Reporting Study.

INREV in the press

External media audiences again followed INREV’s news and opinions closely in 2019. In total INREV achieved 147 pieces of coverage in key media, of which 129 were in national and international business media such as the Financial Times in the UK, Het Financieele Dagblad in the Netherlands and Il Sole 24 Ore in Italy.

Speaking at Global Events

In line with our objective of increasing global visibility of the association, INREV speakers participated in 14 events hosted by other organisations. These included the Toronto Real Estate Forum , Kiinko Real Estate Summit, ALFE PERE Conference, Women in Green Forum, ERES Conference and Eurostat Conference and Business Arena, NCREIF Winter Conference, ANREV Annual Conference CREFC Europe Conference, EY European Real Estate Workshop, Insurance only roundtable on Solvency II and Business Arena London.

Information Technology

INREV’s member services have turned increasingly digital and data focused and as such, INREV delivers its member services through a wide set of data collection and analysis tools.

In 2018, INREV initiated IT Roadmap Programme together with the support of ANREV designed to lay out a blueprint to radically improve the value proposition to members while establishing the foundation to provide new digital services. Through the implementation of the IT Roadmap we will enable easier access to data for our members, reduce the reporting burden, establish internal capacities to control the software development, create the basis for a new generation of data tools, establish the highest standards of security governance and audit processes and harmonise all member and user permissions into one system.

During 2019, we have recorded good and solid progress with the IT Roadmap project, succeeding in harmonising data reporting mechanisms and data storage into one single repository and members started to enjoy the benefits of a significantly reduced reporting burden together with enhanced data access and an elevated overall online experience.

At every milestone achieved throughout the course of the year and the roadmap so far, data quality, accessibility and security has stood at the core of this strategy.

The highest standards in data collection

To ensure the most superior levels of data quality, a framework of data quality assurance was designed and documented in 2019 to identify and support the enforcement of best practices for data collection and validation. The framework also serves as a leading guide for the new data collection tool, the INREV Data Platform which is expected to be rolled-out in 2020.

A welcome reduction in the reporting burden for members

In 2019, work began on the Data Platform which represents the central pillar of the IT Roadmap, and we successfully completed the design and implantation phase. The objective in achieving these first milestones of the Data Platform was to centralise all data reporting and collection tools used by members to collect and visualise data across all vehicles, assets and surveys into one main point of access. The new platform will reduce the reporting burden by streamlining the process and enhance the overall user experience of INREV members and at a later stage will support better analysis tools across the different data sets and the different standards. In October, the first acceptance tests were run with positive feedback. Further rounds for user feedback will follow in early 2020.

Governance and security a top priority

Throughout 2019, a Central Permissions System with an aim to harmonise and consolidate all INREV tools authorisations was designed, implemented and seamlessly integrated within the INREV website and the CRM.

The authentication was also improved by extending the SSO (Single Sign-On) to all tools and digital services provided by INREV, creating a simplified, easier to use login system but without compromising on the highest security levels to protect both INREV and our members.

Continuing the theme of consolidation and simplification, we migrated all INREV’s hosting and databases into AWS (Amazon Web Services), providing INREV with multiple benefits such as scalability flexibility, cost efficiency, and highest levels of privacy and data security.

Easier access to historical data and vast analytical capabilities

In order to detail the inventory of all existing datasets, Data Warehouse Documentation was produced following an exercise of defining a collection of business, data and technical requirements. Data was uploaded from different sources including the Vehicle Level Input Tool and the Asset Level Input Tool.

In 2019, we have also together with ANREV welcomed a new Data Scientist to the team in Amsterdam who has assisted with the Data Warehouse project.

Governance and security a top priority

Throughout 2019, a Central Permissions System with an aim to harmonise and consolidate all INREV tools authorisations was designed, implemented and seamlessly integrated within the INREV website and the CRM.

The authentication was also improved by extending the SSO (Single Sign-On) to all tools and digital services provided by INREV, creating a simplified, easier to use login system but without compromising on the highest security levels to protect both INREV and our members.

Continuing the theme of consolidation and simplification, we migrated all INREV’s hosting and databases into AWS (Amazon Web Services), providing INREV with multiple benefits such as scalability flexibility, cost efficiency, and highest levels of privacy and data security.

Easier access to historical data and vast analytical capabilities

In order to detail the inventory of all existing datasets, Data Warehouse Documentation was produced following an exercise of defining a collection of business, data and technical requirements. Data was uploaded from different sources including the Vehicle Level Input Tool and the Asset Level Input Tool.

In 2019, we have also together with ANREV welcomed a new Data Scientist to the team in Amsterdam who has assisted with the Data Warehouse project.