This is the decade about talent - people and knowledge are a large part of what's driving accelerated growth across Asia and around the globe. Within our enterprises, competitive advantage has shifted from technology or even strategy toward talented people and a corporate culture that enables them to innovate at a greater rate than the competition. For corporate real estate, increasing demand from the business for more and better solutions results in fierce competition for the best talent - and battle fatigue is finally setting in.

Is there an end in sight to the exhaustive repetitive cycle of searching, hiring, developing and replacing people? Do we just ride it out? Are the issues different in Singapore and Hong Kong than in Beijing or Mumbai?

Or, can understanding the underlying demographic realities, trends and drivers of workforce behaviour and the competitive dynamics of the overall labour market help us to attract and retain a dedicated corporate real estate team capable of supporting enterprise workforce strategy?

The 2008 CoreNet Global Summit, India, will examine talent from the viewpoint of the enterprise, the real estate industry, and the individual:

We will explore both the demand and supply-side perspectives and delve into the workplace implications, particularly the need for new kinds of workplaces and the growing relationships between location, workplace, brand, and company culture.

Real estate practitioners fill important roles within corporate real estate departments and operating units of large service provider organisations. We will examine the changing nature of real estate-related jobs in these organisations, where these jobs are located in the world, where the talent is and - most importantly - strategies for building and maintaining a pipeline of future employees. We will also explore the competitive environment for real estate talent - including the strong attraction of investment and development real estate.

We'll also take a hard look at how the required competencies for real estate-related jobs are changing. Skill and culture gaps will be examined, as well as resources and strategies for bridging those gaps. Career planning strategies will be developed and shared.