Mobility and collaboration technology are revolutionising the way people work. Will it change the way our cities look too?

The short answer is yes. As employees continue to embrace the flexibility that mobility offers and organisations reap the benefits of having a workforce willing and able to do their jobs anywhere, anytime thanks to portable smart devices, the age of the office is coming to an end.

And if businesses abandon the traditional office, will cities need their traditional CBDs anymore? Unlikely. Skyscrapers will still dominate the cityscape, but they will more likely be smart (as in connected) residential hubs.

The world is becoming increasingly urbanised and we are seeing the rise of supercities. Cities are where the jobs are, where the services are and where the entertainment is, and it’s where most of humanity will live in the not-too-distant future.

One of the great hindrances to the growth of and efficiency of a city is traffic. Because workers can do all the functions they used to do in an office on their phone or tablet now, mass commuting will soon be a thing of the past. Good for the environment, good for the workers, and good for an organisation’s bottom line – when it doesn’t have to lease or maintain expensive real estate and office equipment.

Traditionalists warn that doing away with a central work hub will inhibit collaboration and teamwork, but that view belongs in the era of fixed-line telephony and desktop computing.

The new generation of workers have grown up collaborating online using personal devices, talking to each other in Facebook groups, “video-conferencing” their friends through Skype and being connected 24/7. They are used to talking to each other on the run. The idea of working 9 to 5 while sitting in the same chair all day could seem bizarre to them in future.

The challenge for businesses and large organisations today is to harness this flexibility so that they stay competitive, hang on to skilled, motivated workers and make the considerable savings mobility technology enables.

Having a partner such as BBC Digital manage your organisation’s mobility needs can have a significant impact on productivity, efficiency and cost control.

With 40 years of industry knowledge, BBC Digital is here to help. Our Mobility Management Services can ensure your business overcomes time-consuming challenges and minimise risks to make your business thrive. Check out the solutions in our Innovation Centre today