Work is changing yet again as new generations, Millennials and Gen Z, enter the workforce and technological advancements in the cloud open new doors. It’s a new culture wave washing over Silicon Valley and the rest of the world. Companies need to embrace the ride or crash on the rocks. This new worker of 2018 is known as the digital nomad, whose work is independent of the location.

Passionate about life and travel, digital nomads work from anywhere in the world and embrace the culture around them. Cubicles are left behind. Working remote is practiced more today than ever before - either as an employee perk, becoming a contractor and freelancer, or working at a satellite office while on vacation.

Zapier built their entire company around the idea and now employs 150 remote employees working all around the world in more than 17 countries. Big companies are even venturing outside their traditional headquarters to open multiple satellite offices and invest in coworking spaces, giving employees the flexibility to work where they choose.

Working remotely is not just beneficial to employees but to the employer as well. Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University, ran an experiment over nine months with 250 workers - half worked remotely and the other half in the office. Remote workers worked 9.5% longer hours and were 13% more productive.

Not only are companies getting onboard but an entire industry was created from this idea - shared workspaces. Coworking spaces allow freelancers and startups to have flexible work schedules and work from anywhere but bring a sense of community that's missing when working in a coffee shop or at home. According to Emergent Research, 5.1 million people will work in coworking spaces by 2022, increasing 24.2% every year.

Turns out that Millennials look for more flexibility when choosing a place to work. According to an Aftercollege survey, 68% millennials are more interested in employers who have a flexible work environment and allow them to work remotely. The ability to travel and work from anywhere is appealing and advanced technology is making it a reality. The current state of work is not working for them. Millennials need constant change in their careers, 21% of millennials say they've changed jobs within the past year according to a Gallup report. They have been dubbed the job hopping generation.

Ubiquitous computing and cloud technology has completely driven this new concept of work. Like a snowball effect, the cloud has let us work anywhere on any device and naturally we’re now eager to take those devices outside the traditional office to new places. The physical world will start to promote the worklife of digital nomads and remote workers as more physical spaces and devices are connected to the cloud.

For the digital nomad, remote worker, or millennial worker looking for flexibility, the idea that you work at one desk, and at one company until you retire will soon be a distant memory.

As companies adopt open plan offices and coworking spaces, access needs to change to meet the needs of this future mobile workforce. A digital nomad or remote employee flying to Austin for the day should be granted access to an office space as quickly as ordering an Uber.

Keys are an outdated technology and barrier to this idea of work. It is very hard to get access around the world for this new generation of workers who may land in a new city on a weekly basis. Most deal with subpar internet at some coffee shop or airport, or waste time signing in with receptionists.

Mobile access is not a new concept but current smart lock technology is limited and as of today can not fully replace keys. Most popular smart locks are limited to deadbolt doors.
Digital Nomads may gain access to the coworking space with their phone, but still need a key to keep their things in a locker for the day and garage fob to store their car (or cool camper van).

We see a glimpse into a keyless future with access control and smart locks but why do we still have to carry around our key to the house, garage fob, keycard for the office, and key for a storage lock? Universal keyless entry with a smartphone is possible - not just keys to the front door but keys for the garage, elevator, bike lock, filing cabinet all on your phone.

The rise of remote workers and digital nomads is approaching quickly and it is up to companies and coworking spaces to make it easier to work anywhere. The trend of using a smartphone to access homes is not fully aligning with the needs of this new workforce of digital nomads and remote workers.

We would like to introduce Nexkey, which is not a smart lock, but a platform of hard- and software products that instead can transform any lock into a smart lock - from deadbolts to garage doors down to a padlock.

When we created the Nexkey platform, we thought about the future of work and couldn’t limit ourselves to just making the front door easier to access or more secure.

We set out to truly change how we access all kinds of physical spaces.

Watch our video to learn more about Nexkey and hear what our customers have to say!

Here’s why Nexkey is unlike smart locks or access control platforms you’ve seen:

Any door can be smart

Nexkey’s technology works with how the door unlocks instead of replacing the lock itself making it compatible with more doors and locks. There has never been a door that Nexkey couldn’t make smart - yes even the dreaded sliding glass door.

Replace every key on your keychain

Nexkey can actually replace all keys. Looking beyond the front door, Nexkey is your key to any meetings room, private office, garage, and even supply cabinet on your smartphone!

Use existing door hardware

Like a magic trick, ask “Do you see any hardware on the door that would make it smart?” When they say no, blow them away by opening the door with your phone anyways. Thank you Nexkey Controller! Landlords love it.

Designed for multiple doors and hundreds of users

Nexkey uses BLE so the smartphone can see proximity and minimize delays. There may be 25 doors in the building but the Nexkey app will show you only the door nearby. Even with a hundred of unlocks a day, Nexkey Core lasts 50,000 openings which on average is 14x longer than traditional smart locks. That’s 14 years if your current smart lock lasts one year.

One app for all things access

For some reason most access apps can only unlock doors. Someone usually needs access at the worst times when the admin is not in front of the computer. Nexkey enables admins to grant or revoke access all in the same app used to unlock doors, nearby and remote.

Future workspaces will be anywhere. Access anywhere with Nexkey.