Mechanization has certainly not always had a positive impact on the earth’s air, water, soil, and habitat since the start of the Industrial Revolution, but today’s shift to a digital-first world could offer the world a fast track to sustainability.
“Twentieth Century technology, specifically mechanization and other industrial processes, got us into the climate change conundrum. Can 21st Century data and digital technology help us get out of it?” ask Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) Karalee Close, Norbert Faure, and Rich Hutchinson.
The answer is in the title of the trio’s thought-provoking report: “How Tech Offers a Faster Path to Sustainability”.
The BCG report says that building sustainability as a competitive advantage requires integrating technology and data from the start.
“The role of tech goes well beyond “green IT.” As more companies think about their technology and sustainability agendas in concert, management teams should ask whether they are bringing game-changing technology and digital thinking to the task of meeting sustainability goals—or whether this critical business issue is missing an important dimension,” writes the BCG trio.
Technology can play a leading role in helping companies reach their net zero emissions initiatives.
According to BCG, four ways that technology can speed up the journey to Net Zero include:
“Such initiatives can yield substantial cost savings as well,” says the report. “A big benefit of the technology eco advantage mindset is that companies can set a roadmap for new tech adoption that will speed the journey to sustainability by helping to embed it as a core value.”
The BCG report says that industry leaders are leveraging tech accelerators to advance their sustainability goals including the falling case studies:
“Frontrunners in this area create inherently more sustainable operations and processes—for example, new manufacturing or materials technologies that leverage alternative inputs to reduce emissions and waste—and win consumer and investor reward as a result,” said BCG.
The BCG report came after the consulting group looked at 300 corporate sustainability initiatives. The researchers found:
“A key differentiator for these frontrunner companies was using digital capabilities and technologies to break economic constraints and unlock new solutions,” concluded the BCG report. “But success depends on leveraging technology and data from the very start. Before making a major commitment of time, management energy, and company resources, management should take a forward-looking and strategic view of how advanced technology and data can accelerate the journey to sustainability advantage.”
BCG is not the only consulting firm looking at the role of technology and sustainability as Gartner released a report in September that says sustainable technology can be a framework of digital solutions that can enable environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes for both enterprises and their customers.
“Sustainable technology is increasingly important operationally — for optimizing costs, energy performance, and asset utilization, for instance — but it also drives ESG outcomes like improving wellness and providing the traceability needed to ensure responsible business practices,” says Gartner Principal Analyst Autumn Stanish. “Sustainable technology also facilitates new business models and tech-enabled products to better serve customers.”
According to Gartner, sustainable technology creates opportunity in three critical areas:
o Automation to reduce resource-intensive activities
o AI to predict the impact of climate on business
o Advanced Analytics to capture real-time performance analysis
o Cloud to transform processes and enable remote work
“Ultimately, sustainable technology will incorporate both well-established and leading-edge technologies. Prioritize technology investments based on the top material issues that your enterprise has identified as most important to future success,” concluded the Gartner report.