Creating a greener future through technology

Global climate challenges have rapidly accelerated business’s sustainability efforts and as green credentials shift from a ‘nice to have’ to a business imperative, tech leaders are increasingly being looked to for tech-driven sustainable innovations. 

An organisation’s sustainable reputation yields many benefits. From improving B2B relationships, especially among partners looking to reduce their own scope 3 footprints, to delivering cost savings and supporting talent attraction and retention. This was made clear in a recent Logicalis study of global CIOs, which highlighted that 84% of employees would rather work for a business that was dedicated to reducing its impact on the environment, and that 92% of CIOs recognised a distinct link between sustainability, and enterprise value, underscoring the soaring importance of sustainability in the realm of IT leadership. 

The use of technology in sustainable solutions

Technology is a vital enabler of sustainability and central to greener business strategies. According to an IDC white paper, 62% of surveyed companies worldwide believed that investments in tech were crucial to meeting their sustainability goals.  

There are many ways in which technology can help businesses make strides towards their sustainability goals. The European Commission anticipates that data centres will contribute to 3.2% of electricity demand in the EU by 2030, up from 2.7% in 2018, so having energy-efficient hardware and renewable power sources are two decisive ways businesses can improve the efficiency of their IT infrastructure.

Another example of how businesses can use technology to become more sustainable is through the use of smart buildings, which are powered by Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Relying on sensors to monitor office occupancy levels, these buildings adapt heating and lighting systems for optimised energy use. The integration of various technologies allows smart buildings not just to adjust output based on occupancy but also to generate real-time performance data for operators to review. 

Although a large factor, energy consumption is just one facet to consider in sustainable technology investments. There are other ways for business leaders to reduce environmental impact. For example, reusing and repurposing IT equipment instead of opting for disposal. Responsibly recycling and disposing of electronic waste for end-of-life hardware can effectively eliminate the unnecessary carbon emissions tied to the conventional practice of dumping technology in landfills. In the modern era where the workplace is so highly tech-driven, making small but effective changes like this can have a large impact on an organisation’s emissions. 

Managed technology to improve sustainability 

There is tremendous pressure on businesses and tech leaders to combat environmental challenges. While technology equips business leaders with the tools they need to make data-driven sustainability decisions, 75% of CIOs felt that they needed additional assistance to unlock transformative data, according to our research.  

To address this, we developed the Digital Fabric Platform last year, which offers comprehensive recommendations to businesses by providing insights into key metrics including environmental impact and energy and carbon usage. The platform is designed to give CIOs a real-time view of how their entire digital ecosystem is performing across five metrics including reliability, security and compliance, economics, user experience and environment and benchmarked across industry standards. 

Working in partnership to create a greener future

Although technology is facilitating a more environmentally aware society, relying on technology alone is not enough. Tackling climate change effectively calls for a joint effort, businesses need to collaborate and work together to address climate change.

According to the IDC’s predictions for 2024, 40% of ESG services engagements will require a managed services component to better tackle the prolonged nature and intense data needs of sustainable transformation and ESG reporting, helping empower organisations to reduce their carbon emissions not only across IT functions but across the entire business. Deliberately choosing technology that drives business value, embracing more sustainable methods to power technology, and practising knowledge-sharing within organisations will propel the tech community toward additional advancements in sustainable technology across the entire spectrum.

As we find technology evolving to meet the sustainable demands of businesses, we find a unique opportunity to make meaningful changes that will impact business and the global community. In our efforts to tackle the climate crisis, technology serves as both the method and the objective.