How “Green” is your technology? How much power does your ICT infrastructure consume? What is the lifecycle of your hardware? Do you have a solid recycle/reuse policy? What is your carbon footprint and emissions? How seriously do you take ESG? These are all important questions any company should be asking themselves today.
The ICT sector is one of the largest contributors to the global carbon footprint, nearly 60% of the ICT sectors emissions are derived from end users and end consumer products. It is for this reason that there is a global push to build more sustainable, “Greener” solutions and technology. As more and more companies turn to cloud offerings, one thing that is often overlooked is the carbon footprint that these data centres leave behind, with many of them consuming massive amounts of power to operate. It is vitally important to understand your partners and how they measure up in terms of ESG. For example, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft are all setting targets to use 100% renewable energy. Microsoft plans to be carbon-negative by as early as 2030.
But ESG is more than just the “E”, what about Social? Cloud solutions have brought opportunities to communities where once it was not possible. People are able to work, school, collaborate from virtually anywhere in the world, and all accessible 24/7. Even open-source ICT communities have allowed individuals to gain knowledge at a low or even no cost and gain access to technology that was once not possible, all from the comfort of their own home.
Lastly the “G”, Governance. Data privacy for example is one of the hottest topics circulating globally, every company has the responsibility to protect the privacy of not only their employees but their partners, customers, suppliers, and communities as well. With data being the new digital “Gold” and sitting on some form of ICT infrastructure, ICT has a major role to play.
Conclusion
Building an ESG strategy can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right partners by your side that share your passion for ESG, the process can become exciting and more importantly, effective!
At BroadVision we practice what we preach, we take ESG very seriously and we look forward to assisting you on your ESG journey.
