Nine in 10 companies to accelerate sustainability activities : AVEVA

Four in five leading industries want to increase their digital investments to drive sustainable business models

Nine in 10 companies expect to accelerate their sustainability activities over the coming year as businesses recognize their role in tackling climate change, an AVEVA-commissioned survey of over 850 c-suite and digital transformation experts shows. 

"Four in five leading industries want to increase their digital investments to drive sustainable business models, demonstrating the enormous potential of advanced technologies such as smart data, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing in enabling net zero and lower carbon industrial operations," said Lisa Johnston, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer, AVEVA. 

“Companies around the world have committed to reducing their environmental footprint. AVEVA believes the business community must now go further, by way of positive contributions to sustainability through our activities and partnerships – or in other words, our sustainability handprint. Given the nature of the capabilities AVEVA provides to our customers, our solutions make a constructive impact on environmental sustainability. Data infrastructure management solutions such as the AVEVA PI System, delivered in partnership with Microsoft’s Azure Cloud, can help thousands of very different businesses find innovative routes to achieving their sustainability goals and becoming climate positive,” added Johnston. 

Olivier Blum, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Schneider Electric said, "Companies should develop sustainability strategies in the same way they have strategies for other areas, such as finance or human resources. Potential CO2 emissions should be factored into the design of new assets, for example, to improve sustainability and accelerate the climate transition." 

The application of predictive analytics to industrial data collected across the value chain can reveal new routes to innovation. Energy major Ørsted operates an extensive fleet of 1,000 offshore wind turbines. Continuous data monitoring means that the fleet represents 1,000 different experiments providing feedback to produce future assets,' said Jesper Skov Gretlund, Senior Manager, Numerical Competence Centre, Ørsted. 

"Extend your handprint with partnerships: Neste works with suppliers that share its sustainability commitments on its path to achieving carbon neutrality in production by 2035. The company uses data collected across its value chain to improve its operations and to help other companies reduce their emissions," said Salla Ahonen, Vice-President - Sustainability, Neste. 

Lucas Joppa, Chief Environment Officer, Microsoft said, The software leader has committed to becoming a carbon-negative company by 2030. “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” he said. Since carbon is the building block of life, measuring it requires monitoring every aspect of the business. “Digital technology is that tool in the [corporate] toolbox that lets us go at the kind of scale that sustainability requires, and at the scope that sustainability requires.”