Sustainable Technology Strategy Critical for Achieving Business Growth and ESG Performance, According to New Accenture Report

NEW YORK–(Business WIRE)–As corporations set additional ambitious environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets, their sustainability and technological know-how tactics will need to develop into more tightly aligned to achieve competitive edge, monetary worth and a lasting favourable impression on society and the natural environment, according to new study from Accenture (NYSE: ACN). On the other hand, only 7{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} of respondents have fully built-in their company, technological know-how and sustainability tactics now.

All 560 providers surveyed as part of the report, Uniting Technology and Sustainability: How to Get Whole Benefit From Your Sustainable Technologies Method, ranked technologies as essential or pretty crucial for achieving their sustainability ambitions. Though organizations see very clear price in obtaining an built-in tactic, they cite a deficiency of remedies and standards (40{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82}), complexity (33{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82}) and deficiency of awareness of unintended penalties of know-how (20{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82}) as obstacles to reaching their targets. This gap in between intent and motion potential customers companies to make trade-offs amongst business enterprise and sustainability targets – trade-offs that can be minimized or eradicated with a holistic, sustainable technological know-how tactic.

Main Info Officers (CIOs) can engage in a vital part in supporting their company’s overall transformation endeavours and really should have a seat at the table on sustainability choices. But most do not. In point, only 49{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} of CIOs are section of the leadership staff environment sustainability aims, and just 45{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} are assessed on obtaining these ambitions.

“Every business enterprise must be a sustainable business and know-how is a important and elementary enabler –from enhancing transparency and traceability in world provide chains, to aiding evaluate and decrease carbon emissions,” said Sanjay Podder, Engineering Sustainability Innovation lead at Accenture. “It is no longer simply just optional to set sustainability at the main of how companies operate. A sustainable technological know-how strategy – a single that embeds sustainability in technological know-how, drives sustainability by technological know-how, and scales sustainability by participating the ecosystem – will aid corporations produce 360° worth and contribute to the achievement of their broader sustainability goals.”

An helpful sustainable engineering system helps generate enterprise expansion and ESG effectiveness by offering on three essential imperatives:

1. Sustainability by engineering: Using the electrical power of technological know-how to empower and speed up sustainability attempts throughout the business. Ninety-two {73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} of organizations surveyed purpose to achieve web-zero targets by 2030, which will have to have deployment of state-of-the-art technologies to evaluate, cut down and clear away an organization’s carbon footprint. Engineering is also important for relocating toward responsible price chains advertising sustainable selections for buyers and creating a sustainable business. Of the businesses surveyed that correctly minimized emissions in manufacturing and operations, 70{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} used artificial intelligence (AI) to do it.
2. Sustainability in know-how: Guarding people and the earth by generating engineering by itself progressively a lot more sustainable. As much more folks go on line and the use of technologies boosts, so do the carbon emissions from IT. Embracing eco-friendly program that is each carbon effective and carbon conscious constructing trusted units that include privacy, fairness, transparency, robustness and accessibility and instituting the correct governance mechanisms will have to be prioritized. Only two of the 560 organizations surveyed explained they think about power performance at all stages of the software program improvement lifecycle, indicating appreciable room for improvement. The report identifies a strong environmentally friendly software progress framework that prioritizes content emissions parts which includes the computer software advancement life cycle, as nicely as eco-friendly digital knowledge, cloud, edge, facts facilities, AI, dispersed ledger technological know-how and infrastructure.
3. Sustainability at scale: Pursuing breakthrough innovation with ecosystem companions to establish radically distinctive and far more sustainable approaches of executing business enterprise in the upcoming. No business can handle worldwide sustainability issues at scale on its personal. Organizations will have to function outside of the boundaries of their own businesses to satisfy the United Nations Sustainable Enhancement Ambitions (SDGs). Forty-3 per cent of firms surveyed are now becoming a member of field collaborations, alliances and advocacy groups targeted on eco-helpful technological know-how.

Podder added, “Creating and employing a complete sustainable technological know-how system – one particular that takes advantage of technology to travel sustainability at scale when also earning technological innovation alone a lot more sustainable – is now the core mission of the goal-pushed CIO. The accountability is big, but the possibility to push new sources of price and direct the way to a much more sustainable long run is even larger.”

Accenture is committed to sustainability across each individual of the three imperatives, embedding sustainability in every thing it does and with everybody it performs with. In actuality, 95{73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} {73375d9cc0eb62eadf703eace8c5332f876cb0fdecf5a1aaee3be06b81bdcf82} of Accenture’s apps are in the general public cloud. A founding and steering member of the Environmentally friendly Application Foundation, Accenture is helping to established expectations and catalyze action throughout industries. It has created its very own inexperienced software package framework, instruments and best procedures, and has trained far more than 70,000 of its developers on sustainable application engineering tactics. Accenture also collaborates with partners—from the premier software package and cloud businesses to tiny, disruptive innovators—to help consumers attain their sustainability targets and produce outcomes.

Investigate Methodology

The analysis was carried out in September and Oct 2021 through a web study. The sample comprised of 560 CIOs, CTOs, main sustainability officers, and all those right reporting to them (administrators, VPs) from organizations with far more than US$1 billion revenue. The exploration spanned 12 nations and 11 industries.

About Accenture

Accenture is a international expert solutions organization with major capabilities in electronic, cloud and security. Combining unmatched practical experience and specialised competencies throughout more than 40 industries, we supply Strategy and Consulting, Technology and Functions products and services and Accenture Song—all run by the world’s premier network of Superior Engineering and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 699,000 individuals supply on the guarantee of know-how and human ingenuity each individual working day, serving consumers in extra than 120 nations around the world. We embrace the power of adjust to make benefit and shared achievements for our purchasers, people today, shareholders, companions and communities. Pay a visit to us at accenture.com.