Technology Innovations Enabling Sustainability

Blockchain has the potential to enable companies and consumers to track transactions more securely and transparently to make sure that suppliers are adhering to their values – whether that is environmental stewardship or sustainable manufacturing.

FREMONT, CA: Companies are investing significant time and effort in determining how to consistently capture meaningful and reliable non-financial data to share with their stakeholders as the call for enhanced transparency and accountability from companies on their environmental, social, and governance efforts continues. Digital solutions may be able to assist them in this endeavor.

For decades, businesses have used technology to improve their business performance. But how can digital disruption be used to not only ensure but also encourage long-term business practices? When it comes to ESG efforts, businesses are starting to realize the rapid expansion and potential that technology provides.

Here are some technology innovations that are accelerating, amplifying, and prioritizing sustainability in today's business world:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI has the potential to change company reporting processes when it comes to ESG, not just predict and model sustainable initiatives. While sustainability information enters the market, AI enables businesses to sift through large data sets at unprecedented speed. As the value of ESG data is better understood and increasingly demanded, AI offers the opportunity to intelligently analyze massive amounts of fragmented data, charting sustainable new business paths.

Blockchain

This much-discussed technology has already positively affected industries such as energy and finance, redefining broken systems and data consumer security. On the other hand, Blockchain is a game-changer in supply chain management, enabling greater transparency and efficiency. The complexity and opacity with which supply chains are managed today are astounding. Blockchain has the potential to enable companies and consumers to track transactions more securely and transparently to make sure that suppliers are adhering to their values – whether that is environmental stewardship or sustainable manufacturing.

Data Mining

Understanding a company's ESG risks and opportunities are becoming increasingly important, especially as the information is becoming a non-negotiable for regulators and stakeholders at large. In a world where more and more data is produced, the lack of homogeneous, high-quality data presents a significant challenge for companies seeking an easy look into their ESG attributes. As data mining tools become more advanced – from machine learning to optical character recognition – their advancement will provide access to previously inaccessible data and insights, allowing all parties to quickly and efficiently zero in on value.