CIONET | The Race to Net Zero

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

As society changes, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) concerns are top of the agenda for consumers, corporate decision makers, and regulators. Enterprises are increasingly aware that their appeal to customers, investors, and employees is intrinsically linked to their ability to demonstrate a commitment to creating an inclusive and sustainable society.
Most organisations have set sustainability targets and policies to reach net-zero, however still need to realise them. What’s holding them back?
Many organisations have made the ‘easy’ moves. They’ve switched to renewable energy and have embraced hybrid working to cut corporate and commuting travel. However, this next phase of sustainability involves internal and external change to unlock all the opportunities to reduce carbon emissions that digital technologies bring.
Surprisingly, a minority of CIOs are included in their corporate leadership team’s decision-making processes around sustainability objectives and plans.
CIOs, don’t get left behind! The time is now to be at the forefront of a more sustainable future.
CIOs have the power to proactively drive the sustainability agenda. Optimising network infrastructure and workloads and applications on the cloud are critical – a gift that sits in the hands of the CIO – deciding where and when to put workloads, how to deal with technology integration and how to purchase and recycle equipment.
CIOs can deliver measurable impact by improving the sustainability of equipment (like data centres or machines), operations and supply chains, supported by digital and AI driven technologies. Sustainable solutions deliver efficiencies that reduce not only energy costs but ultimately the cost of doing business.
CIOs can limit the threats of reputational damage, fines, and upgraded regulation by securing shared data systems. Sustainability is seen as the biggest security challenge yet – as it requires deeper and more detailed data gathering and potentially exposes enterprises to greater data security risks.
CIOs are perfectly positioned to orchestrate cross-functional collaboration and a secure ecosystem of trusted partners, to achieve improvements across all three scopes of carbon emissions. CIOs can influence the procurement function to ensure a coordinated effort to drive down supply chain emissions and interface with the sustainability team to ensure accurate reporting and contribution to the net zero glidepath.
It’s time to step up to the mark and make ESG the focus of technology, not an afterthought.