IBM Report: Only 21% of Asia Pacific Companies Have a Strategic Sustainability Approach Amid Technology Modernization Push
As the world dynamically changes, it appears that sustainability increasingly becomes the key business differentiator. Only 21% of companies in Asia Pacific have a strategic approach toward sustainability, according to a new whitepaper by IBM and Ecosystm. This indicates that firms are trapped in a technology modernization crisis, struggling to integrate critical data and align it with the current sustainability goals. IBM’s “Sustainability Technology Guide for Executives” will help leading businesses take the following key steps as an integration option to help harness technology in advancing their drive to sustainable business value.
Integration of Data Remains Key Challenge
One of the highest-priority problems showcased by the report is companies’ inability to integrate automation and AI data with their enterprise systems. About 48% of organizations in the region face this challenge in integration, which becomes very critical for the real-time view of sustainability metrics being powered by AI. This is further complicated by a lack of a cohesive strategy on sustainability across many businesses in the Asia Pacific.
Hans Dekkers, the General Manager of IBM Asia Pacific, speaking on the occasion, said, “Technology is a key enabler in meeting these challenges. IBM solutions and services are helping businesses across the region harness the power of data and AI to drive a positive sustainable impact that also enhances business value”.
Modern Technology Toward Modernizing Sustainability Objectives
With the growing recognition from businesses that sustainability contributes to profitability, upgrading technology has become prime focus. According to the IBM report, 53 percent of companies across the Asia Pacific region are investing in newer and more efficient infrastructure to lower their carbon footprint. This can be seen as nothing less than a truly critical shift toward modernization in efforts to make technology investments concordant with sustainability outcomes.
Sash Mukherjee, VP Industry Insights at Ecosystm, said that a structured technologically led approach can turn sustainability from a cost burden to a value driver. “Organisations that will adopt tech-led sustainability related decisions will actually make sustainability a value driver, eventually ensuring long term business success with a favourable environmental legacy,” Mukherjee said.
For Success in Sustainability, the Leadership Should be Involved
It also pointed out that there was a wide chasm in terms of executive engagement across different functions regarding sustainability: even though 70% of the CEOs in the region personally lead the sustainability agenda, for just 22% of those companies a dedicated Chief Sustainability Officer was appointed. A cross-business leadership chasm is what’s preventing the deeper integration of sustainability across the entire organization.
The report also reveals that the CIO, CFO, and COO should work together much more in the future to close this gap. Their leadership will need to align the objectives of their departments with company sustainability objectives to have a more coherent and effective approach. This greater involvement at all levels of business leadership will not allow businesses to have sustainability initiatives segmented away but integrated at the core of operations.
A Three-Tier Framework for Tech-Driven Sustainability
The “Sustainability Technology Guide for Executives” by IBM articulates a three-layered guideline that can assist organizations in building up a sustainability strategy. In detail, it provides for:
1. Data-Driven Target Setting: Clear, measureable goals for sustainability based on dependable data and analytics;
2. Enterprise Unique Data Ecosystem: Infuse AI and automation technologies in the first two activities for the building of an enterprise-wide unique data ecosystem that forms the foundation to reach all other sustainability aspirations.
3. Bake in Sustainability to Workflows: Make choices and decisions in a way of doing business that goes hand in hand with corporate culture.
This helps companies tell a strong sustainability story, manage risks, and earn trust among stakeholders. “By following the three-layered tech-led sustainability framework and the checklist in this guide, Asia Pacific leaders can create a compelling, data-driven sustainability narrative that inspires action, manages risks and builds stakeholder trust,” said Mukherjee.
Turning Sustainability Challenges into Opportunities
The report concludes that even though many companies in Asia Pacific are still developing comprehensive sustainability strategies, a company that can effectively use technology will place itself in a better position to mitigate some of the tough problems and take advantage of the great opportunities in sustainability. This calls for firms to invest in modernization and collaboration across functions to be in a position to effect the transition of sustainability from a duty of compliance to one that provides competitive advantage.
As sustainability increasingly forms an integral part of the business strategy, so does the role of technology. Firms in the Asia Pacific region can therefore drive business success over the long term, and at the same time, contribute to environmental welfare positively by aligning their investments in technology with the larger sustainability goals.
This is the wakeup call for the region’s companies, and the message, a clear one, that this paper from IBM and Ecosystm hopes to bring with its roadmap of important action-taking across the region is that while firms adopting a tech-driven, strategic approach to their approach to sustainability, meet global emissions targets, and define future-proof sustainable business practices in Asia- Pacific.
(Source:- ESG NOW)