Keeping sustainability at the center of digital enterprises

Businesses across the world are incorporating contemporary technologies and transforming into digital enterprises for two key reasons. First, this shift provides enhanced experiences for both their employees and customers, making the former more efficient and the latter more satisfied. Second, it makes technology accessible to everyone in the business, breaking silos and paving the way for innovation.

While this massive shift towards digital transformation positively impacts an organisation's workplace, workforce, and workload, how is it affecting the environment? In the Global Risks Report 2023 by the World Economic Forum, environmental issues like natural disasters, large-scale damage incidents, resource depletion, and ecosystem collapse have been ranked as the top global risks both in the short and long term. Shockingly, the digital sector's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions runs perilously above the estimated 2.8 per cent when considering the entire life cycle of ICT products and infrastructure. This should compel all organisations to center their IT-aligned processes around sustainability and environmental stewardship. They will not only fulfil their responsibilities to offset their own climate impact, but also help to protect the planet's health for future generations.

Moving towards sustainability

The advent of technology has changed the way businesses operate. For instance, we are no longer dependent on cumbersome ledgers to manage accounts. Instead, accounting software can seamlessly input transaction history while suggesting ways to plan expenses. While digitalisation has optimised and enhanced once complicated processes, it has also inadvertently harmed the environment. A 2018 study claims smartphones and data centers will be amongst the most environmentally harmful technologies by 2040. This is a wake-up call for hardware- and software-bound companies to make conscious efforts towards becoming eco-responsible.

There are several ways for an organisation to take up its ecological responsibilities. Digital enterprises could pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions and cut down on energy expenditures. The UAE has already kick-started this commitment in 2021, hoping to achieve it by 2050. Organisations can take the first step towards this goal by advocating sustainability internally, amongst the leadership and workforce. The over use and exorbitant purchase of devices such as laptops, desktops, smartphones, printers, etc., coupled with employees not following energy-efficient practices, amounts to alarming levels of power drain. This energy wastage can be curbed by endpoint power management, which can limit the excessive usage of devices by automatically putting them in sleep mode or shutting them down when idle. These technologies, especially when incorporated with AI, can help organisations to regulate their energy consumption.

With the UAE securing the 37th position in the United Nations' Technology and Innovation Report 2023, which ranks countries based on their readiness to adopt advanced technologies and implement it for green innovations, local organisations already seem to be embracing technologies towards a positive effect.

Moreover, employees should implement regular system updates, as these can extend the lifetime of devices. They can work with equipment specified to the requirements of their roles and recycle them efficiently, which results in avoiding power-consuming setups and creates a sustainable environment. Indeed, the modern digital workforce can slowly inch towards sustainability by adopting thoughtful IT practices when it comes to the purchase, use, and disposal of devices and equipment.

— Prithika Sharone is an enterprise analyst at ManageEngine.