Fellows develop thought piece on smart solutions

In 2020, amid the global crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw numerous cross-sector collaborations involving tech companies, aiming to create smart solutions that would amplify positive environmental and social impacts across sectors and organisations – for example in online healthcare or mRNA vaccine platform technology. This led the public health crisis to be referred to as “the digital accelerant of the decade” by US cloud communications platform Twilio.

Recognising this, the IEMA Fellows Working Group on Disruptive Technologies and the Digital Economy reconvened to develop a second technology thought piece: Cross-sector insights: The role of smart solutions

in the transition to sustainability. This looks at the role smart solutions can play in enabling sustainability professionals across sectors to scale up the transition to sustainability within their organisations.

The focus of the document aligns with IEMA’s Build Back Better mission statement (bit.ly/IEMA_BBB), while building on the identified key actions of the 2019 Thought Piece on Disruptive Technologies and Sustainability.

It contains case study inputs from IEMA members and experts, across sectors from agriculture to the built environment. These case studies, provided by representatives of organisations in both the public and the private sector (from NHS Digital to Siemens), offers practical recommendations on key action areas – from investment in upskilling to developing infrastructure that delivers sustainable economic, social and environmental outcomes.

Covering technology from cloud services to data visualisation AI, the recommendations should help to provide sustainability professionals with further support on how to better engage with smart solutions in their own organisations. To find out more, please read the summary blog at bit.ly/Fellows_SmartSol

Image credit: iStock

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