Digital Transformation for a Better World

The trend of going digital affects everyone, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

In the brave new world of economic crises, COVID-19, climate change, and calls for social justice, we face fresh challenges that society has never encountered before and on a scale never envisaged. In the meantime, technology has advanced significantly since 1821, when Charles Babbage first proposed the use of mechanical computing, and a century and a half later, when Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web that was to become the precursor to the Internet.

But has technology, notably Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, IoT, cloud computing, and others, become the solution – or the obstacle– towards addressing social and global problems?

Technology has no doubt made our lives easier. More than 3 billion regular Internet users worldwide; about 7.1 billion people have a mobile phone today to manage their lives. The use of technology is pervasive. Everyday appliances possess a smart chip of some sort to automate daily functions, plus machine learning has taken autonomous devices like robots and drones to new levels of performance. We will never replace human skills with AI, but we are getting closer. 

Smart healthcare, for instance, uses information technology to diagnose diseases, monitor patients, enable clinical decisions, and even perform surgery. The world is so much better as a result, with lives saved that would otherwise have been lost. Even in the current conditions of COVID-19, monitoring and controlling outbreaks have been possible due to healthcare agencies applying gamification technology and drug researchers using medical information analytics to come up with a possible cure.

But the dark side of technology is that it has made us more demanding and elevated our expectations towards dimensions of avarice and selfishness. The behaviour of society to consume more and worry less about tomorrow has increased, fuelled by the technological convenience of online shopping, supply chain efficiencies, consumer choices, and the ability to make money too fast and too soon. In short, with a growing population, an increase in urban lifestyle, and the globalisation of goods, we are consuming more resources than the planet can comfortably provide.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was already accelerating in the digital transition.

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs developed in 2015 attempt to curb this greed and bring us back in line, particularly SDG 12, which speaks of responsible consumption. But have we let the genie out of the bottle? Is it too late to rein it back in? In SDG 13, we talk about climate action and how the world is in a parlous state due to global warming. Countries now recognise the dangers of sea level rise, elevated temperatures, and weather disasters that can afflict us. Technology is helping us with future model scenarios of ‘what-ifs’ if we continue on the IPCC warning path to a 1.5-degree or more temperature rise. Still, they are the tools merely holding up a mirror to tell us what we know already, that the world will be in a terrible place by 2050 if we fail to do something now. And yet we continue not to act.

On a more positive outlook, where businesses have committed to improving corporate responsibility, technology has become an essential factor in management. The role of technology in the industry is immense. Digital has transformed old and inefficient business models into high-performance paradigms, whether it be factory automation or daily customer transactions. The speed and efficiency by which computers process data into valuable and strategic information are one of the wonders of the modern world. 

Environment, social, and governance or ESG is the new mantra for companies aspiring to become responsible businesses.

With the attention on tackling climate change, understandably, the ESG agenda is somewhat skewed towards it. Nevertheless, many investors in green finance use ESG as the vehicle to drive sustainable outcomes resulting from their investments in areas such as clean energy, waste reduction, biodiversity conservation, and others. 

Data is key to accomplishing these objectives. Technology is vital in capturing and analysing the exponential amounts of data that will emerge from design, construction, and operational processes. Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are tools commonly deployed to aid planners and engineers in building and running better sustainable facilities. There are many other applications of technology using sensors, intelligent networks, blockchain, and materials to help sustainability become a reality.

Disclosure of data is important. But to report data – as it now becomes a trend for ESG reporting to be mandated in certain jurisdictions – means that the proper standards have to be adopted for consistency, and the accuracy of the data must be assured. Lastly, reporting relevant data (i.e., fulfilling materiality aspects). Therein lies the dilemma - technology can enable us to collect data from all sources. Still, it is the meshing of different types of metrics into a common realm of understanding that poses the challenge. How does one reconcile the social benefits of a clean water project to the amount of embodied carbon locked into heavy equipment, for instance?

Companies in the current business climate are progressively managing more than simply their workforce, customers, and merchandise.

Doubtlessly, some clever scientists and sociologists can come up with the answers to ESG reporting in the future; but danger lurks in misreporting or misrepresentation of information. Just as people develop ingenious ideas for improving society, some operate disingenuously and come up with false news and “greenwash.” Even today, there are still climate sceptics on this planet who do not believe fossil fuels cause global warming.  

Another problem is the “digital divide,” where technology is not evenly distributed to help those who need the assistance that technology brings. As a result, developing countries that could benefit enormously from the right technology often cannot get access. In some cases, budgets are spent on inappropriate technologies that disconnect and isolate the needy and underprivileged.

---

About the Author

Dr. Thomas Tang, CEO of PJ Sustainability Consulting Limited is a professional advisor to corporates on sustainability, climate resilience, urban design and social innovation. He is a UN Scholar, an adjunct professor and an author.