Reimagining the technological pathways to APAC's sustainable future
Sustainable economic progress and arresting climate change is, no doubt, the biggest global challenge of our time. Climate change affects all nations and sections of our society equally and demands aggressive action, collaboration, and innovation across the board.
While governments and businesses in Asia-Pacific are making efforts to tackle the problem, progress has been slow. The UNESCAP's Sustainable Development Goals Progress Report 2020, showed that Asia-Pacific is not on track to meet the targets set within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In particular, the region is falling behind on markers related to climate action and responsible consumption. With less than 10 years on the horizon, the region risks losing its prominence in the global arena if sustainability efforts are derailed.
A combination of technology and policy at play
To reach the 2030 goal, governments are relying on a combination of technology and policy solutions to fast-track progress.
In Asia-Pacific, countries have ramped up their sustainability efforts. In January 2020, Indonesia released its first-ever sustainable development plan, with particular emphasis on greenhouse gas emissions. More recently, Singapore launched its Green Plan 2030 - a nation-wide movement to advance sustainable development.
However, developing, financing, scaling and driving adoption of new technology takes time. For instance, in the field of agritech, there are many technologies that show great promise for improving food systems and tackling hunger. However, according to a study by the World Economic Forum, relatively little ($14b worldwide) was invested in the agritech space between 2010 and 2019.
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Within this context, it is time to rethink our approach to technology in the sustainability arena. Businesses and governments should prioritise what they can do today to harness existing technologies creatively and effectively, to deliver better outcomes for business and the world.
This approach will clear a new pathway to progress.
Leveraging current technology and data to catalyse change
Technology has the potential to transform sectors rapidly and at scale. This holds true regardless of whether a particular piece of technology is newly developed or not. Organizations must strike a balance between developing new technologies and using existing solutions in new ways to drive sustainable outcomes.
Existing technology such as big data and analytics, IoT and artificial intelligence have not yet been fully harnessed. For instance, in the built environment sector, many organizations rely on Building Information Modelling (BIM), an intelligent 3D model-based process to plan, design, construct, and manage infrastructure projects.
However, BIM has applications in many other areas too. By exploring the features of BIM, such as energy analysis and daylighting, designers can expand its use to monitor and manage the energy performance of buildings and drive a low-carbon future. As of mid-2020, just 43 percent of Singapore companies are investing in BIM, signalling room for wider adoption across APAC.
The same approach of identifying new ways to maximize the potential of existing technologies and data reserves can be applied across a range of sectors. Many organizations ranging from those in transportation and energy to agriculture, are already using AI, for example, to make positive contributions to environmental sustainability. This practice needs to become more commonplace.
A human-centred approach to sustainability
In addition to implanting existing technology in new ways, it is also important to audit current capabilities within the workforce, address any gaps and build a sustainability-first mindset.
Asia-Pacific is home to some of the most digitally competitive countries. There is immense potential for businesses in region to innovate and accelerate the global drive to sustainability - but only if the people piece of the puzzle is in place.
Harnessing both existing and new technology and driving innovation for impact, all rely on effective collaboration, workforce adaptability and reskilling. After all, people are the drivers of change, and it is therefore essential for organisations to take a human approach to defining and rolling out sustainability initiatives.
Reskilling is especially critical at this stage in our sustainability journey. Technology knowledge can no longer be limited to IT teams and a few specialists. Let's take data science for example. It is no longer enough for companies to hire an analytics manager. The executive bench, line-of-business heads, and functional leads like supply chain managers and procurement, all need to equip themselves with basic data science know-how. This will enable them to ask the right questions regarding the business' climate impact, identify areas of opportunity, bring new projects to fruition and accelerate the adoption of new technology.
Time is of the essence
With only a decade left to tackle the sustainable development goals, time is of the essence.
There is no silver bullet to solving our climate change problem and we need to stop waiting for one. To achieve sustainability goals, communities and the public and private sectors need to come together to innovate and collectively unlock the value of technology to achieve a new possible.
The journey to sustainability and climate resilience will no doubt be uphill, but the action and decisions we take now will help secure the earth and resources for future generations - making it well worth our time.
The writer is vice president, Asia Pacific, at Autodesk.
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