“Sustainability will become a driving factor in IT investments across the globe. We’re seeing a fundamental shift in IT purchasing decisions in Europe place a greater emphasis on how technology will lower energy costs and will enable the achievement of sustainability mandates. We are already seeing sustainability jump to the forefront as a buying criteria in Europe and expect to see this advance across the globe following the COP27 meeting.”
Lee Caswell, senior vice president, Product and Solutions Marketing, Nutanix
“In 2023, we’re going to see regulators in the UK and internationally continue to introduce legislation on the sustainability claims of businesses, particularly across the retail sector. As carbon emissions continue to rise, there is an urgent need for businesses to truly understand their carbon impact so meaningful reduction measures can be made. For these measures to be implemented quickly and at scale, retailers and businesses need more granular real-time insights into the carbon emissions across their entire supply chain or operations.
“This driver is powering the growth of the carbon calculations market, as demand increases for better sustainability data and analytics – its value is set to surpass $13.7bn by 2028 (exhibiting a CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period 2022-2028). In the case of the UK, a recent report, published during COP27, has highlighted the scale of the growth potential, suggesting that £175bn in revenue is up for grabs by 2030, with 40,000 new small companies likely to be formed, alongside 260,000 new jobs, as we strive to narrow the gap between sustainability rhetoric and sustainable action.
“As the dust settles on further pledges being made at COP27, it’s clear that investment in sustainability goals will not waver in 2023, even as retailers face operational pressures, such as soaring costs, global supply chain issues, inflation and a developing recession. The climate crisis isn’t going away; those who prioritise and invest in their sustainability efforts now, will benefit in the long-run, reputationally and financially heading into next year.”
Namrata Sandhu, CEO and co-founder, Vaayu
“With the growing push for ESG initiatives and the urgency in averting the climate crisis, more and more companies (especially in tech) will move ESG to the top of their agenda, recognising the return-on-investment (ROI) that can save costs, open up the capacity for new product offerings and win customers, while also directly contributing to the global sustainability pledge.”
Elena Davidson, CEO, Liberty Comms
“Climate change is a global issue, and certainly not a new issue, but to achieve net zero there needs to be authentic and authoritative data that is better regulated to enable better informed decisions. Over the next twelve months, I think we’re going to see greater emphasis from governments and businesses globally using authoritative location data at the core for monitoring, reporting and verification. Data quality is becoming essential in ensuring decision making but also enabling the transparency levels needed to remove green washing accusations.”
Donna Lyndsay, strategic market lead Environment and Sustainability, Ordnance Survey
“The global pinch on energy supply will cause organisations to rethink their IT infrastructure models with more consideration given to power consumption and carbon footprint. Organisations are being told to be more efficient with power consumption, and it’s not just a sustainability issue.
“While reducing carbon footprint and going green is commendable and an increased point of consideration for potential customers, companies are feeling the impact of oversized power consumption against their bottom line when it comes to cloud usage. The cloud is built for speed and performance, not for economy when it comes to cost and power, leaving companies to consider how tasks they’re currently pushing to cloud might be handled elsewhere more efficiently and economically.”
Wendy Pfeiffer, CIO, Nutanix
“Amid growing concerns about energy security and the ongoing rise in energy prices, we’re expecting to see more businesses choosing to invest in energy tech in 2023. In particular, more businesses will start to install sources of renewable energy generation (e.g. wind, solar, biogas) and energy storage onsite. Businesses that invest in onsite renewables benefit from having their own supply of energy so that they are less reliant on the National Grid. Advances in energy storage technology also mean that stored energy can be released as and when it is needed – for example, when National Grid prices are at a peak.”
Alex Hunter, CEO, Sherwood Power
“Battery Storage Solutions will again play a significant role towards a renewable future in 2023 and beyond, and this means continuous development of both short- and long-term battery storage technology is needed.
“We are living in a time where the market within power supply is becoming increasingly decentralised, with more start up and scale up players rising to reap the rewards and the advancements within AI, which only years ago seemed inconceivable, have brought about more innovations for reliability and resilience.
“There is around 16 million EVs on the road, which by 2050 is forecast to reach to around 830m. To keep up with this demand, battery storage development will need to increase rapidly.”
Diego Baynes, principal consultant, Madison Bridge
“With the UK’s pledge to stop selling new conventional petrol and diesel cars by 2030, public transport and fleet operators will start making more aggressive moves towards more sustainable and efficient operations. This not only includes the use of electric batteries, but also investment in software providers that can help with maintenance predictions and servicing. We will also see more investment happening in the micromobility space, with rental e-mopeds and e-scooters becoming more sustainable and reliable. With the hopes of local councils creating necessary infrastructure, e-scooters will be the preferred means of transportation for people not only in urban areas but in rural ones too, limiting traffic congestion and its resulting carbon footprint.”
Elena Davidson, CEO, Liberty Comms
“With the aftermath of COP26, in 2023 all companies will be under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint and minimise their impact on the environment.
“The global transition to renewable energy will look to AI and ML to manage things such as decentralised grids, better designs, and processes within circular economy.
“AI can be a driver of sustainability in other industries and areas of operation all over the world. For example, computer vision coupled with satellite imagery has been used to identify deforestation and illegal logging activity in the rainforests and for illegal fishing which impacts biodiversity in the oceans.
“I feel that there will be a continued drive towards deployment of AI initiatives aimed at tackling some of the most pressing problems facing our planet – rather than simply in pursuit of increased corporate profits. We have only just scratched the surface of the use of AI within sustainability.”
Diego Baynes, principal consultant, Madison Bridge
“As the threat of the global energy crisis and recession continue and companies become more mindful of their carbon footprint, more enterprises—especially the mid-to higher-end—will significantly accelerate their investment in cloud adoption to securely and efficiently manage both modern and legacy applications. While the cloud is not perfect when it comes to sustainability, it is more eco-friendly than traditional data centres. And with more companies shifting workloads to the cloud, cloud providers will continue to invest in renewable energy sources to enable environmentally friendly cloud-native applications.”
Prashant Ketkar, CTO at Alludo
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