Sustainability spotlight
How is the use of data important to sustainability initiatives and what steps must companies take to ensure this data is managed and handled in the right way? Everything is all about data with IoT – regulation, privacy, and how you handle this data needs to be designed into the process, it can’t be an aſterthought. For example, on a factory floor, there may be auditory sensors to notice whether machines are making funny noises and alert the company of the issue, but this same sensor could also be picking up conversations, so all the data received must be handled securely. You also need to consider regional GDPR environments. Te EU is well regulated regarding GDPR but in North America, it’s a bit more fragmented and harder to interpret each State’s regulations.
What steps should companies consider first to begin their path to being more sustainable? First companies must consider, what is the commitment from the top? Two key things will drive business sustainability; one is following regulatory mandates, such as the SEC mandate. Te second is a corporate mandate. It’s important for organisations to have public corporate statements committing to being more sustainable to make clear the vision that they are working towards. We also need to understand what data and information is needed
to improve sustainability. As stated before, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. What we find is that companies have no shortage of data, however, they lack data that they trust is insightful. Companies need to ensure that they’re getting the data to consider ways to improve sustainability, but also need to receive it in good time to analyse, adjust, or fix issues that may arise. One thing I heard recently is that ‘data is the new water,’ (vs. data is the new oil) because water is a very precious and clean resource, the same goes for data.
What else is NTT doing towards its own sustainability initiatives? NTT is one of the largest data centre operators, which means we have a large carbon footprint; this is why we have committed to working to achieve net-zero emissions across our operations by 2030 and across our value chain by 2040. We will use technology solutions that are environmentally
sound. We are also focused on incorporating the circular economy and regenerative design principles. Half of our employees will engage in conservation and regenerative initiatives in their local communities. We also plan to grow our portfolio of smart solutions along with establishing a Sustainability Innovation Fund.
How can the use of IoT help businesses to make decisions in real-time, and streamline the overall sustainability of their operations? Our IoT Services for Sustainability offering helps clients through digitisation, to measure and achieve their sustainability targets and act on the information they receive. Many businesses focus on the technology needed to become more
sustainable, but they don’t make the information received from the technology actionable. Half the challenge we see businesses needing to overcome, is how to get the right information to the right people. As a network company, NTT is well positioned to help clients deploy and manage IoT networks. A key issue is that sensor alarms can be noisy and overwhelming. Network companies have been dealing with these issues for decades and are experts in alarm correlation and root cause analysis. We also know how to deploy, manage and keep networks secure, ultimately helping businesses towards achiving their sustainability goals.
44 | September 2022
www.pcr-online.biz
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