Marcello Albuquerque
*By Marcello Albuquerque and Osvaldo Fabbro
The acronym ESG defines the concern of companies in three spheres: Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance, in Portuguese). The term, coined in the UN report “Who Cares Wins” in 2004, represents a trend that has been gaining traction in the market since initiatives such as Eco92 and becomes increasingly critical for a market that seeks to invest in companies that have practices to preserve environmental, social and economic resources, and may have technology as its ally.
ESG illustrates the commitment to more sustainable practices and is a trend that invaded the discussions of the board of companies. A survey by the Global Network of Directors Institutes (GNDI) on the pandemic's impact on boards of directors and global trends shows the importance of the practices, which were driven by Covid's account. The study identified ESG as the issue with the greatest impact, followed by the repositioning of the business and the greatest competition for talent.
But what does technology have to do with ESG practices? The answer is simple: she is an enabler! More than carrying out these initiatives, it is necessary to prove them with indicators of results and quantification of these actions, in addition to metrics for increasing demand, which tends to grow year after year. The volume of these actions and the demands become so great that only with intensive use of technology is it possible to report how well or bad your company is in the market.
The technology can be used both on the structuring front of the processes and procedures involved, and on the monitoring front of these activities, with auditable KPIs. With consultative work and a holistic and systematic look at the company's processes, it is possible to design action plans to carry out ESG practices and identify in which areas need to be tackled from the point of view of business sustainability, environmental, social and governance impact .
The veracity of these actions can only be authenticated by tracking these initiatives, using, for example, IoT, Blockchain, Data Analytics, among other solutions, which must be adopted and customized according to the company's demand.
There are several activities that exemplify the use of technology with a focus on ESG practices, such as: smart badge solution that can help employee integrity; privacy of patient data in the hospital; traceability of the contaminated waste disposal chain; process efficiency and better use of equipment in order to reduce the impact on the environment; investment programs in microenterprises; among other possibilities.
Furthermore, the implementation of ESG practices requires systematic and harmonious governance within the business and to achieve this, in an auditable way, it is necessary to have integration of different systems. In this way, it is possible to prove adherence to sustainable processes, which is the great value sought by companies that are concerned with the topic.
All these solutions that make practices viable need to be built with two hands with companies and technological integrators and, thus, be able to develop systems capable of reducing environmental and social impacts, improving governance and allowing the monitoring of KPIs.
This trend, which is starting to emerge in the country, is also becoming a requirement for survival in the market, which can be developed with partners who use the current technological availability for this purpose - who are able to design, implement and operate this type of solution, from according to the needs of each type of business.
*Marcello Albuquerque and Osvaldo Fabbro, Consulting Directors at Logicalis
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
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