Britain’s businesses remain invested in their sustainability goals, with spend on more environmentally friendly technologies set to increase by 260% between 2018 and 2030, new research has revealed - but some issues still persist.
According to a recent Cognizant study, the majority (81%) of UK businesses are now using digital tools to improve worker efficiency – a trend that has seen significant growth over the past 12 months with the rise of AI tools – but Cognizant reckons there’s still more to be done.
Many look to be concerned about the sustainability of the products we use in the workplace, with perceptions of greenwashing running high.
Will we meet our sustainability goals?
A separate Kantar study of around 26,000 participants, which awarded various categories a sustainability sector index score of between -100 and 100, found that electronic devices were awarded a poor score of 22, landing them in the lowest 10 categories among others, like alcohol, smoking, and oil and gas.
Participants were also concerned about greenwashing from social media companies, which have come under fire recently for their growing data center footprints.
Despite this, many companies continue to take large strides in the right direction. More than half (53%) said that their sustainability strategies involved developing products and services designed to contribute to addressing environmental challenges.
Cloud, and particularly, multicloud adoption, along with other IoT, automation, and AI technologies, have all been on the up in recent months as employers look to boost efficiency, and for the most part, they seem to be working. Nine in 10 have seen positive results, but other recent studies have indicated that businesses could be spending because they feel they should, rather than going in with a clear aim.
Cognizant UK and Ireland Country Head, Rohit Gupta, said: “UK businesses have already made a positive start, but looking forward, it will be the ones who form partnerships to creatively deploy emerging and maturing technologies that are able to meet their sustainability goals.”
Kantar’s Global Head of Offer, Sustainable Transformation Practice, Karine Trinquetel, added: “Acting with bravery and boldness to lead the way in sustainability has never been a more critical imperative, regardless of your sector.”
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