Incorporating IoT to Promote Sustainability

However, there are steps that can and should be taken to forestall and even reverse that impact. Creating products and systems that help enterprises and governments achieve carbon neutrality or negativity offers up opportunities for newer technology, better practices, and industry achievement. 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an integral part of this process. In fact, this past February, the World Economic Forum (WEF) listed sustainability as a top priority in the IoT, Quantum Computing, and AI space. Over the past several years, the WEF observed that IoT as an important part of impacting and reducing an enterprise's carbon footprint. As noted in their 2018 IoT Guidelines for Sustainability, “Our analysis shows that 84% of IoT deployments are currently addressing, or have the potential to address, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as defined by the United Nations.”

Making an Impact

IoT is increasingly seen by enterprises as an important tool for measuring their impact on the environment and then taking the necessary measures to establish and implement better practices. A 2021 Omdia Enterprise IoT survey demonstrated 92% of enterprises implementing IoT solutions are expecting to see improved sustainability.

There are a myriad of ways in which IoT’s capability can help enterprises monitor and increase their efforts, from offering connected sensors can help measure carbon emissions, energy consumption, water, and resource runoff, and wastage to creating business practices and models that integrate technologies and drive use cases based growth. This helps enterprises understand their environmental impact in real-time. 

Moreover, incorporating IoT technology that supports sustainability helps promote conscious cultural practices, draw new talent, enhance brand reputation, and drive cost savings as well as brand equity.

Key Areas to Watch

We anticipate there are a few key areas worth pursuing throughout the remainder of 2022 and beyond:

• Buildings being refurbished with smarter lighting and temperature controls.

• Smarter agriculture practices that reduce water consumption.

• Better fleet/vehicle monitoring, and a movement to electrification with a focus on renewable energy sources. 

• Increased food retail sustainability practices using smart temperature controls.

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