Digital adoption in sustainability initiatives underleveraged in India: Autodesk

While government-led sustainability initiatives have gathered pace in India, digital adoption being a critical enabler for sustainability is significantly underleveraged in the country, a new report by Autodesk and Frost & Sullivan said.

 

“Increasing requirements for compliance with mandates and regulations related to energy consumption and emissions reductions requires increased monitoring, measuring, reporting and verification which data can provide. Digitalisation will reduce project implementation timelines and enable data analytics that would help in process refinements and compliance with governance protocols,” the report said.

 

It added that increasing adoption of digital technologies would increase sustainability in the manufacturing and AEC (architecture, engineering, construction) segment in Asia-Pacific (APAC), where several initiatives are already underway. “For instance, the Government of India has implemented initiatives such as Green Corridors and Make in India supported by Industry 4.0, to encourage the private sector to utilize digital tools to meet their sustainability goals,” it said.

 

According to Autodesk, efficient and structured management of data is important to achieving sustainability goals, highlighting the need for increased digital adoption and technology can support businesses to reduce green house gases (GHG) emissions and waste, and accelerate the design and make of safer, healthier and more resilient products and places.

 

“Digital technologies are providing a bridge to approach sustainability challenges in a new way. For example, key environmental issues such as climate change, resource depletion, and environmental protection are being addressed through digital solutions. For example, Bangalore International Airport’s usage of building information modelling enabled the team to make more informed decisions using data, resulting in increased construction efficiency and reduced cost. Fewer mistakes also meant low materials wastage and less negative impact on the environment,” Rajeev Mittal, Managing Director, India & SAARC, Autodesk said.

 

“Two major challenges organisations face in their journey towards sustainability is the lack of skills and resources, which are being compounded by the ageing of assets. Digital adoption is the key to overcoming these challenges and is a critical enabler for sustainability, but it is still massively underleveraged,” he added. “India presents a massive growth potential as a developing nation that is at the forefront of the global fight against climate change," the report argued.

 

India has been predicted to deliver the strongest GDP growth of 9.5 per cent in APAC in 2021, compared to just 6.5 per cent for the region. “To sustain this growth, it is now imperative for the nation’s public and private sectors to be more aggressive in adopting digital technologies to capitalize on this potential and also achieve the common sustainability goals,” Mittal said.

 

The report found that sustainability is critical to 42 per cent of company strategies in India and that the country is among top five countries expected to drive growth and contribute to the region's dominance in the manufacturing segment. “With increasing focus on adopting sustainable development goals and gaining a competitive advantage, digital technologies are driving the convergence necessary for achieving a balanced growth between business and environment. Digitalization has emerged as one of the top strategy agendas for many corporations worldwide,” Ravi Krishnaswamy, Senior Vice President, Energy & Environment; Industrial APAC, Frost & Sullivan said.

 

He added that companies are increasingly adopting digital solutions for compliance related data measurement and reporting, easy collaboration with supply-chain partners, data on low-carbon materials, and machine-learning and artificial-intelligence capabilities for improving their sustainability quotient.

 

According to the report, APAC now contributes 53 per cent of global GHG emissions, producing 18.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020 which is more than the cumulative emissions from the rest of the world. India, collectively with China and Indonesia, contributed 76 per cent of the total CO2 emissions in 2018 alone. “Action must now be taken to embrace digitalization as an enabling pillar and increase the commitment towards sustainability, contributing to the global cause while upholding often divergent stakeholder interests,” it added.

Also Read: Over 50% Indians don't want cryptocurrencies legalised in India: LocalCircles survey

Also Read: India, US reach settlement on 2% equalisation levy on e-comm operators