Can digital technologies help companies achieve sustainability goals? Yes, and not only that: it is expected that the so-called “eco-digital” economy will double in the next five years, reaching almost $33.000 trillion globally.
The new report says so Capgemini “The Eco-Digital Era™: The dual transition to a sustainable and digital economy”, developed with the Digital Value Lab of the Digital Data Design Institute of Harvard. The research explored the impact of new technologies on the economy as a whole and the immense potential for change of digital technologies, interviewing 1.500 executives of large organizations and 150 startups in 14 countries, including Italy.
Nearly eight in ten organizations say they are trialling one double transition towards a more digital and sustainable world, but have so far only exploited around 25% of the overall potential of technology.
In Italy over half of the companies are thinking about AI
77% of companies globally are experiencing a transition towards a more digital and sustainable world, 68% in Italy. It is estimated that the so-called economy eco-digital, which today represents the 15,5% of European and English GDP will double in five years, reaching weigh 29,4% of the gross domestic product of the Old Continent.
Italy represents 1,5% of the eco-digital economy and the automation of processes and workflows represents the main investment priority for 75% of leaders, followed by the reskilling of the workforce, which represents strategic investment area for 60% of the Italian sample. Also more than half of Italian companies is evaluating the potential (27%) of generative AI or is already developing a strategy to use this technology (24%). However, when it comes to emerging technologies such as Climate Tech, it is quite far behind the global average, with only 3% of organizations developing a strategy to use such technology, compared to the global average of 19%.
Digital technologies to support sustainability
60% of organizations say they want to achieve their sustainability goals thanks to the support of digital technologies, and 58% of companies say that digital technologies help them speed up the achievement of these goals. Over the last five years, the implementation of digital technologies has allowed organizations to reduce energy consumption by almost a quarter and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 21%.
The eco-digital era is giving birth to new business models e revenue streams, as well as to a greater one cost efficiency, thanks to the use of data, cloud, collaborative ecosystems and connected products and services. According to the report, seven in 10 organizations agree that digitally oriented business models will become a key driver of revenue growth over the next three to five years. Furthermore, 60% expect digitally oriented business models to generate more revenue than traditional ones.
Harvard's opinion
“In the eco-digital era, the value of digital technologies for businesses is being explored more, for example through data and cloud scalability, ensuring that digital technologies play a crucial role in achieving sustainability objectives” he says Suraj Srinivasan, Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Head of the Digital Value Lab of the Digital Data and Design Institute of Harvard. “There is also rapid evolution of emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence and synthetic biology, as well as increased collaboration giving rise to digital ecosystems. This change is truly fundamental, cross-sectoral and global in nature. One of the biggest questions organizations face and manage as they grow is knowing what to centralize and what to decentralize in terms of platform architecture and, most importantly, data governance.”
From investments in digital, returns of up to 14% in 2028
It is estimated that the investments in digital transformation, from the scalability of traditional technologies and the implementation of cybersecurity measures, to the retraining of the workforce and the automation of business processes, will generate the returns more significant in the next five years, going from the current 4% to 14% in 2028.
According to the report, approximately half of organizations (48%) are actively planning or developing strategies to harness the potential of emerging technologies, such as edge computing and generative AI. However, established technologies such as data, analytics and large-scale cloud will be the ones that organizations believe will deliver the most impactful business benefits over the next five years.
“The eco-digital economy has nothing in common with previous business models, and society is exploiting only a fraction of the overall potential that mainstream technologies such as cloud, AI and automation possess,” said Raffaella Santoro, Managing Director of Capgemini Invent in Italy. “Organizations will need to leverage the efficiency of their core business, achieved thanks to digital, in order to unlock the investments necessary for this dual transition. We are on the threshold of a new era of transformation and we have only begun to discover how digital technologies can help deliver significant economic, environmental and social benefits."
With greater digital technologies, energy consumption is reduced by almost a quarter
Moreover, if we look back we see that only in the last five years, the implementation of digital technologies has allowed organizations to reduce energy consumption by almost a quarter (24%) and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 21%. The report estimates that by 2028, the percentage of reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions achieved through the use of digital technologies will exceed the projected increase in emissions attributed to digital.
Nearly 40% of employees will be dedicated to digital initiatives in the next 3-5 years
The global workforce will need to undergo a significant transformation to keep pace with industrial-scale technological advances. 64% of organizations are already investing in the retraining of their staff, but it is necessary to adopt flexible structures that allow rapid evolution
