“As a growing number of multinational corporations are assessing how to integrate sustainability into core strategy and operations, the IT sector has an opportunity to become a sustainability-oriented solutions provider, both for its clients and for its own operations.”
_{(Sissel Waage, Rajesh Shah, and Sahra Grishick. “Corporate Environmental Strategy: International Journal of Corporate Sustainability” Vol. 10, Issue 4. April 2003)}

Create value for your organization

Sustainable development is the new business paradigm for resolving the crisis’s in corporate ethics, economic inequalities, and the environmental damages and threats that afflict the world today.

The business of sustainability requires the application of sound business practices to a company’s financial, social, and environmental concerns, otherwise referred to as the triple bottom line. Financial viability and growth is a key component to successful business and an expectation of many stakeholders, including shareholders and employees. The building of social capital is equally important to business and essential in establishing and maintaining greater stakeholder engagement, trust, and recognition. Environmental stewardship is a responsibility of all the world’s citizens and a moral, when not a legal, obligation of business.

Commitment to a triple bottom line is as much about the sustainability of the business and its own vitality, as it is considerateness of the greater world communities and ecosystem.

Sustainability and IT
Business process management is a function of improving value chain performance. As such, business process managers seek opportunities to improve the business’ triple bottom line.

Information Technology (IT) projects are the result of business process re-engineering or the application of new technologies to improve existing processes. Consequently, every IT project is viewable as an opportunity to improve sustainability efforts.

Business process strategists must ask how their IT projects may contribute beyond financial performance, such as building social capital through improved communications channels, accessibility to timely information, or other possibilities that include, benefit, or improve relations with stakeholders.

Strategists must also consider the industrial ecosystem that the business operates within, and determine how their project may improve upon their eco-industrial network. For example, an automated process to report the reaching of a certain production level may also notify a “scavenger” partner that suitable amount of waste product is available for pickup.

Imagination alone limits the application of IT to sustainable development.

Steps to utilization
The steps to utilizing IT in corporate sustainable development efforts begin with top down commitment to sustainability as a core business practice. The business must incorporate a sustainability framework into the organization starting with effective leadership, an articulated vision and values, and accountability structures. The business must also understand where they stand in relation to their vision and values and develop a strategy to move foreword in that direction. Finally, the business must implement their strategy and use baseline auditing to account for progress achieved, or perhaps progress not achieved.

With a sustainability framework in place, business strategists are aware, directed, and empowered to fully exploit new and existing IT projects for maximum effect on the triple bottom line.

Manage technology for tomorrow’s world

Information technology (IT) is a key component of sustainable development for developing countries. It must also be a key component of sustainable development for organizations in developed countries.

Technology developed to innovate, educate, reduce value chain costs, and track performance with respect to the financial bottom line must now be utilized with respect to the triple bottom line.

Benefit your business stakeholders now by integrating IT as part of your sustainable development initiatives.
Improve social and ecological performance in your organization by employing IT advancements in: