Balancing Digital Expertise and Sustainability: Is It a Mission Impossible?

Bringing together digital tools and sustainable practices should be at the forefront of strategic thinking for any business.

Old school thinking would put environmentally driven projects in a box protected from any technological intrusion. But in this day and age, business leaders are more aware of how digital technology and environmental sustainability have become mutually exclusive. Is it possible to balance both for a greater good and a win-win situation?

Connecting Digital Expertise to Sustainability

• The first, referring to digital expertise, is driven by the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics, all making processes more efficient.
• The second, referring to environmental sustainability, is driven by a combination of climate change and environmental threats, geopolitical instability, all of which require a new approach that prioritizes resource conservation and environmental governance without compromising money or man power.

This is where the technology comes in to connect the dots.

Facing the Current Issues

Corporate execs are increasingly recognizing that it will be impossible to meet the world’s growing demand for products and services purely through a linear increase in production and consumption.

People won’t be able to address the ecological and social challenges of the day without fundamental business model innovation.

This translates into one main idea: without a full understanding of sustainability, the energy drawn by hardware can be wasted. Simply put, companies can’t keep up with their own “trash”. Bringing digital and sustainable practices together should be at the forefront of strategic thinking for any business as a way to differentiate itself and gain long-term viability among stakeholders.

At EMLV business school, the latest MSc programme in Digital Business Analytics is all about “improving the world with the power of innovation and technology”. 

The programme goes beyond learning how to use data for competitive advantage, but takes a step further into using data for an environmental benefit as well. Given how the digital transformation of products and services is dramatically changing the existing economic system, it has become crucial to analyze how it’s been changing the ecosystem’s landscape as well.

This MSc will allow students to understand and analyze complicated data generated by digital tools and software, which will hopefully result in them using this data for bigger purposes than starting a simple business or monitoring relentlessly consumer behaviours and purchasing funnel online.

Their future job opportunities can vary in several digital fields:

• consulting
• e-commerce
• business analytics

How Will Digital Expertise Guarantee Sustainability?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies have the potential to help tackle some of the world’s most pressing societal problems, such as climate change, biodiversity, food insecurity, public health risks, and equity. The transformational capabilities of the digital age might even be a necessity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, as set out by the United Nations (UN).

Some examples:

• AI can help personalize medicine and help in delivering healthcare for all, a critical need for countries like India.
• Staying up to date and keeping track of climate emergencies
• Supporting environmental activists in creating awareness and fighting for their causes
• Switching CEOs’ mindset from profit-oriented to purpose and customer experience-oriented

Apply to the MSc Digital Business Analytics at EMLV business school .