Integrate data sources to become a sustainable business

There is enormous pressure on businesses to become sustainable today. Prioritising the bottomline over long-term sustainable practices is no longer tenable and can in fact lead to more environmentally-conscious competitors having an edge. That's what experts in the field told us on a webinar last week.
Achieving a sustainable business model requires a lot of planning and, most importantly, adequate, reliable, real-time data.Getting the right data is by far one of the most common problems businesses face when starting out on their sustainability journeys, says Chittaranjan Meher, country leader of the sustainability software business unit for IBM India/South Asia.
"Without comprehensive data integration, you cannot accurately track and manage sustainability metrics. That's why we're helping customers collect data through different sources and integrate it."
Chittaranjan says IBM's Maximo application suite allows businesses to manage their assets more efficiently, predict and prevent breakdowns, and maintain compliance with safety and regulatory guidelines, all by gathering data from the right sources.

Indigrid operates and manages power transmission networks and renewable energy assets throughout India. The company's chief operating officer, Satish Talmale, says it's critical to collect data in an efficient and sanitised manner so that the data is structured and usable.
"We have operational technology systems like SCADA (computer-based system for gathering and analysing real-time data) and other business platforms wherein data comes through sensors and is automatically fed. And there are a few sets of data that come in through manual input - via iPads or mobile devices."
This integration of disparate data sources allows Indigrid to do amazing things, says Satish - like cutting down fewer trees. "Vegetation is a big challenge we encounter because if a tree height goes beyond a certain clearance, the power line will trip. So, we use drone and satellite-based monitoring to get data and then run image analytics on it, which tells us exactly when a tree will grow to be a problem. It's a scientific method that allows us to cut 100 branches of trees instead of a thousand."
Chittaranjan says professionals should consider getting into the rapidly growing sustainability sector. "We think this is the decade of sustainability because everybody has done their digital transformation already, the next transformation they are doing is sustainability. The requirement for sustainability professionals is very high," he says.