A survey done by industrial software multinational AVEVA shows that 85% of industrial businesses plan to increase their investment in digital transformation over the next three years to tackle climate change, embrace automation and unlock the performance benefits of advanced technologies.

The survey included responses from more than 850 digital transformation experts across industries, including the manufacturing, large-scale agribusiness, food and beverage, infrastructure, energy, power and chemical processing sectors.

“Industrial leaders are leveraging advanced analytics and digital innovation to rethink how they design, engineer and operate.

“Bringing together rich, timely and accurate industrial data with the scope and scale of the cloud, smart analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are empowering industrial teams to collaborate better, operate with agility and elevate what they can achieve.

“This is set to transform how we all live and work,” says AVEVA chief strategy officer and chief cloud officer Ravi Gopinath.

Nine out of ten industrial companies see combining advanced technologies, such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), AI and cloud, with their teams’ insights, as key to driving a better performance in a post-pandemic world.

AI and automation are now seen as necessary technologies to keep pace with competitors, states AVEVA.

In China, 56% of businesses, and in Germany, 55% of businesses, have made digital transformation their top priority over the coming year, with investments focused on workforce solutions, cybersecurity, connected worker strategies and cloud.

“The pandemic has increased focus on the need for urgent climate action and the majority of industrial enterprises, 90%, cite this as a core action area.

“Nine in ten (89%) are committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions across their businesses and to tackling climate change within a five-year time horizon. Focus on sustainability has become a prerequisite for success in industry, according to leaders," says Gopinath.

Sustainability-led demands will, consequently, drive innovation across the value chain, 85% of companies say. These companies are planning to increase visibility and performance assurance to sustainability-related metrics as a result.

Germany, Austria and Switzerland lead the global race for environment-linked business innovation, with 47% of businesses in these countries seeing it as a significant focus, compared with 41% globally.

About 80% of industrial companies are focused on meeting or exceeding environmental regulations, while 83% say they will prioritise the transition to renewable energy sources. Supporting circularity and recycling within the value chain is important for 83% of customers.

“Our study shows that performance intelligence is accelerating sustainability for many businesses. The new research reveals that 75% of companies believe they are on a journey to realising performance intelligence, while 89% state they are committed to driving sustainability.”

AVEVA is committed to helping its customers unlock the benefits of digital transformation to drive efficiency and sustainability. As the industrial world accelerates, AVEVA’s solutions offer a proven pathway to support the shift to net-zero, while driving profitability and sustainability. AVEVA is committed to supporting both of these aspirations to drive even greater value, Gopinath says.