Digitalisation is critical to driving business growth and operational stability with sustainability at the core, and digital technologies can be used to achieve a more sustainable and resilient future, speakers indicated during energy management solutions provider Schneider Electric’s Innovation Day held on July 6.

Schneider Electric International senior VP Natalya Makarochkina said the Covid-19 pandemic had dramatically changed how the world lived and worked, as well as accelerated digitalisation and automation in every business and industry.

Against this backdrop, she noted, the issue of sustainability had also arisen as a major global concern.

Studies indicate that the pandemic has accelerated companies’ digital transformation by five years, which is notable as, prior to this, many companies’ digital projects and strategies were failing.

Many companies were lagging in digital transformation, despite knowing the risk posed by disruption, Makarochkina noted.

She added that economic growth, as markets started to bounce back and confidence started to rise, created many business opportunities, which Schneider Electric, together with an alliance of partners, was positioned to capitalise on.

However, she said opportunities came with the cost of being responsible, model citizens, with companies needing to be mindful of the carbon footprints associated with economic growth.

Priority must be given to limit the impact of operations on the planet, she emphasised.

Sustainability was core to Schneider Electric, she stated.

Schneider Electric Secure Power executive VP Pankaj Sharma added that a more electric and digital world was pivotal to addressing the global climate crisis and enabling a sustainable and resilient future.

He posited that, by using digital innovation, electricity held considerable potential to eliminate energy waste.

Sharma noted that a net-zero carbon world was possible by disrupting the way energy was managed and buildings, industry and mobility were designed.

Also speaking during the Innovation Day was pole explorer and conservationist Robert Swan, the first person to walk to the South and North Poles.

That achievement had been built on to include crossing the whole of the Antarctic Continent on foot. Swan now has only 97 miles out of 1 522 miles left to complete the crossing of the Antarctic, which he intends to complete in 2022 at the age of 65.

Speaking from his experiences of the Antarctic continent, as well as his work as a conservationist, Swan emphasised the importance of the world needing to use more clean, renewable energy and decarbonise.