Matt Dillon
Although 96 per cent of international businesses believe digitalisation is “essential to sustainability,” just 35 per cent have implemented industrial IoT solutions at scale.
This is one of the major findings of a new global study of international business and technology leaders on industrial transformation, looking at the intersection of digitalisation and sustainability.
Commissioned by ABB, the study, “Billions of better decisions: industrial transformation’s new imperative,” examines the current take-up of the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and its potential for improving energy efficiency, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and driving change.
ABB says the goal of the new research is to spur discussion within industry regarding opportunities to leverage the Industrial IoT.
“Sustainability goals more and more are a crucial driver of business value and company reputation, and Industrial IoT solutions are playing an increasingly important role in helping enterprises achieve safe, smart and sustainable operations,” says Peter Terwiesch, President of ABB’s Process Automation business area.
“Unlocking insights hidden in operational data holds the key to enabling literally billions of better decisions throughout industry and acting upon them, with significant gains in productivity, reduced energy consumption and lower environmental impact.”
The study found that an organisation’s “future competitiveness” is the single greatest factor – cited by 46 per cent of respondents – in industrial companies’ increased focus on sustainability. Yet while 96 per cent of global decision-makers view digitalisation as “essential to sustainability”, only 35 per cent of surveyed firms have implemented Industrial IoT solutions at scale.
“This gap shows that while many of today’s industrial leaders recognise the important relationship between digitalisation and sustainability, the adoption of relevant digital solutions to enable better decisions and achieve sustainability goals needs to accelerate in sectors like manufacturing, energy, buildings and transport,” ABB says.
To continue the conversation on this important topic, ABB will host an industry webinar on Wednesday, March 2, focused on the convergence of digitalisation and sustainability.
Leave a Reply