vision 2030: a connected future

Vision 2030:

A connected future

How the Internet of Things, data and connectivity

can drive business and a sustainable future

The Internet of

Things, data and

connectivity can

drive business and a

sustainable future

2

Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 04

Key findings ...................................................................................................................... 08

Future vision 2030 ............................................................................................................. 17

Barriers .............................................................................................................................. 34

Opportunities .................................................................................................................... 50

Businesses can make it happen: Recommendations

……………………………....................62

What next?...........................................................................................................................71

Appendix ………..................................................................................................................74

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4

Introduction

Introduction

5

Businesses are aware of the great

potential for the Internet of Things (IoT),

data and connectivity to drive a

sustainable future and make companies

more resilient – but currently struggle

to turn this into meaningful action.

By 2020, 4.1 billion people will be online,

amounting to more than half the world’s

population. Digital technology has already

transformed both industry and the human

experience, and its continuing

exponential growth means that the future

is both uncertain and filled with

opportunity.

This unprecedented level of access to

information opens the door to new and

exciting opportunities in many different

areas of people’s lives, not just in the way

we consume, but also the way we restore

the world around us. Nearly all

governments and corporations now

recognize the importance of securing a

sustainable future for the generations

ahead. Businesses, governments and

citizens are also increasingly partnering to

create a better, safer, cleaner and

prosperous future and driving solutions,

such as the circular economy, citizen-

driven democracies and digital

healthcare.

The opportunities are enormous and,

as is very often the case, still waiting to

be imagined.

What are the possibilities for digital

technologies to support, if not lead,

both sustainable outcomes and

economic growth for governments,

enterprises and citizens?

How can new technologies like IoT,

data and connectivity help us

overcome climate change, resource

shortages and other sustainability

challenges, while tackling the very

problems they themselves create,

such as e-waste and increasing

energy demand?

Introduction

Research Survey of 250 Executives

6

To understand the vital importance of technology for

sustainability and business, Forum for the Future

(Forum)

and Wipro Digital conducted qualitative interviews with

industry experts and surveyed more than 250 C-level

executives, vice presidents and senior public sector

leaders across industries in the United Kingdom and

the United States to explore the possibilities these new

technologies offer to drive systemic change for a

more sustainable future.

The research found that data and connectivity are the

top strategic priority for executives, while sustainability

is ranked as the

second priority.

Our research shows action on

sustainability tends to be incremental

and unambitious.

Data and IoT remain untapped

resources for supporting and

strengthening sustainability initiatives.

Introduction

7

The survey also found that the

vast majority of leaders surveyed

were aware of the potential

contributions IoT, data and

connectivity can make towards a

sustainable future. These leaders

made a clear connection between

sustainability and long-term

business success, with two-thirds

rating a plentiful supply of natural

resources to support their enterprise

as their biggest benefit.

Most strikingly from the research,

however, was that only half the

number of respondents were

actually translating this awareness

into practice, even with knowing the

benefits. They are yet to fully grasp

the connection between their two top

priorities of data and connectivity

and sustainability.

This report describes how IoT, data

and connectivity can help business

and government enterprises build

better, more sustainable systems

that provide the key services that

their consumers and citizens rely

on. Based on interviews and

conversations with experts, this

report envisions an achievable

future that employs technology to

benefit sustainability and enterprise

outcomes. It also identifies existing

barriers that

can be overcome if businesses

collectively act on them, and

showcases existing opportunities to

achieve this vision today.

This research aims to provoke

thought among readers and

act as a catalyst for practical

action from public and private

enterprises to make digital

technology a powerful accelerator

for sustainability and better

business outcomes.

8

Key Findings

AWARENESS

awareness of the potential

for data and connectivity to

contribute to a sustainable

future is high or very high

in their industries

POTENTIAL

confident that IoT is

contributing to a

sustainable future, and will

continue to do so in five

years’ time

PRIORITY

ranked data and

connectivity as a top five

strategic priority, with

sustainability a close

second at 76%

50%use data and connectivity to

support sustainability efforts

9

Key Findings:

IoT, data and connectivity

The untapped

potentialThe survey revealed that CEOs

and VPs from 250 global

companies see great potential in

data and connectivity, and strongly

believe it will contribute to a

sustainable future.

However, despite recognizing

sustainability as a high strategic

priority, most stated that their

businesses currently use data and

connectivity primarily for short-term

gains, such as operational

efficiencies and cost reduction,

rather than for driving

sustainability. 65% use data and connectivity to make

operations more efficient

93% 98% 80%

2

Key Findings

10

This report summarizes the

findings from the qualitative

interviews and survey, and

provides a future vision that

draws on these insights, as well

as additional desk research, to

imagine what’s possible.

The report highlights the areas of

opportunity experts and business

leaders see in data

and connectivity to drive a

sustainable future, as well as the

barriers that may hinder progress.

It concludes with some concrete

implications for business, with

questions that act as thought-

starters on how to turn the vision

into reality.

A core finding of the survey is

that 93% of respondents see

great potential in IoT, data and

connectivity in helping to deliver

a sustainable future. However,

the expert interviews have

shown that, even if the

technological tools needed to

transform systems and make

them sustainable are already

available, they are not yet being

applied for this purpose. Greater

proactivity and collaboration

between businesses,

governments and people is

needed to enable the system

change we need.

11

Key Findings:

Future Vision 2030

A brighter, fairer and more prosperous

future for all is within reach if we can

realize the potential of IoT, data and

connectivity.

This vision is generated using Forum’s

future techniques and imagines a

not-too-distant future where ultra-

transparent business operations,

meaningful and tailored data flows and

data-enabled infrastructures have paved

the way to a connected society governed

by informed, responsible and empowered

citizens and businesses.

12

Key Findings:

Barriers

Businesses can be the catalysts for

a connected, sustainable future by

scaling up the technological

opportunities; but, as the expert

interviews revealed, even when

ambition is high, it is not yet being

translated into meaningful action.

The research uncovered a number

of obstacles hindering the potential:

Unfulfilled potential:

Data and connectivity are primarily being

used for operational efficiencies, rather than

strategic growth and sustainability

opportunities, like driving product and service

innovation, creating new business models

and improving brand value.

More respondents use data and connectivity

half or more of the time to make operations

more efficient than to support sustainability

efforts (65% vs 52%).

Security risks:

Digital security and privacy issues are

inhibiting people, businesses and

governments from opening up their data.

Gartner’s research suggest that 25% of cyber

attacks will involve IoT devices by 2020.

Unfulfilled potential | Security risks

13

Key Findings:

Barriers

The digital divide:

Access to technology and data skills

are not shared equally between

demographics and geographies.

Only 31% of the population in

developing countries had internet

access in 2014, compared with 80%

in high income countries.

Rebound effect:

As the availability of data-enabled products

and services grows exponentially, so too

does the corresponding energy demand and

electronic waste production.

42m tonnes of electronic waste was

produced in 2014 globally,4 by then it was

predicted that it could rise to 65m in 2017.

Lack of common tech standards:

Since advances in technology happen

faster than legislation can keep up with

them, there is a lack of necessary

governance for technologies, such as

artificial intelligence.

“It is a political decision on how to use

data. IoT itself won't make the change.”

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino,

Founder of Designswarm

The digital divide | Rebound effect | Lack of common tech standards13

Key Findings:

Opportunities

Businesses can be the catalysts for a

connected, sustainable future by

scaling up the technological

opportunities; but, as the expert

interviews revealed, even when

ambition is high, it is not yet being

translated into meaningful action. The

research uncovered a number of

obstacles hindering the potential:

Open data infrastructures:

Platforms that offer access to various kinds

of data are essential for enabling better data

flows and collaboration, data integration and

the meaningful analysis

of data.

“Treating data as infrastructure and opening

up access to it will have as profound an

impact on our society as providing

electricity.”

Gavin Starks, founding CEO of Open

Data Institute

Data integration:

Information generated through the connection

of various data sources

offers the incentive to link silos and

drive exponential innovation.

“The problem is not solved by technology

alone but by designing for complexity.

Connecting people together to identify and

solve problems together is key.”

Usman Haque, CEO and founder

of the thingful.net

Open data infrastructures | Data integration14

Key Findings:

Opportunities

Digital citizenship:

A movement of using data to inform

and empower citizens, and enable

them to express their voices and ideas

to shape the future they want.

“Businesses need to see their role as a

way to help people function through

technology as citizens.”

Jon Alexander, founder of New

Citizenship Project

Tracking for transparency:

New data monitoring technologies and

distributed databases can increase the

reliability of data flows, leading to increased

digital trust, robust decision making and

transparent and resilient

supply chains.

“Disclosure is a lever for change, but needs

to come together with other levers if it is to be

successful.”

Mark Gough, Executive Director of Natural

Capital Coalition

Globalizing empathy:

New technologies such as AR and VR may

enable people to better understand global

challenges and to engage more deeply in

situations that, before, felt far away in terms

of location and lifestyle. 49% of total

respondents see virtual reality as a key

strategic priority of their business. Among

agribusinesses, this figure is 63%.

Digital citizenship | Tracking for transparency | Globalizing empathy 15

• Collaborate and share projects and budgets across

departments such as Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing,

Research & Development, etc.

• See beyond operational efficiency

• Be a driver of new tech governance

• Avoid rebound effects

• Enable open data infrastructures and data integration

• Empower responsible digital citizens

• Build trust and resilience with data-enabled transparency

• Use data and connectivity to unlock behaviour change

Key Findings:

How Businesses can make it happen

16

17

Future Vision 2030

2

Future Vision 2030

18

The research shows how IoT,

data and connectivity can make

a powerful contribution to the

system-level change needed to

get to a sustainable future. To

see how the opportunities could

combine and scale, insights

from the research have been

explored using Forum’s futures

techniques to envision an

aspirational future to work

towards that is connected,

sustainable and prosperous.

Confidence is very high (98%)

among business leaders that IoT

is contributing to a sustainable

future and will continue to do so in

five years’ time.

19

Even the most closed businesses

share some of their data. Governments

are trying to strengthen the emerging

open data culture by offering tax

benefits

for companies complying with open

data standards.

Sharing information about new

developments and innovative solutions

has become prevalent among start-ups

that have reached a global presence

over the last decade, with some far-

reaching benefits. Low-income

communities, for example, have used

the open source platform, Wiki-house,

to make homes anywhere with local

materials using digital fabrication tools

such as 3D printing and laser cutting.

Each part of the house can be

customized to people's desires and

weather needs.

Data assets are the new currency

impacting economic growth, with progress

accelerated through platforms for data

collaboration, augmenting business and

societal intelligence. To

be part of this new market, a larger

percentage of businesses’ information

needs to be accessible to the public

and government.

As a sign of the times, 30% of countries

are now ruled by an open democracy,

which allows decentralized collaboration

and citizen-driven decision making. In

another sign of change, data science

degrees are now the most popular choice

for university students.

How a world enabled by IoT, data and connectivity could look

Vision 2030:A connected future

Open data society

20

Changing consumer behaviours,

enabled by digital products and

services, have created expectations

for more openness and

transparency from businesses.

Meanwhile, different countries have

diverse approaches to data privacy.

Some leave it to the market to solve

societal needs, while others rely

on civil society movements to

influence policy making on issues

such as how much data companies

can store and use.

Securing personal data is a permanent

concern because of data breaches,

cyber attacks and abuse of personally

identifiable information in the past. As a

result, people are paying for extra

secure data and encrypted services.

However, there has been a positive shift

towards a more shared data value

approach, whereby businesses share

the value created through personal data

sharing with their customers by giving

“cash back for data” or providing

additional personalised services.

Technologies such as blockchain have

enabled full traceability into global supply

chains, allowing the circular economy to scale

up and share resources around the globe.

Having greater awareness of where products

come from has influenced buying habits, and

local produce is more valued than ever

before.



Corporate transparency

21

Health has improved overall, and life

expectancy is now over 100 years.

Preventative action and early diagnosis

is made increasingly possible thanks to

sophisticated micro body sensors used

to monitor even minor bodily changes.

Personal devices like mobile phones are

linked to these intravenous micro sensors,

and act like personal trainers and doctors,

informing people when to exercise, diet or

come in for a doctor’s specialist

appointment.

Some families own full-kit bathroom care

systems, which take samples of every

family member and recognize individual

samples via DNA, retina scanning and

fingerprint lighting. The data is captured,

stored and shared with doctors in real

time to provide holistic information about

an individual, including screening for

serious disease.

The phenomenon of 3D-printed organs and

self-genetic modification of under-

performing organs is growing, increasing

life-expectancy among people that can

afford it.



Digital wellbeing

22

Resource volatility (characterized by

higher material, distribution and

production costs) and digital services

have changed the way people interact

and consume. Reduced material

consumption has created experiential

services to grow. Drone-cinema, for

example, offers ultra-sensorial

experiences in which the user sits

virtually within a high-speed drone and

sees the planet from space in real time.

Shopping is mainly based on virtual

experiences, where data is used to drive

awareness of pertinent environmental

issues that are a consequence of 20th

century over-consumption. Many stores

now have mini-fabrication laboratories,

which have laser-cutting, 3D-printing and

material-recycling capabilities. These

“local loop” stores act as a hub for the

circular economy, which is how

businesses are fostering customer loyalty;

some days more “pre-loved” products are

returned than new ones sold due to new

bring-back incentives.

Regenerative design practices are the

starting point for new products. Packaging,

for example, comes from recovered sea

plastic, urban biofuels are produced from

local restaurant waste and construction

materials are often developed from

abundant plastic waste.



New types of consumption

23

Businesses’ previous zero-waste

approaches to resources have evolved

into the realm of net positive. Companies

now specify how their products are

“regenerating life” and enhancing local

ecosystems, which drives a completely

new relationship between business and

communities.

Developments in motion energy provide

a good example. Today, it is possible to

capture motion energy from people

cycling, walking or even just watching

football. In a regular stadium, there are

enough people moving between sitting

and standing to power the venue’s

entire energy needs. The more goals

and excitement during the game, the

more the fans move and the greater the

amount of energy produced.

Manufacturing firms and other businesses

are able to operate completely closed loop,

thanks largely to the optimized use of

resources, which relies largely on sensors

and other data to inform production

decisions and maximize “waste” use. Often

this means working with other businesses

within the sector to enable a more

collaborative approach to material flow,

wealth creation and positive impact.



Regenerative fabrication

24

A renewed relationship has formed

between government and civic society,

mainly enabled by open data and

sustainability goals. Proposed

legislation to protect workers' rights

using human quotas have reduced

concerns about prosperity and job loss,

which emerged from a more automated

society. Although most lower-skilled

jobs have been replaced by machines,

the Industrial Internet Revolution

provided people with fresh skills

through online education and created

new types of jobs, such as medical

robot designers and grid optimization

engineers.

Citizens continuously share data captured

through sensors on their mobile phones,

cars, clothes, etc., including information on

air quality, noise, traffic, crime, transport and

sustainable behaviour. This data is used in a

plethora of ways, including as leverage for

policy change and also as a way of telling

businesses and governments that a

particular service or product they are

responsible for is faulty. Access to transport,

traffic and crime data, as a further example,

makes it possible to name and shame car

brands contributing the most to

environmental pollution or praise other

brands for perfect safety records, to discover

which roads need a redesign for better traffic

circulation and to identify which city areas

need increased policing.

Democracy has evolved. Representation

is more accurate, elections are more

frequent and decision-making options are

more direct, thanks to a new mechanism

through which citizens select trusted

proxy representatives to specialized

topics.



Smart cities, smart citizens

25

Many jobs have been replaced by

automation, but measures have been

put in place, such as shorter working

weeks and universal basic income, to

maintain purpose, income and work life

balance for as many people as

possible.

Businesses are automating as much as

possible, and it’s not just manual labor

that’s being affected: traditional

knowledge-based jobs are also

experiencing the change, with newly

automated professions including law and

medicine. Today, people can undergo a

“pre-doc” appointment from the comfort of

their own home and receive an automated

95% accurate diagnosis and treatment

plan. The new “U-Law” system enables

users to analyze their court case based

on written law, thereby reducing the cost

of lawyers to the public.

The concept of the office has also changed

consequently, with people working

anywhere and everywhere. It is now

commonplace for employees to work

remotely for companies while being

physically based in other countries.

The growth of virtual working in certain

parts of the economy combined with

automated processes (such as automated

PAs) is freeing up real estate, which is

having a positive impact in terms of saving

water, electricity and commuting time.



Future of work

26

Businesses are competing to build a

reputation for having the most

regenerative solutions at the best

prices. Consumers are no longer

spending time analyzing the cost-

benefit relationship of every purchase;

instead, these decisions are being

made by apps using algorithms tailored

to customer experiences and based on

research by independent auditors, who

employ data scientists to validate

product-service experiences and

marketing claims. As a result, people

are buying better-fit brands and

achieving more sustainable lifestyles.

Visualizing data in real time has

changed habits. End-of-life

information built into everyday

products, for example, has decreased

landfill waste, as consumers are

made aware of how to reuse or

recycle materials. Other data

platforms help businesses to sell

surplus materials and waste to

flourishing new industries, such as

urban biofuels and innovative

construction materials.



Digital scrutiny

Getting to the vision:

Accelerating system level change

27

The Future vision describes a world

where IoT, data and connectivity

could play a significant role in a

better future for all.

These technologies also present

profound opportunities to get us to that

future – using new information flows

and innovation to accelerate the

system change needed. We have also

explored how IoT, data and

connectivity could enable a different

future by contributing to system level

change.

28

Systems perspective on the opportunitiesTechnology’s potential to be a disruptive force for good

The future needs new,

sustainable systems that work for

businesses and people. If we are

to achieve better economic,

social and environmental

outcomes for all, we need to

redesign how we work, live,

produce food, access energy, use

resources and even the way we

govern ourselves. New

technology solutions have

far-reaching consequences on

systems and can be a great

enabler for positive change

because of their disruptive

impact on business as usual.

Forum for the Future uses the multi-level

perspective (see page 29) to describe how

major shifts and disruptions happen. When

“big picture” pressures, like changing

political values or major technological

improvements, combine with niche

innovations, like blockchain or sharing

models, business as usual (see “Regime”

on page 29) is open to change.

IoT, data and connectivity are at the heart

of this system change right now – they are

disrupting industries, reshaping the social

landscape and providing multiple niche

innovations. They are changing how people

live and work and how they interact socially

and culturally. They are even having an

impact on who has political power and how

that power is expressed.

29


30


For this to be a positive disruption that grows

economies and takes the world’s food, energy

and other systems in a sustainable direction, we

need to harness these technologies to drive

better business, social and environmental

outcomes.

31

Systems perspective on the opportunitiesNew information flows can reshape how our systems operate

We have an opportunity to

distribute and harness the

potential of data in completely new

ways. People and communities can

use this information as inspiration

to innovate and reshape the

systems we work in together.

Forum has identified eight system-level

change strategies that provide the biggest

levers to shift a system (page 32).

Technology can play a role in almost all of

the strategies, but our research shows that

IoT, data and connectivity are best placed

to support two of them:

Providing equitable information flows and

structures and creating new (disruptive)

innovations and better products/services.

If channeled for behaviour change, they

may support culture, mindset and social

values, but that needs to be seen.

These strategies work in tandem, so for

anyone wanting to capture opportunities for

change across a specific system,

technology will need to be complemented

by other strategies.

32

Systems perspective on the opportunitiesEight change strategies that can reshape how systems operate

Support the culture,

mindset and social

values needed

Create the right incentives,

business models and financing

Create new (disruptive) innovations

and better products/services

Influence to shift goals through

future-focused political and

economic goals and policies

Ensure a route for innovation into,

or replacing, the mainstream

Provide equitable information

flows and structures

Develop appropriate

measures and standards

Harness trends for a robust

case for change

33

Systems perspective on the opportunitiesNew information flows can reshape how our systems operate

“Many of the interactions in systems operate through

the flow of information. Information holds systems

together and plays a great role in determining how

they operate.”

Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in systems – A primer

34

Barriers

2

Barriers

35

Our future vision is being held

back by major barriers, according

to several business leaders and

industry experts. The only way to

maximize the potential of data and

connectivity for a sustainable and

prosperous future, and the system

change needed to get there, is to

understand these barriers, and to

overcome them. We can see some

Signals of Change today, that

show inspiring examples of how

these barriers are addressed

today.

The following barriers were

identified through the qualitative

interviews with industry experts, the

quantitative survey of business

leaders and additional desk

research by Forum for

the Future:

• Unfilled potential

• Security risks

• Data monopolies

• Digital divide

• Rebound effects

• Lack of common standards

Unfulfilled potentialBig wins go wanting as businesses fail to join up the dots

36

More than half of the business

leaders who took part in the survey

say their companies primarily use

data and connectivity to improve

operational efficiency (see survey

results, right). This makes perfect

sense for cutting costs, but likely

ignores far greater benefits.

Experts in the research believe

transformational solutions are rare, and

that IoT, data and connectivity solutions

are not yet being used to their full

potential. Bigger impacts stand to be

made by using data and connectivity for

strategic sustainability and business

opportunities, such as driving

sustainable product and service

innovation, creating restorative

business models and driving

shared value.

Businesses need to exploit this potential if

they are to drive the solutions necessary for

a sustainable future and create long-term

benefits for people, planet and profit.

This links to another issue: to tackle the

biggest challenges, the tech industry needs

to rethink what it understands as problems.

While tech CEOs invest heavily in space

tourism and promise utopia, our planetary

problems, such as climate change and

resource shortages, remain severe and

unsolved.

Unfulfilled potentialThe biggest benefits of IoT, Data and Connectivity

21%

26%

27%

34%

40%

46%

47%

58%

Mitigate climate change

Improve nature and communities

Sustainable consumption

New business models

Lower costs

Product and service innovations

Safety and security

Operational efficiencies

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

37

To really take advantage of the

wondrous potential IoT, data

and connectivity offer requires

a shift of mindset and the

willingness of businesses,

governments and people to

channel technology’s power

in the right direction.

Key Benefits of IoT, data and connectivity

“If we continue to pitch our perk-based

products and services as ‘game-changing

solutions to global problems,’ we will only

demonstrate to the rest of the world how

out of touch we (Silicon Valley) are.”

Blog from Riva-Melissa Tez,

Co-founder, Permutation Ventures

51% use data and

connectivity to make

operations more efficient

40% use it to support

sustainability efforts

“Having a common language and

asking the question about what we

are going to change with this, becomes

a fundamental part of

every data project.”

Mark Gough – Executive Director of

Natural Capital Coalition

“Technology is not the limiting factor in

solving the problems. What I am

finding more challenging are the

organizational operations and political

will.”

Tim Wilkinson UNEP – Head of

Programme Informatics

Unfulfilled potentialSignals of change

38

Fairphone is the first phone manufacturer whose

business model is built on ethical and sustainable

practices and consumption. The Fairphone 2 is a

modular phone boasting long-lasting design that

encourages reuse and recycling behaviours and

the promise of good working conditions across its

supply chain.

The Tech for Good community features media

content that demonstrates technology’s potential for

delivering positive outcomes. It celebrates where

tech is being used and developed, reveals the impact

it is having and encourages debate around the

issues.

Dell is one of the first companies to follow a net

positive strategy, and has set itself the goal that, by

2020, “the good that will come from our technology

will be 10x what it takes to create

and use it.”

https://themission.co/silicon-valley-has-a-problem-problem-b34437a57e99

Security risksFears over online security threaten the promise of open data

39

Cisco estimates that by 2030, 500

billion computers and objects will be

connected to the internet6. But having

more connected devices presents new

security risks.

In October 2016, a massive internet

outage woke the world up to the threat

from cyberattacks, as many popular sites,

including Twitter, Amazon, Tumblr,

Reddit, Spotify and Netflix, were forced

offline. In May 2017, cyberattack

WannaCry hit companies around the

globe and forced the UK’s NHS to close

seven hospitals, affecting everything from

A&E to ambulances. If people were not

worried about their online security before,

they are now.

The risk of further cyberattacks creates a

significant barrier to scaling up the

opportunities data sharing offers, both in

terms of helping to create a sustainable

future and also improving the lives of

consumers through personalized digital

services, convenience and connectivity.

Clearly, the combination of having hundreds

of billions of connected objects and

inadequate security protection presents a

significant risk to users’ privacy and their

trust in companies’ products and services.

Gartner predicts that more than 25% of

cyberattacks will involve IoT devices by

2020.

Businesses need to invest large sums if

they are to properly prepare for the

inevitable proliferation of sophisticated

cyberattacks to avoid costs and reputation

loss and build trust with their customers.

Interestingly, data and connectivity could

also play a part in the solution to their own

problem. Agencies that adequately utilize

big data analytics see improvements in

cybersecurity. 84% of agencies studied

reported their organization had

successfully thwarted a cybersecurity

attack with big data analytics, and 90%

said they saw a decline in security

breaches.

“Opening data will not be effective if it

necessarily involves risks to individual

privacy. It is therefore critical to develop

effective approaches to balance these

benefits and risks, enabling cities to

release open data without unduly

compromising sensitive information.”

Green, Ben, Gabe Cunningham, Ariel

Ekblaw, Paul Kominers, Andrew

Linzer, and Susan Crawford. 2017.

Open Data Privacy (2017). Berkman

Klein Center for Internet & Society

Research Publication

“People need both greater

understanding and control over

their own data.”

Gavin Starks, Founding CEO

of Open Data Institute

Security risksSignals of change

40

Messaging service WhatsApp offers an end-to-end

encryption service on all of the messages created on

the app.

Private cyber security start-up CrowdStrike,

which raised $100m in May 2017 and is now

valued at more than $1bn, anticipates a surge in

demand in the wake of the WannaCry attack that

ripped through organizations around the world

(Financial Times).

GovCERT is the Danish government’s computer

emergency response team. It monitors the networks

of government institutions and utility companies, and

tracks the movement of data in and out of those

networks, recording every IP address, reading every

packet and measuring

how long the connections last.

Data monopolies Creating new silos in business and society

41

Data and connectivity could help

people to understand society and

ecosystems better, but this requires

data integration from different

sources. To turn these insights into

innovative business opportunities,

strong multidisciplinary collaboration

is required between tech experts,

R&D and sustainability teams.

Part of this involves developing more

sophisticated ways to make sense out of

data. If this doesn’t happen, businesses are

left taking decisions or implementing

solutions from a limited perspective, which

can lead to unintended consequences.

To see more disruptive and systemic

solutions, businesses need to collaborate

much more, both internally and externally.

Without data collaboration and sharing,

“data giants” like Amazon and Google will

own most of the world’s data assets.

The survey revealed that internal

collaboration between departments

responsible for sustainability and IoT or data

and connectivity could be stronger, with only

32% of respondents saying collaboration is

significant.

The good news, however, is that when

sustainability is seen as a strategic

opportunity, the cross-functional discipline is

one of the key drivers of this collaboration.

47% of respondents said that

sustainability is one of the top three key

drivers of inter-departmental

collaboration

Data monopolies Signals of change

42

Datacoup calls itself the first personal data marketplace

where users get a share of the money generated by

selling information about themselves. It allows users to

pick which data they want to sell and get paid monthly by

credit card.

People.IO is a start-up that allows users to license their

data, allowing them effectively to request rewards from

named brands that have been given permission to

engage at specific times and frequency.

https://datacoup.com/

https://people.io/

Data monopolies Signals of change

43

Improving collaboration from “some” to “significant” between departments responsible for

sustainability, IoT, data and connectivity could potentially help to reduce data monopolies.

32%

56%

9%

2%

26%

63%

7%

2%

33%

58%

5% 4%

27%

50%

23%

0

23%

63%

13%

0

46%49%

4%

0

31%

54%

11%

3%

Significant collaboration Some collaboration Minimal collaboration No collaboration at all

All

Consumer packaged goods

Manufacturing

Utilties

Agribusiness

Multinational Tech

Local/Central Gov

Industries

The digital divideSkills and access gaps hint at even greater inequality

44

Numbers, data and information alone

are not going to solve the world’s

biggest sustainability issues. Taking

a “technology will save us” approach

to systemic problems will clash with

the complex reality of today's

problems. If the right questions are

not being asked about what those

problems actually are, we will only

ever make incremental progress.

The ability to capitalize on data and use it

for meaningful applications was a

reoccurring concern among the experts.

Skills in understanding and analyzing data is

therefore key. Data literacy - the ability to

understand data and to use it in meaningful

ways - is seen as a core skill that needs to

be established within all aspects of society,

including institutions, governments,

businesses and schools.

To ensure that the opportunities offered by

data and connectivity are fully exploited,

everyone must have the same skills and

opportunities to access them. But this is not

currently the case; while access to data via

the internet and computers in developed

countries is commonplace, access in other

parts of the world remains limited, widening

the so-called digital divide (The World Bank

has mapped the global spread of digital

technologies in its Digital Adoption Index).

To illustrate this point, only 31% of the

population in developing countries had

internet access in 2014, compared with 80%

in high income countries.

The digital divideSignals of change

45

Jana’s mission is to make the internet free for

the next billion users. The start-up enables

mobile connectivity in emerging markets by

leveraging advertising to offset high data costs.

Africa Code Week provides coding education to

Africa's youth, empowering them to drive the

continent's economic development.

Microsoft has recently launched a training

programme in the UK that aims to teach people

digital skills to ensure the country remains one

of the global leaders in cloud computing,

artificial intelligence and other next-generation

technologies. In 2014, Intel launched a similar

scheme in India, which includes modules on

digital literacy, financial inclusion, healthcare

and cleanliness in five Indian languages.

“There’s never been a better time to be

a worker with special skills or the right

education, because these people can

use technology to create and capture

value. But there’s never been a worse

time to be a worker with only ‘ordinary’

skills and abilities to offer, because

computers, robots, and other digital

technologies are acquiring these skills

and abilities at an extraordinary rate.”

E. Brynjolfsson and A. McAfee write

in The Second Machine Age

“We live in a networked age

which many find confusing and

disempowering. We need to help

enable public understand and

debate about the use of data for

social, environmental, and

economic benefit.”



Rebound effects Innovation and the vicious consumption cycle

46

As technology production has become

cheaper over the last decade, sensors

and other tech gadgets have driven

unsustainable consumption patterns.

The phrase “the internet of useless

things” was coined in response to the

growing disillusionment felt in some

quarters over the proliferation of

pointless technological devices.

The HAPIFork is among many products

to fuel the critics’ frustration. This

Bluetooth-connected fork lights up and

vibrates if users eat too quickly, and

measures how long it takes them to eat

their meal and how much time they are

taking between bites.

Countless other new technology-driven

consumer products are adding to the

problems of waste, resource use and other

environmental issues, and solving very little,

if anything, in return.

What we need to see instead is technology

that is more human-shaped and human-

proofed – solving real challenges and

serving real human needs.

E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream

on Earth, leading to major health and

environmental risks. For example, the

average life expectancy in Agbogbloshie in

Ghana, a global electronics dumpsite, is just

23 years.10

Data and connectivity also have a high

energy bill. While it is predicted that data will

grow by up to 10 times by 202511, the

energy demand and (depending on the

energy source) resulting CO2 emissions

from data centers is also rising.

Already, data centers consume 1.2%

of global power.12

The experts in the research suggest the

most important first step is to address what

happens to a product at the end of its life

during the design phase. A good example of

where this has already been done is the

Fairphone, whose manufacturer offers repair

tutorials as well as selling spare parts to

ensure the phone lasts as long as possible.

Rebound effects Signals of change

47

The Restart project and iFIXIT are driving a self-

repair movement in the electronics sector,

encouraging people to fix their devices themselves

so that the lifecycle of the devices is extended.

Apple’s data centres are powered by 100%

renewable energy.

WoeLab is an African fab-lab and incubator-

accelerator for boosting both open native hardware

technology projects and international approaches to

digital solidarity.

“The cost of sensors and other

technologies went down, but we still

don’t see more intelligent solutions. This

is a missed opportunity.”

Dr. Daniel Schien, Lecturer in

Computer Science at Bristol

University

Lack of common tech standardsNew standards, principles and collaboration are required

48

Tech governance and interoperability

has historically been unable to keep

pace with innovation. But without

common or joint standards and

systems that work with each other, it

will be hard to channel technology

towards systems change, which may

lead to far-reaching unintended

consequences.

Some emergent technologies, such as

Blockchain, are already trying to provide

new solutions, including peer-to-peer

reviews as new governance structures.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine

Learning hold great promise and

opportunity to mine data and connectivity

for even greater insights and outcomes.

At the same time, common standards

and behaviours for AI have yet to be

established.

In 2015, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, the

founders of Google DeepMind and dozens

of other researchers signed an open

letter13 calling for robust investigations

into the impact of AI and ways to ensure it

remains a benign tool at humanity's

disposal.

Lack of common tech standardsSignals of change

49

A new Silicon Valley-coalition supported by

companies including Apple, Amazon, Google,

Facebook, IBM and Microsoft announced the

formation of a non-profit organization dedicated to

investigating the trustworthiness and reliability of AI

technologies and similar matters. The coalition also

aims to create new standards for the technology,

informing societal and ethical best practice for AI

research.

“It is a political decision on how to use

data. IoT itself won't make the change.”

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino,

Founder of Designswarm

50

Opportunities

251

Opportunities

Industry experts identified

substantial opportunities for

IoT, data and connectivity to

drive positive impact and

meaningful action. If we can

overcome the barriers and

bridge the gap between

awareness and action, business

can capitalize on these

opportunities for commercial

and sustainability gains.

The following key opportunities

were identified through desk

research, interviews with

industry experts and the

quantitative survey of

business leaders:

• Open data infrastructures

• Data integration

• Digital participation

• Tracking for transparency

• Globalizing empathy

Open data infrastructures Freeing information flows for collaboration

52

The opportunities:

• Enable the right context for disruptive

and open innovation

• Increase transparency and democracy

• Provide equal access to information

• Facilitate resource sharing

and reuse

Open data infrastructures were flagged by

experts as a key priority area, and the basis

for maximizing the potential data and

connectivity offer. They work by allowing

data to be freely available online for anyone

to use and republish for any purpose, and

are driven by technologies like application

program interfaces (APIs). Google was a

pioneer of open APIs, making software

available to developers to improve services

for everyone.

An increased adoption of open source

and data principles has encouraged

governments and businesses to start

opening up their data sets to the public,

driving transparency and establishing the

foundations for data collaboration and

integration.

More open and shared data about

environmental and social issues could be a

great driver of citizen-led innovation, since it

allows for the creative application of

information that can create real impact. This

is already being seen in the Crowd2Map

Tanzania initiative.

Open data is also a basic requirement for

driving forward the circular economy, which

is dependent on shared data flows in order

to identify opportunities for resource sharing

and reuse. Start-ups such as Globechain

and Environmate already use digital

platforms to connect industries to drive

resource reuse.

Open data could help take this even further,

enabling infrastructures to take them to

scale.

Open data infrastructures Opportunities in action

53

Crowd2Map Tanzania is a crowd-sourced initiative

aimed at creating a comprehensive map of rural

Tanzania for everyone to use. Better maps helped

over 2,000 vulnerable women gain access to help

centres last year.

The London Borough of Camden has formally

launched a multipurpose open data platform featuring

over 300 different datasets on everything from

parking bays and planning applications to housing

stock and road accidents. It has had over 1.7m page

views since it was trialled in 2015.

SF72 is San Francisco’s hub for emergency

preparation. The platform connects people in

emergencies, informs visitors about what to do in an

emergency and offers useful guides on how to get

prepared.

“Open data and open access to sharable

data will have a profound an impact on our

society: we need to treat it as part of our

infrastructure.”



Data integration Freeing information flows for collaboration

54

The opportunities:

• More impact through contextual

data analysis

• Greater efficiency savings

• Drive innovation through

co-created data sets

• Better understand complex

environmental and social issues

with new and more robust insights

and evidence

Public and private sectors remain

isolated. They don’t share information

flows, so the possibilities for processing

data remain limited. Driving integration

(e.g. by combining data sets, analyzing

them and sharing new insights for action)

between different organizations is the next

frontier to funnel new trusted solutions

that can impact a sector in a more

systemic way.

Experts believe the information generated

through multiple data sources offers the

incentive to connect silos and be the

enabler of efficiencies, exponential

innovation and the creation of a more

resilient civilization.

Having a more holistic overview of data

may also serve to increase our

understanding of the complexity of

ecosystems and sustainability challenges,

as is already being seen

in Griffith Institute’s Twitter for

Science project and Syngenta’s crop trait

analysis.

Data integration Opportunities in action

55

Transport for London (TfL) has a long history of

opening its data with other parties. According to the

government body, it has saved between £15m-

£42m since 2009, when it opened raw

data to the app market, rather than developing apps

in-house.

Twitter for Science is a project led by the Griffith

Institute for Tourism that uses big data analytics to

test whether it is feasible to use “human sensors” —

posts from social media — to gauge the health of

ecosystems when combined with other data sets.

The research team is trying to monitor

environmental conditions at the Great Barrier Reef

in real time using tweets from Twitter, in addition to

meteorological data, tourism statistics, water quality

reports and coral cover, among other variables. The

approach uses sentiment analysis, applying AI

techniques such as natural process learning and

machine learning to extract the relevant ecological

information.

Syngenta has been using publicly available data in its R&D

for some time. Alongside data related to land, weather and

soil conditions, it uses biological data that has been

published openly to build a detailed understanding of crop

(and pest) traits, such as tolerance of environmental

pressures and resistance to viruses.

60% of respondents believe data and connectivity

will be of some help in restoring ecosystems, with

higher agreement from CPGs, government and

agribusiness.

“Today there are silos of funding, silos of

institutions, silos of stockholders… Technology

can bridge all the silos and can help us work up a

holistic approach for our challenges. We don't

need to eliminate the silos – just connect them

more effectively. Technology is the only way to

accomplish that integration.”

Storm Cunningham, author of The Restoration

Economy and publisher of Revitalization News

“We need to embrace network

thinking — applying the

possibilities of big data in the

physical world.”

Gavin Starks, Founding

CEO of Open Data Institute

Digital participationEmpowering people to take action

56

The opportunities:

• Help people feel more empowered

and responsible

• Improve democratic systems

• Promote a synergistic relationship

between

• businesses and people

Technology is a major enabler for people

who want to create change. The New

Citizenship Project calls this phenomenon

“civic tech,” whereby technology helps

people to function as engaged citizens, not

just as consumers (e.g. through involving

them in participatory democracy, budgeting

and innovation processes). Forward-thinking

companies are now realizing it is better to

understand consumers as people and

citizens.

Citizen innovation is driven by increasing

access to a diverse range of technologies.

Data platforms, for example, can enable

a rapid prototyping process of detecting

a problem, developing a solution, reaching

out to a community in need and launching a

pilot.

Technological solutions and methodologies

for communities to collaboratively assemble,

deploy and maintain citizen-led campaigns to

capture, share and make sense of open data

about their environment are thriving across

the globe. Governments are investing in

ways to harness this to build resilient

democracies and understand how

participatory governance can have an impact.

For businesses, this is an opportunity to

create a very different type of relationship,

whereby people are much more involved in a

company’s activities and have a say in

product and service development. Bringing

people into the process and making them

part of the innovation business can create

long-lasting value and drive trust and brand

loyalty.

Digital participationOpportunities in action

57

Smart Citizen is a community platform for

researchers, schools, citizens, science and

developers to generate participatory processes for

people living in cities.

Portugal has announced the world’s first

participatory budget on a national scale. The project

will let people submit ideas for what the government

should spend its money on, and then vote on which

ideas are adopted.

Your Priorities is an eDemocracy web application

designed by the non-profit Citizens Foundation

to drive online dialogues between citizens and

authorities.

Democracy Earth is an open source and

decentralized democratic governance protocol for

any organization using blockchain to build digital

trust.

42% of government respondents think

communities are ecosystems that could be

restored though data and connectivity.

“Businesses need to see their role as a way to help

people function through technology as citizens, not

just as consumers. This is the only way tech can help

people develop a sense of agency in the world, and

embrace rather than reject it.”

Jon Alexander, founding partner of New

Citizenship Project

Tracking for transparencyInformed consumers and resilient business

58

The opportunities:

• Increase visibility of impacts

• Develop more resilient and efficient

supply chains and cities

• Create new products and services

• Better inform consumers

• Elicit behaviour change

Companies are increasingly using sensors

and wireless technologies to capture data at

all stages of a product's lifecycle to drive

operational efficiencies. Some are using the

technology to create new revenue streams

and others to improve transparency and help

make impact more measurable. Start-up

Provenance, for example, recently managed

to track fish from catch to supermarket using

sensors and blockchain.

Sensor-enabled tracking and monitoring

can also be a valuable asset in the

protection of ecosystems, as is being seen

in an initiative to chart human movements

in endangered rhino reserve grounds and

another to track illegal burning of forests.

Applied to human behavior, sensors and

trackers may help to drive sustainable

action by getting more information on

people’s lifestyles, choices and habits.

The application of heath sensors and

trackers to monitor fitness levels and

health information is already a huge

market; the e-health market is projected to

reach $308 billion by 2022. In the future,

people may increasingly also track their

carbon footprint, resource usage, etc.

through sensors and trackers in the same

way.

Vice-versa, product-integrated chips can be

an active driver of sustainable living choices

by informing consumers (e.g. about end of

life, reuse and recycling options), as well as

having an educational effect about issues

like climate change (see box). In the UK, the

rollout of smart meters is already increasing

awareness of resource use among

householders while helping utilities

companies to create a more resilient and

efficient grid. Data-enabled transparency is

seen as a potential game changer for supply

chain management, making supply chains

more resilient and closed-loop.

Tracking for transparencyOpportunities in action

59

Provenance is a platform that empowers greater

transparency by tracing the origins and histories of

products. Using blockchain as a base of its service,

it helps companies to easily gather and verify

product stories, keeping people connected to

physical things.

Global Forest Watch is an open data platform used

by the governments of Indonesia and Singapore to

crack down on illegal burning by pulp and paper

companies.

The Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Program,

normally used as a regular cash-transfer for poor

households, scaled up from 6.5 to 9.6 million

beneficiaries within two months after the 2011

drought by using satellite-based technology to

quickly pre-evaluate the drought situation.

53% of respondents claim the greatest

benefit of IoT, data and connectivity is

making operations more efficient.

“Data could bring light to our over-consumption patterns and

highlight global versus local issues.”

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Founder of

Designswarm

Globalizing empathyAs an enabler of behaviour change

60

The opportunities:

• Bring important but distant

environmental and social issues

closer to people

• Elicit behaviour change

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are

currently applied mostly in the gaming industry;

however, there is much potential for social and

environmental applications through their ability to

create empathy for distant and simulated situations.

In the future, VR may enable people to better

understand global challenges, and to engage more

deeply in situations that before felt far away in terms

of location and lifestyle. We are already getting a

glimpse of VR’s potential through online platforms

such as Google Tango.

VR is just one example of how data and

connectivity technologies can help drive the

awareness of environmental issues.

The growth of automation and artificial

intelligence (AI) are also hot topics today.

Progress in each field has the potential to

significantly alter our current way of life, and there

are valid concerns as to whether their inexorable

rise will do more harm than good.

One thing that is for certain is that robots driven by

algorithms are not susceptible to the sort of whims,

inclinations and negative behaviours that mankind

is. While automation and AI certainly offer the

benefit of helping to rule out the human error factor,

they also have the potential to help us live more

sustainable lives automatically.

Globalizing empathyOpportunities in action

61

With Project Syria, VR Journalist Nonny de la

Peña places participants in Aleppo during a rocket

blast and, later, in a refugee camp through VR with

her experience. Further, she has put people on the

virtual streets of Los Angeles to understand hunger

and on the virtual U.S.-Mexico border to live the

story of a man beaten to death by U.S. Border

Patrol agents.

Tribal planet creates online engagement platforms

around global issues including education,

sustainability, health and equality. The aim is to

empower citizens from around the world to engage,

learn, discover and collaborate in helping to solve

the greatest challenges facing our world today.

Pokemon Go - an augmented reality smartphone

game - has had a notable behavioural impact on

gamers. People reported being more active using

the game, and there are signs that it has had a

positive impact on users’ mental health status,

reducing depression and anxiety.

49% of business leaders

see VR as a key strategic

priority for their business.

63% of agribusinesses

see VR as a key

strategic priority for

their business.

62

Businesses can make it happen:

Recommendations

2

Seven recommendations

63

There are substantial

opportunities in IoT, data and

connectivity to be used for

sustainability – providing

commercial, social and

environmental benefits.

Business must play a key role

in using these technologies to

move us towards the future

vision, and support the change

needed to get there

We recommend companies and

government start by thinking

about the implications and how

they might be part of the

solution. Here are some ideas to

get started:

• See beyond operational

efficiency

• Be a driver of common tech

standards

• Avoid rebound effects

• Enable open data

infrastructures and data

integration

• Empower responsible digital

citizens

• Build trust and resilience with

data-enabled transparency

• Use data and connectivity to

unlock behaviour change

64

There is a tendency among

businesses to use data and

connectivity primarily for operational

efficiencies. The trouble with this

approach is that they miss out on the

long-term benefits afforded by

focusing on sustainability. Seeing the

long-term value of IoT, data and

connectivity will help to create new

and disruptive innovations for the

change required.

• What new revenue streams could you

unlock by developing new business models

and/or services drawing on data and

connectivity of your existing products?

• How closely linked are your R&D,

technology and sustainability teams?

Be strategic, collaborate, think systemically.

How to drive system change:See beyond operational efficiency

65

Businesses and government need to

join the conversation about

governance of technology, and help

develop appropriate measures and

standards that ensure technology is

channelled for the greater good.

• Can you push for new standards or

positive lobbying to create equal access

to technology and the internet?

• Can you get involved in the creation of

ethical tech standards or principles

within your industry to ensure tech is

deployed in the right way?

• Could it be time to introduce human

quotas in your organization?

• How can government work together with

industry to develop standards that are

effective?


How to drive system change:Be a driver of common tech standards

66

To avoid reputational risks and create

the foundations for all opportunity

areas to scale, companies need to

mitigate the negative impacts of

increased data and connectivity.

• Has your business put net positive goals

in place yet?

• Do you know your data footprint?

• With whom can you collaborate on the

e-waste challenge?

• How do you encourage renewable

energy use in your own operations and

beyond?

• How can you map your externalities and

start thinking about how data and

connectivity may be an enabler for better

environmental accounting?


How to drive system change:Avoid rebound effects

67

Opening up your organization’s data

assets can help to drive cross-industry

collaboration around global

challenges, generate new insights and

push innovation forward. Open data

infrastructures can also be an

accelerator of equitable information

flows and structures, helping to scale

all opportunity areas. It is important to

remember, however, that collaboration

is not just about opening access to the

data, but actively stimulating a sharing

mindset between data owners.

• Do you have data assets that could be

useful for public use and create shared

data value?

• How could you provide people (internally

and externally) with new digital skills and

improve data literacy through your

business activities and/or partnerships?

• Could you partner up with other

organizations for data collaboration,

deriving new opportunities for data

analysis and insights?

• What are your underutilized data assets,

and who could you partner with to make

them more valuable?

• Could your business pioneer a new

approach to data ownership?

• Has your government implemented open

data platform yet?

• Does your government invest into open

data infrastructure yet?

Integrate, empower, build trust to unlock behaviour change.

How to drive system change:Enable open data infrastructures and data integration

68

Organizations looking to scale up the

opportunities presented by “new

citizenship” need to understand

consumers as people and citizens.

They must explore how this will

change the perspective of the

organization and influence the way it

innovates. This will also lead to the

right culture needed for system

change.

• What might be the benefits of starting to

discuss difficult decisions with people

openly and publically?

• How could you make civil society key

decision makers within your

organization?

• How can you engage customers to be

part of R&D processes, and let them

decide what products and services they

really need to improve their lives?

• What shifts may a citizen approach

mean for political participation and

increased democracy?


How to drive system change:Empower responsible digital citizens

69

Consumers are increasingly

demanding that brands be transparent

about their business operations. Data

and connectivity can help businesses

build trust with customers by offering

full insight into their supply chains

while supporting the right social

values for system change.

• How can your business experiment with

new technologies like blockchain to drive

transparency of your supply chain?

• Can you join or design data platforms that

enable better information and resource

flows within and outside of your

organization?

• How can you collaborate with other

organizations to develop new data sets

which uncover fresh insights into

environmental and societal restoration?

• How can governments use the

opportunities of data and connectivity to

give more transparency into political

decisions and increase participation,

especially the younger generations, in

political activities?


How to drive system change:Build trust and resilience with data-enabled transparency

70

Engaging customers into sustainability

issues is not easy. Data and

connectivity solutions, such as VR,

have the potential to engage customers

in fun and exciting ways, thereby

creating incentives for sustainable

lifestyles and driving

the right mindsets required for

system change.

• Could you take customers on a VR

narrated journey through your business’s

operations, giving them

new insights into how you work

behind the scenes?

• How can you use data visualization

and gamification to help people

explore important issues such as climate

change, deforestation or

ocean pollution?


How to drive system change:Use data and connectivity to unlock behaviour change

71

What Next?

2

Start your journey

72

As this report has shown, IoT, data

and connectivity have the ability to

change how our systems operate. It

is up to every business and

government to decide whether they

want these systems to be open,

transparent, democratic, connected

and collaborative – or closed,

isolated, and contributing to

unsustainability.

This report set out to provide some

ways for companies to achieve their

business outcomes and start their

journey towards a connected future in

which data and connectivity empower

people to shape the world they want,

encourage better consumption habits

and drive equal opportunities for all.

There are many opportunities for

businesses to show thought

leadership and create business

advantage through digital

technology. However, all of the

issues this report mentions are

complex. How an individual

company takes advantage of

these opportunities will therefore

depend on that organisation’s

unique market position, product

portfolio and core competencies.

Forum for the Future

and Wipro Digital

are here to help

73

Please feel free to contact either:

Forum for the Future:

Technology Catalyst [email protected]

Wipro Digital:

Alex Beal, Global Head of [email protected]

mailto:[email protected])

mailto:[email protected]

74

Appendix

2

About this report

75

United by their passion for

realizing the full potential of

technology to transform the

world for the better, Forum for

the Future (Forum) and Wipro

Digital have teamed up to

explore the ways the Internet

of Things (IoT), data and

connectivity can have a positive

impact for a sustainable future.

This report set out to provide

some ways for companies

to achieve their business

outcomes and start their journey

towards a connected future in

which data and connectivity

empower people to shape the

world they want, encourage better

consumption habits and drive

equal opportunities for all.

Drawing on Forum’s expertise in

sustainability and system

innovation, and Wipro Digital’s

proficiency in strategy, design

and technology, this joint

research report looks at how

much IoT, data and connectivity

have so far been applied to

sustainability, and the scope for

doing more in the future.

Methodology

76

The research was made up

of qualitative interviews

carried out by Forum with

industry experts and a

quantitative survey, managed

by Coleman Parkes

Research.

The interviews were held with external

opinion formers, including designers,

data experts, entrepreneurs and think

tanks, to explore the opportunities for

– and the barriers to - driving a more

sustainable future through data and

connectivity. The experts also

provided additional contextual

understanding of future impacts and

challenges, as well as offering some

provocative and forward-thinking

insights. A full list of interviewees can

be found in the Appendix.

The survey looked at how business

leaders perceive IoT, data and

connectivity’s potential for helping to

create a more sustainable future.

During the research, 250 C-suite

executives and Vice Presidents, who

between them had responsible for

data and connectivity/IoT, data

analytics, innovation and

sustainability, were asked about the

opportunities and barriers they see

for IoT, data and connectivity to drive

sustainability. The respondents were

based in the UK or the US and

represented the following five

sectors: consumer packaged goods

(43 respondents), manufacturing

(55), utilities (30), agribusiness (30),

multinational tech industries (57),

and local/central government (35).

List of interviewees

77

The researchers would like

to thank the interviewees for

sharing their thinking:

Gavin Starks – Founding CEO, Open Data Institute

Jon Alexander – Founding Partner, New Citizenship Project

Carlo Ratti – Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Founder, Carlo Ratti Associati

Storm Cunningham – Author, The Restoration Economy and Publisher, Revitalization News

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino – Founder, Designswarm

Dr. Daniel Schien – Lecturer in Computer Science, Bristol University

Usman Haque – CEO and Founder, Thingful.net

Mark Gough – Executive Director, Natural Capital Coalition

Chris Sandom – Professor, Sussex University

Annelisa Grigg – Head of Programme Business and Biodiversity, UNEP-WCMC

David Plumb – Digital and Business Director, Telefonica UK

Tim Wilkinson UNEP – Head of Programme Informatics

Jayraj Nair – Vice President and Global Head IoT, Wipro Digital

References

78

1. Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) 2017

2. Gartner, Forecast: IoT Security, Worldwide, 2016

3. ITU, ICT facts 2014

4. United Nations University, The Global E-waste Monitor 2014: Quantities, Flows and Resources

5. ec.europa.eu, E-waste to reach 65.4 million tonnes annually by 2017 according to StEP

6. cisco.com

7. Gartner, Forecast: IoT Security, Worldwide, 2016

8. MeriTalk’s report, Navigating the Cybersecurity Equation

9. World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends

10. gizmogul.com

11. IDC, Data Age 2025

12. The Data Centre Journal, industry outlook: data center energy efficiency, 2014

13. futureoflife.org, An Open Letter, Research Priorities for Robust and Beneficial Artificial Intelligence

14. Science Direct, Frank W. Geels, The multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions: Responses to seven criticisms

15. Grand View Research Inc., eHealth Market Projected To Reach USD 308.0 Billion By 2022, 2016

Glossary

79

Data and connectivity: Data and connectivity offer a new infrastructure that present new opportunities and risks for

businesses, society and the planet.

Internet of Things (IoT): Network of connected physical objects, such as objects, buildings, cars and more, that can exchange

data through embedded sensors, electronics, software, and connectivity.

Restoration: to return something to its former state. This could be a place, a species or an ecosystem, for example.

Ecosystem: a complex network or interconnected system, such as oceans, deserts, and also human communities.

Sustainability: Forum understands sustainability as a combination of environmental and social issues. In this report

‘sustainability’ is taken to mean all areas of sustainable development, including social, economic and environmental.

Restorative business models: Business models that help business to succeed in giving back more to social and

environmental ecosystems than they take from them. This approach also have been referred to as net positive.

About Forum for the Future

80

Forum for the Future

(Forum) is an international

non-profit with a purpose to

accelerate the big shift

towards a sustainable

future by catalysing change

in whole systems.

We are experts in delivering practical

system design, including futures tools

and techniques. Our core activity is

delivering system change projects,

learning from them and equipping

others to do the same. Our

partnerships support that work –

helping organizations develop the

strategies to address complex

challenges and equip our partner

contacts personally to drive big

change. Today we work with hundreds

of organizations through our offices in

London, New York, Mumbai and

Singapore, and create impact through

the businesses, governments, NGOs

and Trusts we partner with.

New technology solutions like the

Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain,

big data, synthetic biology, social

media, automation and artificial

intelligence (AI) will have far-

reaching consequences on our

systems. These technologies are

creating both opportunity and risk to

the sustainability challenges we are

trying to tackle at Forum.

Our vision is for the disruption driven

by technology to be positive for

society and the environment - taking

our food, energy and other systems

in a sustainable direction. That

means harnessing technology for

the good.

At Forum, we are exploring three key

questions:

• How might technology accelerate

solutions to specific sustainability

challenges, such as climate change

and sustainable nutrition?

• How might we harness specific

technologies like blockchain and AI for

sustainability?

• How might we understand the

downsides and unintended

consequences of new technologies,

and proactively manage them?

This report looks at how we can harness

the specific technologies of the IoT, data

and connectivity for sustainability.

If you would like to know more about

how we work with our technology

partners, please contact:

[email protected] (UK) or

[email protected] (US).

About Wipro Digital

81

Business today needs to be

redesigned and rebuilt for a world

where experience defines value,

velocity determines growth and

scale is achieved not by big and

few but by small and many. The

businesses that will succeed

today are the ones that will offer

new sources of values, deliver a

delightful customer experience,

adapt at high velocity and tap

innovation globally. IoT, data and

connectivity, when combined

with new ways of working and

enterprise transformation, are

key enablers of business

tomorrow.

Wipro Digital, together with our

colleagues at Designit and across

Wipro, combines strategic design with

strategic technology to help you make

your future. Learn more at

wiprodigital.com or @WiproDigital