Cutting-edge software and artificial intelligence are ready to help ensure a sustainable future

Here are five predictions about how advances in this area will accelerate sustainability across industries over the next five years.

To build a competitive global circular economy that produces zero waste, companies must adapt their business models to maximize resource efficiency, develop recyclable products, and reuse waste as new offerings. A key part of this is creating digital business ecosystems to enable effective decision-making and action.

One of the biggest challenges in moving towards a circular economy is collecting and sharing product data throughout its lifecycle. Digital Product Passports (DPPs) offer this opportunity and promise to act as a transparent record of a product’s sustainability, environmental and recyclability attributes.

By enabling product tracking through software, DPPs can help businesses streamline product management throughout the supply chain, which can also translate into cost savings.

According to the Sustainable Futures report, AI plays an important role in solving most environmental sustainability challenges, including biodiversity, energy, transportation and agro-ecosystem management.

In the agricultural sector, AI can provide information and increase automation to improve environmental protection and detect diseases and potential invasions before crops or livestock are threatened.

Not only is technology impacting the performance of individual farms, but the data is generating valuable insights that can positively impact policy decisions at a local or national level. AI is also at the heart of efforts to reduce waste and improve the profitability and sustainability of water operations in the agricultural industry.

McKinsey estimates that global renewable electricity capacity will increase by more than 80 percent from 2020 levels by 2026. For example, the annual Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study found that 71 percent of Middle East sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are prioritizing infrastructure investments, particularly in renewable energy and transmission segments.

Today, millions of individual devices that transmit and consume electricity are rewriting the foundations of how power grids work. Automation and data analytics can help manage decentralized energy sources, direct excess electricity, and flag potential grid weaknesses before they become major problems, as well as help utilities redirect power to where it’s needed in real time.

To make this possible, traditional utility giants will need to reassess their operating models and invest in a modern, cloud-based IT infrastructure that enables effective data management and analysis across the organization.

As countries work towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, decarbonising transport has become increasingly important. At COP28, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) unveiled the ‘Dubai Net-Zero Public Transport 2050’ strategy, becoming the first Middle Eastern agency to develop a long-term plan to achieve net-zero emissions in public transport by 2050.

Currently, 18 of the world’s largest automakers have transitioned or committed to transitioning, completely or significantly, to electric vehicle production. The electric vehicles will be software-defined vehicles (SDVs) with automated capabilities to manage the car more efficiently, with particular attention to environmental sensitivity.

SDVs feature intelligent route planning and energy optimization, which can alleviate issues related to charging capacity and range.

The transition to more environmentally sustainable operations is a top priority for banks and financial services organizations. More sustainable software, more efficient algorithms, and better data processing are key to this effort. The global green finance market has grown from $5.2 billion in 2012 to more than $540 billion in 2021.

In the Middle East, the Federation of United Arab Emirates Banks announced a major banking sector initiative to collectively mobilise over AED 1 trillion in sustainable finance by 2030. In addition to developing eco-conscious portfolios, the financial services sector is significantly reducing energy consumption by enabling efficiency in data centres.

Today, organizations must incorporate sustainability into their systems architecture and templates, make sustainability a non-functional requirement in offerings, and require sustainability goals in service level agreements.

As architects, engineers, project managers, and software delivery workers embrace this shift, teams will seamlessly transition to using code to support sustainability while maintaining and even improving competitiveness and profitability. We can all look forward to the day when sustainability becomes the new norm and software is at the center of helping to create a climate-safe, competitive future.