By Mahesh Ramakrishnan, Senior Vice President – Application Development, Access Healthcare
The quest for sustainability has a polarizing effect on the world – the strategic necessity is accepted, but the starting point is subject to fierce debate. The G20 recognized that the world’s sustainable development goals need substantial investment of capital in four forms – physical, natural, social, and human. India commands sizeable volumes of all four along with diplomatic influence to drive meaningful global resolutions.
Convergence of innovation and economic growth creates a quiet, yet profound, revolution. The union of profit and planet is a central theme in India’s IT landscape today, with the realization that immense technological prowess cannot be endlessly harnessed for economic gain without social responsibility. The globally recognized market potential of India is a powerful lever to push forward in a universally beneficial manner.
Pathways to sustainable technology practices
As a key enabler for the modern economy, technology is the flagship of the fleet guiding us into a future of sustainability. The Indian IT industry actively implements sustainable technology practices including Cloud Computing and Virtualization to optimize resource utilization, reduce energy consumption, and minimize physical infrastructure requirements. Energy-efficient data centers are gaining traction, for reduction of power consumption and carbon emissions. Optimizing code for energy efficiency is key to implementing sustainable development practices in Software.
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: Indian companies are actively advocating, and budgeting for renewable energy projects and energy-efficient infrastructure. Apart from future savings in operational costs and reduction of carbon footprint in tune with government mandates, buyers in international markets inclined towards green supply chains that comply with global sustainability goals are clear motivators.
Digital Platforms for Remote Work: The narrative of remote work as a desperate solution for business continuity ended with the pandemic, although it proved to be a tremendous accelerant as well as an evangelist for the paradigm. The shift away from physical office spaces led to drastically lower energy consumption and reduced emissions from commuting workforces. More diverse and inclusive workforces have now become the norm, enabled by greatly enhanced intelligent information security and productivity management capabilities of platforms such as Access Healthcare’s echo RPA suite.
Sustainable Partnerships and Management of e-Waste: Sustainable approaches to sourcing, green infrastructure and explicit commitment to eco-friendly supply chains should extend beyond the confines of corporate entities and extend to all partners they collaborate with. A company can no longer pretend to be eco-friendly simply by transferring the risk and hostility to a downstream partner, possibly in a third world country with relatively less supervision. Implementing e-waste management practices, including recycling and responsible disposal helps effectively close the loop of responsibility and enhances interest in the eyes of customers as well as investors.
Empowerment through remote and hybrid work ecosystems
Robust remote work models opens several opportunities for India Inc. especially in the knowledge services and products industry. For instance, the US healthcare industry is highly sensitive to information security and demands explicit assurances in outsourcing contracts. Remote work was once assumed to be impossible in this industry, characterized by bounded delivery centres and strict bans on the use of mobile phones or any physical means of recording information (including paper and pencil). Digital security is a top priority, and Access Healthcare’s IT infrastructure is periodically assessed and certified by HITRUST, PCI DSS and ISO.
Temporary compromises facilitated business continuity during the pandemic, such that agents could work from home as per government mandates. However, these risks couldn’t be taken up permanently and longer-term solutions were required. However, companies started looking beyond conventional geographical barriers to acquire talent, and benefited from better inclusivity since people with physical challenges and other problems could participate in the workforce like never before. An innovative solution was needed to bridge the gaps and allow the economy to benefit on both accounts.
Today, AI-based technology platforms like our echo RPA suite supplements human productivity, enhances service quality and delivers unprecedented information security and non-invasive productivity management in remote work models. Lighter (less resource-consuming) versions of our key applications are deployed areas with relatively weak internet signals and mobile connectivity. Further, these platforms are domain-agnostic, which means knowledge services companies across all domains can leverage this technology to facilitate remote work for their employees, while assuring their clients that their data is as secure as in any delivery centre environment.
Curriculum for eco-consciousness
The inordinately high number of technology and allied professionals we train and release into the world every year comes with a high degree of heterogeneity in social settings, family backgrounds, economic capacity, quality of training, practical knowledge, communication skills and ultimately their financial and lifestyle goals. Based on the scarcity/availability of resources in their environments as well as the kind of mentoring and exposure they have received in life, everyone would have some inherent level of innovative thinking and cognizance of the need for sustainability.
Given the scale of the economy we live in, the tendency to prioritize personal gains over collective welfare is also strong. To truly realize the potential of our workforce for broad-based development, it is crucial to draw attention to how sustainable practices are not just altruistic; they make good business sense and positions Indian companies as leaders in the global marketplace. That is a real value proposition for the individuals who are in the myriad positions where they can implement sustainability and make a difference.
Conclusion: Role of the knowledge sector in globalized perspectives
Indian IT companies have moved beyond mere environmental responsibility to make their strategic sustainability focus an integral part of their core values. The knowledge sector of India is a crucial employment generation engine for our educated workforce. Our role as a supplier for major economies around the world which have strong guidelines for quality, sustainability, and reliability pushes us further to transform our own business landscapes beyond obsolete frameworks, inertial immobility, and lax enforcement that we were once used to. Sustainability and innovation thinking then flows downstream and nurtures efficiency, resilience and competitiveness in all industries that use knowledge sectors as a platform.