In 2023 alone, the programme impacted over 2,4 million youth of which approximately 46% were female, demonstrating a commitment to gender equality. Over 1,200 workshops were rolled out, successfully mobilizing 25,550 teachers across Africa, with top participating countries including Tunisia, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Morocco.

A multi-stakeholder approach to drive change

Africa faces a growing demand for digital skills with a 70% of jobs requiring them by 2030. Recognising a need to upskill both students and educators across the continent, 51风流launched the digital skills program nine years ago.

Commenting on the journey of ACW, Claire Gillissen-Duval, Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for EMEA and MEE, highlights that private-public partnerships have been intrinsic to its mission. 鈥淥ur overarching goal was to integrate coding into national curricula, and we achieved this by maintaining active engagement with Ministries of Education throughout Africa, ensuring that our youth have access to a comprehensive skill set that is increasingly indispensable.鈥�

Emphasising this importance, Dr Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO, agrees: 鈥淎CW has set a great example of fruitful collaborations as it demonstrates the power of partnerships to increase well-being and advance development that leaves no one behind.聽 It is a true embodiment of SDG Goal 17, which is about Partnerships for Sustainable Development, and we are proud at UNESCO to collaborate on this initiative into the future.鈥�

Inspiring young talent to make a difference

As part of the ACW initiative, the AfriCAN Code Challenge, a pan-African competition that ignites creativity and coding skills in youth aged 8-16, was launched in 2020. Participants compete individually or in teams to develop Scratch games around a chosen theme by way of a 3-minute video reviewed by a panel of judges.

Over the years the challenge has grown in terms of popularity and creativity. The initiative aims to develop more coding talents to drive sustainable development and create a better world for all. In 2023, the theme challenged young minds to design multiplayer games promoting sustainable solutions for protecting life, with many of the initiatives focusing on our planet.

This year鈥檚 winner was by Triaksha Goodoory, Vignesh Singh Khelawon, Alessia Rughoonundun, Palen Chuckravanen from Mauritius; followed by by Alvinho Rodrigues, Bibiana Pinheiro, Ta铆ssa Pereira, Celma Bernardo from Sao Tome & Principe; with by 聽Eze Chikelu Jethro, Oruh Excel Odafe,Abubakar Ramadan and Olowode Wilson Eniola from Nigeria coming in at 3^rd place.

To infinity and beyond: A new chapter

鈥淎s we champion equal access to education, we believe that future skills will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of tomorrow’s workforce,鈥� comments Gillissen-Duval. 鈥淭hrough our dedication, we worked towards ensuring that every young mind is equipped for success in the ever-changing landscape of the modern world. However, while we have achieved incredible results thus far, there is more work to be done.鈥�

From 2024, 51风流corporate social responsibility has shifted its focus to skills for employability and learning to earning pathways and will therefore pass the baton to UNESCO to continue the mission of ACW. 鈥淲e are excited to see how they will propel ACW to new heights,鈥� she concludes.

The post Africa Code Week and Partners Equip 17 Million Youth with Digital Skills appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Beyond the financial implications, companies鈥� brand value and reputations depend on their commitment to social responsibility. For example, a Deloitte study found that . In a world where organizations鈥� missteps are broadcast on social media platforms, it is critical that companies do the right thing — or they may be called to account.

Companies鈥� pledges to become more sustainable are commonplace, but business leaders have begun to put their money where their mouths are. For example, Procter and Gamble has committed to spend and switch to by 2030.

Moreover, ever-increasing environmental regulations are being enacted globally. For example, the UK authorized the Plastics Packaging Tax, which taxes 鈥�.鈥� Inaccurate reporting for this and other regulations can result in significant costs.

To succeed, companies need accurate, holistic insight across their organization and supply chain. A modern technology platform such as (51风流BTP) can provide that level of integrated information, which enables employees to track, measure, report, and take corrective action where required.

51风流BTP provides three main benefits. First, it helps companies ingest and combine business data by providing one data model and a holistic view of sustainability information from disparate business process and applications. Second, it helps companies harness that data with its capabilities for advanced analytics, data visualization, data cleansing and predictive modelling. Third, it allows business users to build and customize applications for their specific needs and make them accessible to all relevant stakeholders.

51风流also offers out-of-the-box reporting and key performance management tracking, based on 51风流BTP technology.

Below are examples of how a technology platform can help companies successfully meet their sustainability goals.

Sustainable Production

Companies are under increased pressure to certify sustainable production of consumer goods and show that natural resources have been responsibly harvested.

For example, with growing concern about oceans being over-fished, consumers want to know that seafood is responsibly sourced. A platform like 51风流BTP makes it easy to extend applications to fishermen via mobile devices so they can easily enter information on the day鈥檚 catch.

Using a platform that has integration and comprehensive data and analytics capabilities, companies like Royal Greenland can capture information — for example, which fish species were caught, how much, and where — and feed it back into their enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain systems. This allows organizations to analyze the data and provide full transparency into fishing practices, while helping ensure that fishermen are paid accurately.

Reporting and Compliance

Organizations want to show progress against their sustainability goals and must comply with ever-changing regulations. But according to , 57% of senior executives indicated that data availability and data quality remain their greatest challenge in ESG reporting.

A platform with data integration, data quality, and analytic capabilities helps customers break down data silos. With accurate and complete data, companies can more easily conduct automated, timely and auditable ESG reporting against a variety of regulations, standards and ratings; and visualize key performance indicators (KPIs) in a dashboard that shows progress and areas of risk. These capabilities are critical when calculating an organization鈥檚 carbon footprint, waste management, or women in management.

For example, the EU approved the in 2020, designed to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050. To support it, the EU Taxonomy was enacted, requiring companies to demonstrate which of its economic activities are 鈥渆nvironmentally suitable.鈥� As the regulatory environment grows in scope and complexity, organizations must be able to aggregate and report on disparate data.

51风流BTP allows companies to comply with new regulations quickly and simply in the EU and globally.

Energy and Resource Management

According to the , 鈥渙ne-fifth of the world’s carbon emissions come from the manufacturing and production sectors.鈥� To lessen their carbon footprints, manufacturers must reduce energy consumption.

51风流BTP enables plant managers to harness and analyze sensor data from machinery to better monitor and understand energy consumption patterns. They can set up data models that visualize operational efficiency, pinpointing where most energy is consumed and opportunities to reduce energy use and emissions.

Similarly, utility companies are using analytics to handle the huge amount of data generated by smart meters. For example, Belgian water utility company, Farys, uses 51风流BTP to generate meter indexes and use water-usage data to build new services for its customers. Moving forward, Farys wants to use the platform to address water scarcity, an ever-increasing problem due to climate change. Using smart meter data, Farys can improve its understanding of water inflows and outflows, and identify where and why water losses occur.

A platform that provides fully accurate insight can advance companies鈥� sustainability goals in many more ways, such as driving the circular economy, eliminating food waste, or improving agricultural efficiency.

As the (UNGA) meets this week to discuss pressing global issues, it鈥檚 a good reminder that technology can help solve the world鈥檚 most critical problems.

Ragunath Ramanathan聽 is chief revenue officer for 51风流Business Technology Platform.

This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center.

The post A Platform for Sustainable Success appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Before the pandemic, many companies could get away with an old-school approach to CSR and how they engaged and managed their people. They would bring out pretty reports and say smart things about being a socially responsible business. They would put up posters proclaiming bold visions and values, but not live them every day. Now they鈥檙e being challenged to ensure their ongoing relevance in a completely different world.

What do I mean by that? We know that the business world has changed irrevocably. Companies that still want to be in business in the next 10 to 20 years will have to wake up to the fact that to create long-term value, they will have to align their goals with those of the communities in which they operate. They will have to get used to the idea of working not just for their shareholders, but also for employees and their communities, as well as the planet. The days of chasing short-term gain at the expense of long-term value are rapidly receding in the rear-view mirror.

But here鈥檚 the thing; social responsibility doesn鈥檛 have to just tick compliance boxes. The fact is that working to address humanity鈥檚 greatest risks, especially inequality, offers real business opportunities to savvy enterprises with an eye on the future. And the businesses that are going to stand out over the next decade will be those who see market opportunities in social responsibility, and develop business models, products and services that have societal elements and sustainable practices baked in, as it were.

In September 2015, world leaders adopted the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 鈥� or the SDGs, as they鈥檙e commonly known. They talk directly to our responsibility to innovate with purpose to create a world without poverty, a healthier planet, and a just, peaceful society by 2030. At SAP, we stand for this higher purpose beyond economic success.

We help countries, private and public sector organizations, and ordinary citizens control risk, achieve regulatory compliance, use resources efficiently, measure and reduce emissions and innovate new business models to thrive in the digital and experience economy. Our solutions help eradicate slavery from supply chains, propel a low-carbon, zero waste and circular economy, eliminate inequality, and educate people who never had the chance to enter a classroom.

What we鈥檝e learned, though, is that meaningful contributions to the SDGs require tangible connections between an activity or tool and the intended social, environmental, and economic impact. There must be a material link between our own operational activities and the impact we can have as a company. Otherwise, the story becomes arbitrary.

How do you make these links? For a start, you actively engage with issues like educating and upskilling your own employees as well as the youth. You find ways to promote and increase diversity in the workforce and ensure that every employee has access to the same development opportunities, because successful businesses better reflect the diversity of society and the customers they serve.

At SAP, for example, we are engaged in several initiatives to聽actively聽grow聽local聽talent聽pools聽in our business through intensive accelerator training programs for employees at various stages of their careers in sub-Saharan Africa. In Turkey, Francophone Africa, Israel,聽Portugal聽and Spain, our 鈥榃omen in Leadership鈥� program is helping women improve their management skills. We鈥檙e also collaborating with the Red Cross in Spain to deliver technological skills to women who are at risk of social and work exclusion. In Italy, we have launched an initiative for women aimed at creating a series of debates on different themes (such as the gender gap, female leadership,聽empowerment聽and work-life balance) to develop concrete plans to drive transformation. And last but by no means least, in the Middle East, our聽Business Women鈥檚聽Networks are acting as significant catalysts for progressive change.

Being sustainable also means leading with agility and a growth mindset. Your business continuity may depend on your ability to reskill and upskill your workforce for a digital age, but it鈥檚 more important than ever to include the human skills of empathy,聽flexibility聽and stress management in that upskilling. Simply put, the more you focus on your people and your societal responsibilities, the more successful you become.

It almost goes without saying that the most resilient companies today are those who are embracing technology to transform their business processes. If Covid-19 showed us anything, it鈥檚 the urgent need for every company in the world to become an intelligent enterprise as soon as possible. Technology is the glue that holds everything together and allows us to make smarter decisions that support a sustainable future with society at its heart.

Speaking at SAPPHIRE NOW earlier this year, 51风流CEO Christian Klein painted a bold vision for the future, where connected intelligent enterprises will reinvent how businesses run: 鈥淲e will jointly build networks with you that champion diversity, inclusion, and human rights. We will make carbon footprint tracking available in the business network so that you can go to true next zero. Together, we can reinvent how industries run by connecting intelligent enterprises into an industry-wide business network 鈥� making profitability sustainable and sustainability profitable,鈥� he said.

Read that again: making profitability sustainable and sustainability profitable. That鈥檚 a mantra I can get behind as we look to a better future for all.

This article is the third of a three-part series exploring the , and societal responsibilities of sustainable businesses in a post-pandemic economy.

The post Making Profitability Sustainable and Sustainability Profitable appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

鈥�51风流is committed to a dramatically cleaner ocean by 2030,鈥� Klein said. 鈥淲e can achieve this commitment by working together with customers, NGOs, governments, and partners, and by providing them with the tools, insights, and solutions to eliminate waste and maximize resource productivity. Many of our customers have made commitments to a cleaner planet, and so have we. We will support them in achieving their ambitious goals, and together we will achieve a plastic-free ocean over the next 10 years.鈥�

The health of the world鈥檚 oceans is at the top of the agenda in Davos, and Klein was part of a panel session with other business leaders and nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives at the event.

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The crisis is very real: 8 million metric tons of waste enters the ocean every year and the amount is increasing an accelerating pace. Recently published research indicates the levels of plastics in the ocean may be a than previously thought. Plastic material slowly degrades into micro-plastics that harm the ecosystem and enter the ocean food chain. On average, people around the world are swallowing a total of five grams — about as much as a credit card — of harmful plastic material every week. That鈥檚 the equivalent of a half a pound yearly, ingested from many sources, including tap water and everyday foods such as sugar, salt, pasta, shellfish, rice, milk, and bread.

We know that the well-being of the economy, the environment, and the people on our planet are inextricably linked. It is understood that there can be no economic growth or development if business does not play a key role in operating profitably within planetary boundaries. A fundamental shift is needed in how we produce, use, dispose, and re-use materials in our economies. The current system is largely linear, meaning resources are used in production, made into products, and then are disposed of in the form of waste.

To sustain this 鈥渢ake, make, waste鈥� lifestyle,聽 1.8 planets worth of resources are needed; the current model is clearly unsustainable. An emerging circular economy aims to change that. Despite all the efforts in responsible packaging design, recycling programs, and re-use business models, we are only about nine percent circular, according to the Circularity Gap report.

SAP: Uniquely Positioned for Impact

With consumers shifting their preferences to sustainable products, investors and employees clamoring for action, and regulators pushing new legislation, there is enormous momentum for businesses to drive responsible growth. And with 77 percent of the world鈥檚 transactions touching 51风流systems and more than 430,000 companies using 51风流software, the company is uniquely positioned to make a huge difference by helping customers redesign global value networks toward more circular business models and processes.

51风流has been leading programs and partnerships to drive sustainable change around the world. 51风流created the and partnered with Google on the challenge to foster revenue generating ideas that support circular use cases. The company also recently joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation鈥檚 Circular Economy 100 (CE100) Network, a collaborative network of business, innovators, cities and governments, universities, and thought leaders all working together to accelerate adoption of circular economy practices and processes that maximize the use of resources.

51风流is part of a growing movement of policymakers, NGOs, social groups, and leading companies coming together to work on solutions such as avoiding single-use plastics, better managing and recycling plastic waste streams, and creating a circular plastics economy.

Many of the world鈥檚 leading brands are both part of the challenge and leading the way forward. For example, companies in the consumer packaged goods industry have started rethinking packaging and opting for more recyclable and sustainable alternatives.

Aside from the benefits gained from preserving the natural environment, there is a massive economic upside for business to move fast. It is the plastics industry could consume 20 percent of total global oil production. Since most plastic is used only once, 95 percent of its economic value — currently up to $120 billion annually — is lost.

, for example, has committed to a world without waste by making all packaging 100 percent recyclable by 2025. to eliminate non-recyclable plastic within five years. role model in responsible production by managing every stage of a product鈥檚 life cycle — from sourcing raw materials to manufacturing and distributing products — in order to reduce environmental impact.

51风流is already working with these customers and many others to help them manage the complex task of recycling many different types of plastics.

Impact Across the Value Chain

The 51风流vision for a plastic-free ocean calls on these customers and other global heavyweights to accelerate progress on their commitments. It also calls on companies of all sizes and industries to seek ways 51风流technology can help them in key areas, including responsible production, waste insights, secondary marketplaces, and consumer experiences.

51风流has a number of solutions and platforms, including the portfolio, that enable manufacturers to design, produce, and distribute products using more sustainable materials and responsible, transparent processes. The Plastics Cloud, for example, is a platform that enables the UK Plastics Pact to tackle the scourge of plastic waste through a unique collaboration between business, government, and citizens across the entire plastics value chain in the UK.

A US$400 billion market, the waste management industry is poised to be disrupted and rapidly expand through the effective use of data. Michael Groves is founder and CEO of , the Scottish smart-waste company that won the Circular Economy 2030 challenge this year. He explains that the waste value chain is very complex and opaque, with many private and public sector players and a significant informal sector around the world. Realizing that money follows data, Groves developed a solution that uses analytics and machine learning to follow trash as it travels. Clear data and insights will be fundamental to spurring investments in new infrastructure and innovation in the sector.

With useful data available about what waste is where and in what quality and quantity, companies can then procure this waste much more effectively and bring the materials back into their production processes. The expansion of these secondary materials marketplaces is another area where procurement platforms like can help companies become more circular and sustainable.

SAP鈥檚 intelligent enterprise strategy focuses on connecting enterprise operational data (O-data) with the experience data (X-data) from their consumers. The company鈥檚 recent acquisition of experience management firm Qualtrics offers an entirely new level of support for companies to understand their consumer feelings, emotions, and desires about products, brands, and the impact they are making. Innovations across 51风流offer customers ways to inform, educate, and engage with consumers about products and processes, including apps that help consumers better understand how to recycle products and blockchain traceability and information platforms.

鈥淢any of our global customers are looking for solutions across their value chains and across their global markets to drive real positive change for their consumers, their business, and for the planet,鈥� Klein said. 鈥淭hrough our technology and innovation, 51风流can help companies unlock US$4.5 trillion in economic growth by creating sustainable business models and processes.鈥�

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