What most people don’t realize: tackling plastic pollution often starts at sea, yet the solutions begin on land.

I sat down with Emily Penn, sustainability activist and skipper, for the to delve into her personal journey and how companies, regardless of size, can initiate their sustainability vision and translate it into real-world impact.

Over recent years, I’ve seen a significant change occur in the mindset of business leaders as they make sustainability a core aspect of their operations. Companies want to make a difference, but many don’t know where to begin.

“Understanding your own carbon footprint and being able to access that data is crucial because we can’t change what we don’t know,” explained Penn while talking about first steps companies can take to reduce plastic waste.

One of the key opportunities for businesses is having visibility into the right data to make informed decisions. About 80% of data within a given company remains untapped. By leveraging the right technology, companies can uncover a bigger picture of their business – for example, transparency around waste and supply chains to make changes that will support them in achieving their sustainability ambitions.

In 2014, Penn co-founded , a community interest company and non-profit organization that runs all-women sailing research expeditions at sea and virtual voyages on land to investigate the causes of and solutions to ocean plastic pollution. To do so, eXXpedition set out to first collect data to better understand the composition of plastic in our waters.

“During one of our research missions of these ‘islands of plastic’ in the ocean, we quickly realized that the plastic breaks down into tiny fragments, called microplastics,” explained Penn. “These 171 trillion pieces of microplastic make their way into the food chain and, in turn, into our bodies.”

eXXpedition set out to define changes that people, governments, and businesses could make to curb the environmental crisis. But first, the organization needed to correlate the data it had collected to specific regions, products, and more. This process of cleansing the data to identify patterns of consistent and high-quality connections allows organizations like eXXpedition and businesses to better understand where issues or areas for optimization exist and simulate potential solutions.

For example, Penn shared insights from her involvement in a project with a company that manufactures TV remotes. The project team unveiled that roughly five times the plastic used in a single TV remote was wasted during the production process. “You have to be able see the unseen waste that you’re creating,” said Penn. “Getting visibility across the whole supply chain is absolutely key.”

To share the learnings of eXXpedition, Penn created , which offers a comprehensive collection of hundreds of solutions designed to address the issue of plastic pollution. “The idea of the platform is to encourage people to see that not everybody needs to do everything to tackle this global problem, we just need everybody to do something,” she explained.

This is one example of how data can drive sustainability. (51ˇçÁ÷BTP) can unify data and analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), application development, automation, and integration in one environment. Customers from around the world and varied industries have used 51ˇçÁ÷BTP to help drive sustainability initiatives. For example, a Belgian utility company uses 51ˇçÁ÷BTP to harness smart meter data and identify opportunities for more efficient and environmentally responsible water usage.

Small changes in behavior can have a significant impact when we unite our efforts. For companies, the first step is to address the data problem. Only with more visibility and improved data quality can they drive sustainability throughout the entire value chain.

Ragunath Ramanathan is chief revenue officer for 51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform.

Top photo courtesy of 51ˇçÁ÷employee Angela Klose.

What most people don’t realize: the NHL is a sustainability pioneer in the sports industry.

I sat down with Omar Mitchell, vice president of Sustainable Infrastructure and Growth Initiatives at the NHL, to record a . We discussed why the NHL is focused on environmental stewardship and how technology can help understand and manage the organization’s carbon footprint. .

“When we think about things that we need for the continuation of hockey, we need things like natural ice, cold weather, and fresh water,” said Mitchell. “We also need vibrant and healthy communities where we can play our sport.”

Mitchell explained the environmental impact of holding games indoors: “We play in what is essentially a giant refrigerator and we use a lot of energy — not to mention the lights we use to illuminate the ice’s surface.”

Environmental sustainability is a priority for  the NHL. That’s why Commissioner Gary Bettman initiated the program, launched at the 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, announcing its mission to embed sustainable business practices across the League and its member clubs.

In 2014, the organization issued its first sustainability report, which was also the first of its kind created by any North American professional sports league. The report included a carbon inventory for the League, allowing the NHL to have an initial understanding of the environmental impact of its Clubs.

“It was a documentation of all the scope one, scope two, and limited-scope three greenhouse gas emissions associated with our game and with everything around hosting these events throughout the calendar year,” said Mitchell. The three scopes look at an organization’s emissions from both direct and indirect sources.

Mitchell explained that this was a complex undertaking because no one had previously assembled and calculated a similar carbon inventory. It meant manually gathering and analyzing data from across all its venues. While painstaking, this first step was critical and powerful: it established a baseline for the League that helped them refine their goals and strategy.

After the League issued its second sustainability report in 2018, it became clear that there was an opportunity to modernize the data collection and processing by using a modern technology platform. “We needed an innovative platform that could help us streamline that data collection, make it easier for all stakeholders to be able to input that data, and to visualize and process it — so that there are meaningful insights that our Clubs and venue partners could act on.”

That was the impetus for the NHL to co-innovate with 51ˇçÁ÷on a new digital platform to gather and process this data from all Clubs, now called . The organizations had successfully collaborated to develop the SAP-NHL Coaching Insights mobile app, based on (51ˇçÁ÷BTP), which delivers real-time player and game data to coaches. Based on this joint success, the League again turned to 51ˇçÁ÷to tackle this new challenge.

The 2014 sustainability report showed that 70% of the NHL’s carbon emissions came from its venues’ energy consumption. The data and analytic capabilities within 51ˇçÁ÷BTP have helped the NHL start to generate insights from the data with the goal to turn it into concrete actions that can reduce the organization’s carbon footprint.

NHL Venue Metrics has also started to improve access to data for Club and League stakeholders; finding time to analyze the data to drive sustainability decisions can be challenging. With the data collected by NHL Venue Metrics, the League will be able to help individual operators identify meaningful investments or upgrades that will help them decarbonize.

For example, Mitchell described the process of replacing older, energy-intensive lightbulbs with LED lights. As some venues started to install new LED lights, the NHL was able to track energy reduction. Not only did the new lights improve venues’ energy impact, but they also created a better broadcast experience for television viewers. As Mitchell explains, these improvements have benefited both the environment and the business.

Moving forward, NHL Venue Metrics will help open up new opportunities for the NHL — and its Clubs and venues — to embed sustainable practices into their operations. Driven by 51ˇçÁ÷BTP, this solution makes it easier to share knowledge and create best practices across the organization about which new technologies, products, and services can help lower emissions. And even more important: it can help to engage fans by providing transparency into how their Clubs are improving sustainability, as well as ultimately how they can contribute to the success of NHL Green.

“The millions of fans who watch our sport can be positively impacted by the League’s efforts and, hopefully, embed sustainability into their lifestyle,” said Mitchell. “That’s where we’re going to have a network effect that’s going to move the needle positively in our climate fight.”

Now that’s a hat trick: one where technology helps the business, environment, and fans’ experience.

To find more episodes of the “Better Together: Customer Conversations” series, visit .

Ragunath Ramanathan is chief revenue officer for 51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform.

That’s why I’m excited to share the news that , the leading independent research and review platform, has named (51ˇçÁ÷BTP) as a in the categories of Application Infrastructure and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS).

These new awards for 51ˇçÁ÷BTP, building upon the three “Best Of” TrustRadius awards announced earlier this year, are based on unbiased customer reviews and feedback. It’s a testament to the strength and evolution of our platform that our customers are willing to share their experiences working with 51ˇçÁ÷BTP. This acknowledgement reflects the value that 51ˇçÁ÷BTP provides to our customers’ businesses.

What Are Top Rated Awards?

TrustRadius allows software users to review and rate the software products they use to manage their business. The organization’s 2023 Top Rated awards help distinguish products that have received excellent marks for customer satisfaction. Award criteria are based on reviews within the last 10 months, product ratings, and product relevancy.

“51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform has won Top Rated awards in the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Application Infrastructure categories,” said Megan Headley, VP of Research at TrustRadius. “These awards are based directly on customer feedback and help software buyers make better purchasing decisions by highlighting products that provide high levels of customer satisfaction.”

Driving for a Successful Customer Experience

The 51ˇçÁ÷BTP team is honored to receive this recognition from TrustRadius. We will continue to deliver software innovations and improvements to the user experience that we hope will delight customers, offering them the capabilities required for sustainable, long-term success. For example, we announced the 51ˇçÁ÷Build solutions last fall, which can empower innovation and automation efforts with low-code/no-code tools. 51ˇçÁ÷Datasphere was launched on March 8, helping to provide customers with simplified access to 51ˇçÁ÷and non-51ˇçÁ÷data while preserving all-important business context.

In the meantime, our customers continue to grapple with pressing business needs, such as transforming their businesses, moving to the cloud, and creating success and differentiation while facing an uncertain macroeconomic environment. That’s where 51ˇçÁ÷BTP becomes critically important, giving them a foundation to build more resilient and agile organizations.

is a leading worldwide professional esports organization based in Los Angeles, California. Caleb Anderson, senior director of Sales & Partnerships of Team Liquid, said, “It is great that TrustRadius recognizes 51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform as a leader. For Team Liquid, using 51ˇçÁ÷BTP with 51ˇçÁ÷Analytics Cloud and 51ˇçÁ÷HANA Cloud helps us analyze and visualize historical game data to provide actionable data insights for coaches, team captains, and players. We have immediate access to game analytics following each tournament match. The 51ˇçÁ÷solution is used at Team Liquid’s training facilities and before and after game matches.”

The entire 51ˇçÁ÷BTP team offers a heartfelt thanks to TrustRadius for recognizing 51ˇçÁ÷BTP in its 2023 Top Rated awards and our 51ˇçÁ÷BTP customers for their continued support.

Ragunath Ramanathan is chief revenue officer for 51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform.

That’s where integration capabilities become a critical success factor. Analyst firm IDC released its “.” The report found that “Integration is a foundational connectivity automation technology that not only unlocks immediate business benefits but also replaces technical debt that was previously used to connect applications, making it easier to replace outdated legacy applications.”

Additionally, the IDC report said, “Despite economic conditions, many organizations are still prioritizing investments in connectivity-based automation, particularly cloud-based integration software and services.”

Consider this customer story. is a food chain based in Veghal, the Netherlands, with stores across Belgium and the Netherlands. Previously, Jumbo used an Excel-based tool called Production Advice List (PAL) to forecast its freshly made baked goods, convenience items, and prepared meals. This manual process resulted in inaccurate forecasting, unhappy customers, and food waste.

Food waste is a significant global sustainability issue. It wastes the natural resources used to produce and transport food to consumers – and rotting food produces methane, a greenhouse gas. In the Netherlands alone, over of food is thrown away annually per individual.

To improve its sustainability and customer experience, Jumbo decided to digitize its PAL system using (51ˇçÁ÷BTP), which includes integration, automation, and data and analytics solutions.

With , a cornerstone of 51ˇçÁ÷BTP, “PAL 2.0” automatically brings together historical information with current data from 51ˇçÁ÷and non-51ˇçÁ÷applications. Now employees can analyze real-time information on pricing, promotions, assortment, and other factors to accurately forecast how much food should be stocked.

Even better, employees get this information on their iPads so they can make better decisions while on the go. This intelligent forecasting system has allowed the company to work towards achieving the delicate balance of ensuring product availability for customers while not overstocking.

Jumbo’s story provides a few lessons. One, as IDC points out, integration helps reduce technical debt. Companies can leverage existing applications to add value to their business versus legacy applications creating a “drag” on their resources. Two, integration drives innovation. By connecting 51ˇçÁ÷and non-51ˇçÁ÷applications with outside data like weather or holidays, companies can innovate to address their most pressing challenges.

In the above-mentioned IDC report, 51ˇçÁ÷was named a Leader in this first vendor assessment. Strengths includes its “extensive partner network” and “strong AI capabilities including interface and mapping proposal services based on AI and machine learning, speeding up the development of new connections.”

With an uncertain macroeconomic environment, organizations are under increased pressure to improve margins. The first step towards getting more value out of existing IT systems is a robust integration strategy. That’s why choosing the right enterprise-grade integration solution is critical to creating a path to accelerated connectivity and innovation.

To learn more about the benefits of integration, tune into the .

Ragunath Ramanathan is chief revenue officer for 51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform.

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

Companies’ 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 “.” 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 (51ˇçÁ÷BTP) can provide that level of integrated information, which enables employees to track, measure, report, and take corrective action where required.

51ˇçÁ÷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.

51ˇçÁ÷also offers out-of-the-box reporting and key performance management tracking, based on 51ˇçÁ÷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 51ˇçÁ÷BTP makes it easy to extend applications to fishermen via mobile devices so they can easily enter information on the day’s 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’s 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 “environmentally suitable.” As the regulatory environment grows in scope and complexity, organizations must be able to aggregate and report on disparate data.

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

Energy and Resource Management

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

51ˇçÁ÷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 51ˇçÁ÷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’ 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’s a good reminder that technology can help solve the world’s most critical problems.

Ragunath Ramanathan  is chief revenue officer for 51ˇçÁ÷Business Technology Platform.

51ˇçÁ÷at UNGA 77: Driving Positive Business Transformation for People and Planet