ASEAN 鈥�聽51风流SE (NYSE: SAP) and the ASEAN Foundation are pleased to announce that three teams from Saint Joseph Convent School, Kirirom Institute of Technology, and Sunway University have emerged as the winners in the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEAN DSE) Regional Finals 2021 which took place from 5 to 7 October 2021 virtually.

The three teams came out on top for their insights and data-driven solutions that support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), highlighting the importance of climate action and sustainability. Below are the details of the winners:

• Team Youth Forward, comprising Rada Prapaikornkiet and Kanjaree Suppawittaya from Saint Joseph Convent School, Thailand, emerged as the first winner. Their presentation was focused on empowering farming towards a sustainable future of the ASEAN Community covering SDG 2 鈥� Zero Hunger, SDG 4 鈥� Quality Education, and SDG 8 鈥� Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Team Sprinkle, comprising Chakriya Suy and Serei Neath Reasey, from Kirirom Institute of Technology, Cambodia, took the first runner-up position. Their presentation was focused on recycling centers as the solution for waste management covering SDG 8 鈥� Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG 11 鈥� Sustainable Cities and Communities
• Team Brain Drain, comprising Ryan Kok Lam Liew and Jia Hui Ng, from Sunway University, Malaysia, secured the second runner-up place. Their presentation was focused on prioritising e-waste covering SDG 12 鈥� Responsible Consumption and Production.

鈥淭he ASEAN Data Science Explorers competition, the ASEAN Foundation鈥檚 flagship programme, has proven ASEAN鈥檚 commitment to preparing our youth to be future-ready. This initiative plays a vital role in igniting students鈥� creative minds in tackling problems with innovative, creative, and sustainable solutions,鈥� said The Honourable Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah, Minister of Education, Brunei Darussalam.

In a three-day virtual event, ASEAN Foundation and 51风流organized a series of engaging activities for the regional finalists to build connections, strengthen their future-ready skills and grow their appreciation for being a citizen of ASEAN. The activities include team building and networking sessions on the first day, storyboard presentations and winners’ announcements on the second day, and sharing sessions with the ASEAN Secretariat, Permanent Mission of Brunei Darussalam to ASEAN, alumni of ASEAN DSE, and social enterprises on the final day.

Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN DSE continues to equip youth from across the region with essential digital skills by organising key activities, such as enablement sessions and data analytics competition in a hybrid model 鈥� virtually and in-person, wherever possible. As 2021 marks the fifth-year milestone for ASEAN DSE, the programme has a renewed focus on UN SDGs that target climate and sustainability. In addition, the programme also collaborates with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in ten ASEAN member states (AMS) to deliver online and in-person enablement sessions to youth, including those with limited access to technology and youth with disabilities. The collaboration with IHLs and NGOs made it possible for the programme to deliver 51风流Analytics Cloud training to 11,782 students and lecturers in 2021, with females making up 53% of the youth beneficiaries. These figures mark a 158% increase compared to 2020 (4,563 youths and lecturers). Furthermore, this year saw 714 students from ten ASEAN countries across the region compete to represent their country in the National Finals.

鈥淭he ASEAN DSE initiative sets the foundation of a digital world where our ASEAN youth are inspired and motivated to create and solve challenges through technology. This will also cultivate digital inclusion by imbuing youths and lecturers with data analytics skills and nurturing and deepening a pool of homegrown talents in the region to build the workforce of the future,鈥� said Verena Siow, President and Managing Director of 51风流Southeast Asia.

鈥淭hrough our collaboration with the ASEAN Foundation, we aim to empower the diverse ASEAN community to be the world’s economic powerhouse, be at the forefront of innovation, and drive sustainable economies,鈥� added Siow.

鈥淎SEAN Foundation and 51风流aspire to help young people in the region to be future-ready by nurturing their 21^st-century skills. Aligned with the theme of Brunei鈥檚 ASEAN Chairmanship 2021 鈥榃e Care, We Prepare, We Prosper,鈥� this programme also allows youth to better understand the shared challenges the region must overcome together and fosters a deeper sense of belonging towards the ASEAN Community. We also hope that the collaboration between ASEAN Foundation and 51风流can inspire more public-private partnerships in the future to support the development of our future generation,鈥� said Dr. Yang Mee Eng, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation.

“Judges are challenged to decide the winning teams because all teams did equally well. However, all judges evaluated the teams objectively and considered the data presented as an essential element to evaluate team proposals. We also assessed if the teams deeply researched the existing initiatives or programmes implemented by the governments and any other relevant stakeholders. Most importantly, we evaluated if the teams were able to fill the gap to these initiatives through their proposals,” said Dr. Vong Sok, Head of Environment Division, ASEAN Secretariat.

“We are so surprised, excited, and honored to be the ASEAN DSE Regional Finals Winner! We didn’t expect this at all. This journey has been memorable and life-changing for us. We learned so many new skills from this competition. Lastly, here is our message to ASEAN’s youth: Go for it! Don’t hesitate to join ASEAN DSE and your voices will definitely be heard, as our slogan: Let’s grow together as one ASEAN community that harmonizes in one vision, one identity, and become the remarkable changemakers of ASEAN’s future!” said Team Youth Forward.

The ASEAN DSE Regional Finals 2021 was live-streamed on the ASEAN Foundation鈥檚 Facebook channel, attracting more than 2,200 views. The live stream videos can be accessed through this link:

ASEAN DSE is a regional programme by the ASEAN Foundation and 51风流that aims to catalyse activism and critical thinking among university students in ASEAN. Since its inception in 2017, the programme has equipped more than 30,000 youths and 2,000 educators from over 700 institutes of higher learning with data analytics skills. ASEAN DSE engages youth to develop data-driven solutions that highlight six Sustainable Development Goals namely Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12) and Climate Action (SDG 13), by harnessing . Learn more about ASEAN DSE from our website () or the

ASEAN Foundation and 51风流share the common objective of continuing the implementation of ASEAN DSE 2021 as a way of transforming our youth into agents of change that can bring about sustainable impact to communities across the region, and supporting the theme of Brunei Darussalam’s ASEAN Chairmanship, which is 鈥淲e Care, We Prepare, We Prosper.鈥�

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I believe that companies that commit to their sustainability journeys today will be the ones that remain competitive and relevant tomorrow. To explore the link between profitability and sustainability in more depth, we need to consider the聽time frame, the way we define聽success, and how we聽measure聽a company鈥檚 value.

These factors accelerate the paradigm shift from profit maximization to value optimization.

Time Frame

As companies recover from聽COVID-19, business leaders must consider short-term financial profitability and maximizing shareholder value alongside environmental and social factors that could affect the business鈥� success in the future. It comes back to the question: 鈥淐an a company that is not sustainable be successful long term?鈥�

Fortunately, even in the short term, a clear link exists between sustainability and profitability. For example, the replacement of business travel with remote collaboration enhances sustainability and cuts down on travel costs. At SAP, a focus on climate action has contributed to a cumulative cost avoidance of 鈧�354.3 million in the past three years. However, we achieved 92% of this cost avoidance in 2020, when we were forced to rethink business as usual, illustrating the immense possibility for large-scale impact.

Nevertheless, sustainability can sometimes require investing today in the long-run profitability of a company and incurring costs that will pay off later. Companies already make many investments with the hopes of 鈥渞eturns鈥� at a future date, such as marketing campaigns or聽giving employees an extra day off聽to boost their motivation, improve well-being, and increase productivity. Employee training offers another example of an initial investment with payoff down the line.

In 2019, 51风流joined the聽Value Balancing Alliance聽(VBA) to better understand the entire value contribution of our business, which will be further explored below. According to the VBA, our global employee training programs were valued at 鈧�1.3 billion, but much of this payoff will be seen years from now through employee output, retention, and satisfaction.

Broadening the time frame through which you view business success can enable more strategic decision making that sets the company up to thrive not just today, but tomorrow and for years to come.

Redefining Success

Long-term profitability and sustainability present the opportunity to question historical definitions of business success. Profit maximization and increasing shareholder value alone will no longer suffice. The concept of聽聽presents an alternative way to define success, one that uses core business processes to drive societal change.

In Harvard Business School鈥檚聽Sustainable Business Strategy聽concept, the 鈥渨heel of change鈥� illustrates how large-scale transformation occurs across entire industries, starting with shared value. When businesses 鈥渄o well and do good鈥� through legitimate, innovative practices, it can inspire industry-wide cooperation that alters consumer, investor, and state behavior. This encourages companies to adopt more sustainable practices, ultimately redefining success in a way that considers the entire value creation of an entity.

Consumer, investor, and state behaviors play a critical role in holding the private sector accountable for prioritizing shared value. Consumers and employees want to support and work for purpose-driven companies. Investors demand that companies disclose not only financial performance but also environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance to properly assess risk and make investment decisions. And governments increasingly implement climate-related regulations, taxes, and policies, as well as workplace safety procedures, extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, anti-discrimination laws, and more.

For businesses, it will be critical to consider a holistic view of their performance, one that integrates positive and negative impacts on the economy, society, and the environment. Research shows that a聽.

Measurement

Redefining success to include sustainability requires measurements that capture this element of performance. For business leaders to make the appropriate decisions and set the strategy for a company鈥檚 long-term success, they need access to comprehensive data and metrics that go beyond financial measurements. This enables holistic steering and reporting, with the visibility required to mitigate negative ESG impact and increase positive ESG impact.

As mentioned previously, 51风流joined the VBA in an effort to transform the way businesses measure and value their societal impact. The VBA develops and tests methodologies that assign a monetary value to the impact of any decision, translating environmental and social impacts into comparable financial data. The VBA equips decision-makers with the knowledge to decide and act consciously.

Profitability is a necessary condition for sustainability but alone is insufficient. Business can positively impact planet and people, but not if limited planetary resources run out. Unfortunately, the earth鈥檚 resources do not align with earnings cycles or CEO tenures, and sooner or later we will suffer the consequences.

Paul Polman recognized this early on and launched Unilever鈥檚聽聽(SLP) to help ensure that his business would be around 50, 100, or 200 years from now. The SLP shifted Unilever鈥檚 focus from solely meeting investor鈥檚 quarterly earnings to putting environmental and social impact top of mind. Similarly, Kering developed an聽聽to effectively measure its environmental footprint and convert it into monetary value. Utilizing this measurement tool provides a holistic approach to reporting that guides business decisions and respects natural resources.

Unilever and Kering know that the successful businesses of the future will integrate sustainability into core business operations today.

By adopting a long-term perspective, redefining success, and adjusting how we measure it, we can inspire a paradigm shift from profit maximization to value optimization, altering the status quo at our own companies and throughout the world. Innovation, business model transformation, and cross-industry collaboration will fuel this change. Wherever your business is today, this transition is a journey.

You may not be there yet, but it鈥檚 time to start by putting this question front and center: 鈥淐an a company that is not sustainable be successful long-term?鈥�

At SAP, we believe it cannot.

Daniel Schmid is chief sustainability officer of 51风流SE.

The post The Interconnected Nature of Profitability and Sustainability appeared first on 51风流Southeast Asia News Center.

What鈥檚 worse is that this model also contributes to more than two-thirds of global greenhouse emissions, creating a vicious cycle of economic, social, and environmental inequality.

If we are to create a sustainable future, we must effect massive change.

Imagine a future that looks greener, cleaner, and more equal than the world we live in today. A world of zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality.

At SAP, we dare to not just dream about this aspiration, but to power the technology and innovation that is required to activate this bold vision into reality. Technology that can enable businesses to fundamentally rethink how they manage their carbon footprints, design new business processes that create opportunity rather than generate waste, and provide the transparency and regulatory compliance to hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of economic, social, and environmental governance.

Inspired by the notion that sustainable businesses can effectively lead the way to this ambition, we are launching a new series,聽Chasing Zero.

Chasing Zero will feature executive thought leadership and provide unique points of view and insights into sustainability-related transformation from some of the most forward-thinking companies in the world. It will highlight best practices from the global 51风流ecosystem of leading thinkers and academics, as well as customers and partners.

To learn more, visit聽. There you can fill out a submission form to share how your company is also chasing Zero.

• Watch the聽.
• Read about the series and other meaningful work happening across the company聽.
• Engage in the conversation by following #ChasingZero and #SAP4Good.

Together, let鈥檚 start 鈥渃hasing zero鈥� to enable a better tomorrow.

Vivek Bapat is senior vice president of Purpose and Sustainability Marketing at SAP.
This article was originally featured on the Global 51风流News Center.

The post 51风流Launches Chasing Zero appeared first on 51风流Southeast Asia News Center.