The author of this article certainly believes this to be true. First, who knew that Walmart hosts an annual Sustainability Milestone Summit? Not me. At the summit, Walmart announced Project Gigatron, a “collaborative effort to reduce a billion tons of emissions from the global supply chain over the next 15 years.” A survey of business leaders found that “[m]any felt that data analytics and measurement technologies have as much potential to affect business’ environmental impact as certain environmental policies and regulations.” The article goes on to outline four initiatives, started by major companies, to scale technological innovations in an effort to meet mounting environmental concerns. Through Automation & Dematerialization, Sharing Technologies & Data Analysis, and Blockchain Technology companies are beginning to address sustainability with increased vigor and results.
I wasn’t aware of this either. I think it’s great that businesses are realizing the need to cut down on their carbon footprint. I also love how they are outsourcing the development of the technology and making it public that they are utilizing these sustainable technologies to help the environment. The fact that it’s a well known company like Wal-Mart will almost definitely trigger a trickle down to other retailers. We need more of these collabs!