How Cloud Supports Sustainability 🌱 Part 2

Environmental concerns and a sustainable model have become significant drivers of innovation in companies.

Since a decade ago, the number of global Internet users has doubled, and Statista estimate we will reach 120 ZB of data in 2023. (Source: Statista)

Technology trends reflect that one of the foundations for exponential digitization is the migration to the cloud. Cloud computing has also positioned itself as one of the most sustainable and efficient ICTs, saving more than 59 million tons of CO2 and more than 200 billion euros in annual savings for companies.
As it is based on a pool of shared computing resources, it allows cost reductions (up to 40%) and reduces energy consumption and emissions caused by traditional methods of servers and local platforms.

In this blog post, we will explain with statistics why joining the cloud world is so beneficial for the development of a company and the importance of AI for sustainability.

Corporate Sustainability Stats

Nearly 80% of executives cite technology as critical for their future sustainability efforts, attesting that it helps transform operations, socialize their initiatives more broadly, and measure and report on the impact of their efforts.
(Source: CEOs are Ready to Fund a Sustainable Transformation, The Harris Poll survey for Google Cloud, 2022)

When asked about the top barriers to achieving true environmental sustainability, executives identified the following as their biggest challenges: lack of investment in the right technology (36%), lack of understanding about the issue (36%), too much focus on growth and profit (34%), limited budget for sustainability measures (34%), and lack of regulatory incentives or political will (34%).
(Source: CEOs are Ready to Fund a Sustainable Transformation, The Harris Poll survey for Google Cloud, 2022)

More than 91% of respondents agree that “technology makes it possible for our organization to be more sustainable.”
(Source: CEOs are Ready to Fund a Sustainable Transformation, The Harris Poll survey for Google Cloud, 2022)

Digital solutions will play an enabling role for at least 20-25% of the reductions required to achieve a net-zero economy in Europe.
(Source: Digital Decarbonisation, Implement Consulting Group (ICG) study commissioned by Google, 2022)

The most advanced digital economies in the EU reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 25% between 2003 and 2019 while increasing economic output by 30% in the same period.
(Source: Digital Decarbonisation, Implement Consulting Group (ICG) study commissioned by Google, 2022)

Leveraging AI for Sustainability

We know that AI can play a pivotal role in the process of transformation towards sustainability.

If used correctly, AI can help transform traditional industries and systems to address climate change, ensure food and water security, protect biodiversity, and support human well-being.

World Economic Forum research found that leveraging data and AI digital solutions could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 4% by 2030.

Measuring climate and land changes with AI AI Dynamic World is a free, open-license, near real-time, 10 m resolution global land use land cover dataset generated using deep learning, produced using deep learning. Dynamic World is intended to be used as a data product for users to generate derivative land cover maps and add custom rules to assign final class values. ”Dynamic World allows researchers to build their own maps based on the outputs of our machine learning model, a major advancement in map-making.” Tanya Birch, Sr. Program Manager, Geo for Environment (Source: Measuring climate and land changes with AI) Dynamic World uses Google Earth Engine, AI, and Google cloud computing to classify images of the planet into different land categories. This resulting land cover dataset shares the probability of different land cover types on a per-pixel basis, which represents the real world more accurately. It’s a powerful sustainability platform built on Google Cloud and Earth Engine. It helps unlock greater flexibility and timely insights compared to annual static maps built from manual curations. The core intention for this near real time land cover dataset is to encourage organizations to build derivative maps so we can make wiser decisions to protect, manage and restore natural ecosystems. To better understand this technology, you can check out the 10-minute YouTube video and the interactive notebook with all the codes. You can also find Dynamic World’s GitHub.

Real-time tracking of wildfire boundaries using satellite imagery The new research found that increased bouts of severe drought and low humidity extended the length of the “air of fire” season much faster than climate models had predicted. (Source: World Economic Forum) Wildfires are becoming more frequent and more dangerous as global temperatures rise. As part of its mission to help people access reliable information at critical moments, Google uses satellite imagery and machine learning (ML) to monitor wildfires and inform affected communities. Google’s boundary monitoring app shows how they use satellite imagery and machine learning to monitor fires. provides real-time support to affected people in times of crisis. In the future, Google plans to continue improving the quality of wildfire border monitoring to expand this service to more countries and help fire officials access critical information in real time. Real-time boundary tracking of the 2021-2022 Wrattonbully bushfire, shown as a red polygon in Google Maps. Google’s border tracking app shows how they use satellite imagery and machine learning to monitor wildfires and provide real-time support to affected people in times of crisis.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) increases productivity by helping automate routine activities in IT infrastructure. The combination of artificial intelligence and cloud computing results in an extensive network that can hold large volumes of data while constantly learning and evolving.

The combined relationship of cloud computing and artificial intelligence is supporting sustainability efforts. The real transformation in enterprise IT will be when these two powerful technologies work together.

If your company and development team aren’t already leveraging the cloud, now is the time to act! Working with a reliable cloud partner facilitates access to the latest technologies and best practices, scaling quickly and efficiently as needed, and peace of mind knowing that your data and applications are secure. If your organization is looking to adopt a sustainable cloud strategy, please contact us to learn more about how we can help your business. By leveraging the expertise and resources at Kartaca, you can focus on the core business activities while we take care of your infrastructure and management of your cloud environment.

Kartaca is a Premier Partner for Google Cloud in the Sell and Service Engagement Models with “Cloud Migration” and “Data Analytics” specializations.

Sources:
CEOs are Ready to Fund a Sustainable Transformation
Digital Decarbonisation
TechTarget
PlainConcepts
Google Cloud Blog