The energy crises and the shift away from fossil fuels have sparked an unprecedented boom in renewable energy in Europe. However, the volatility of wind and solar power also presents new challenges for our fragile power grid. To ensure a stable energy supply and achieve climate targets, an intelligent “smart” power grid is needed. This requires a significant amount of flexible energy storage capacities which will continue to rise. This is where Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology with bidirectional charging emerges as a practical solution to ease the strain on our grids.  

V2G technology enables EVs to both charge and feed surplus energy into the grid. Electric car batteries are thereby used as mobile power plants and energy storage units. Based on this, bidirectional power flow can support grid stability. For V2G, many different key players from the energy and automotive market need to be involved. At the same time, technology is opening new opportunities for both companies and end-users. With Vehicle-to-Building (V2B), several electric vehicles support the energy supply of large buildings covering peak loads. Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) uses the EV for local energy storage – mainly for temporarily storing electricity that has been produced at home. 

With the concept of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Balancing power the electric vehicle batteries function as a virtual mega power station absorbing energy bottlenecks to stabilize the grid and mitigate potential power outages. Every single vehicle can contribute to ensure grid stability. Even if only 10-20% of every electric vehicle battery capacity is used for V2G, the storage capacity grows with the number of electric vehicles integrated into the grid swarm. Less stationary energy storage is needed for a successful transition to renewable energy. 

Next to V2G Balancing power, Unidirectional Smart Charging (V1G) can have additional impact to ensure grid stability. Here, stabilization is achieved without any bidirectional charging technology by halting battery charging when negative control power occurs. 

Companies require a stable energy supply. Especially for production environments, an uninterrupted power supply is essential. 

On top, companies can use bidirectional charging technology based on the Vehicle-to-Building (V2B) Demand charge management: Electric vehicles can be used as decentralized energy storage systems for supplying energy to buildings. Leveraging EV batteries to handle spikes in energy demand within buildings, such as factories, leads to optimized operations, thereby increasing productivity and minimizing instances of unexpected downtime. In particular, companies with larger fleets have a great potential to integrate electric vehicles into an intelligent energy management system. 

End consumers can also reap the benefits of the Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) ecosystem. By agreeing to provide a portion of their electric vehicle's battery capacity to ensure grid stability through V2G Balancing Power, they become eligible for financial compensation. This means that they will be rewarded for their contribution, making it a win-win situation for both the consumers and the grid. 

With the majority of vehicles being parked for extended periods, end customers have an additional opportunity to benefit from V2G Arbitrage. This concept allows batteries to be charged at the most cost-effective electricity rates. When energy is required, these batteries can serve as a power source by providing a portion of their stored capacity. This dynamic is made possible by the increasing availability of flexible electricity tariffs, which are being introduced more frequently. As a result, end customers can take advantage of these emerging options to optimize their energy consumption and save on costs. 

In addition to V2G, end customers can also take advantage of vehicle-to-home (V2H) technology to optimize their own energy consumption. With a local photovoltaic system, solar energy can be stored directly in the vehicle's battery and utilized as needed. This eliminates the need for a separate local energy storage system, simplifying the setup for customers.

Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology is quickly gaining traction in the automotive and energy sectors, offering a promising solution for energy transmission and grid stability. While several framework conditions need to be addressed to fully unlock its potential, now is the time to leverage V2G in less complex use cases. Major OEMs have already started pilot projects, and we anticipate increasing market dynamics in the coming months. The future of V2G looks bright, with significant benefits for OEMs, suppliers, and end customers, playing a crucial role in shaping the future of energy and automotive industries. 

Healthcare stands as one of the most critical sectors worldwide, yet hundreds of millions of people still lack access to essential health services. Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, in particular, face significant challenges in this respect. High healthcare expenses often deter individuals from seeking help for serious and chronic diseases. Nevertheless, investing in the healthcare industry to develop human capital is crucial for sustainable economic growth.

Establishing a robust health financing system is paramount for individuals grappling with financial constraints. This effort should be coupled with enhancements in healthcare infrastructure and workforce development, including medical professionals, to ensure the delivery of essential health services accessible to all.

Health challenges persist due to unavoidable factors such as disasters, mass migration, conflicts, climate change, global pandemics, and pollution. Additionally, unhealthy lifestyles, habits, and aging populations further compound these challenges. Both public and private health organizations are addressing these issues and underscoring the importance of implementing sustainable mechanisms that facilitate real-time feedback.

Building a healthcare system founded on sustainability not only ensures access to quality healthcare but also minimizes environmental damage and contributes to overall well-being.

Sustainable healthcare encompasses a multitude of facets, spanning from prevention to the delivery of care, and involves numerous stakeholders, including patients, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and policymakers. Here, we outline thirteen critical aspects of sustainable healthcare that must be considered and improved to ensure sustainable global health:

This is a foundational aspect of sustainable healthcare. Efforts should be directed towards preventing diseases and promoting healthy lifestyles, as this is more cost-effective and results in better health outcomes. In smaller populations, effective methods to inform and change behavior can be successfully studied, as demonstrated in Iceland.  Over two decades, a program tailored for adolescents reduced the percentage of 15-16-year-olds drinking alcohol from 42% to 5%, and smoking from 23% to 3%.

The biggest impacts on preventive health measures are well-known. Factors such as excessive consumption of unhealthy food (e.g., processed food with high sugar, fat, and salt), lack of exercise, smoking, and alcohol are the main causes of "civilization diseases" like heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and lung cancer, which pose significant costs to society and individuals. No treatment will ever be as sustainable as prevention. Education and technology will be crucial to support the necessary behavioral changes.

The challenge is urgent. For example, the global population with diabetes is expected to rise by 51%, from 463 million people (9.3%) to 700 million (10.9%) by 2045, primarily in cities and richer countries. We need more pilot projects to improve people's health behavior and better global best practice sharing about what works and what doesn't.

Based on these aspects, it is evident that building and maintaining sustainable healthcare systems is necessary for addressing global health challenges effectively. From preventive care and accessible services to technological innovations and environmental sustainability, there are various challenges to face along the way.

Adapting new technologies and digital solutions in the healthcare industry will surely make our lives more efficient and reduce wasted time and resources, resulting in better healthcare systems. Efficient and equitable healthcare financing mechanisms, coupled with strong policy frameworks and governance structures, are fundamental for sustaining healthcare systems in the long term and ensuring that they remain resilient in the face of evolving health challenges.  

The path towards sustainable healthcare demands collective commitment and strategic action. By prioritizing prevention, accessibility, and innovation, we can build resilient systems that promote health equity and environmental stewardship for future generations.  

Data is everywhere and whether you are a CEO or business manager you need to know where it is and what to do with it. The amount of data created daily around the globe continues to increase at exponential rates. It is estimated that 163 zettabytes of data will be created worldwide by 2025. However, reporting by IDC indicates that “only 32% of the data available to enterprises is ever used and the remaining 68% goes unleveraged” leading to businesses missing millions in revenue. 

If used correctly, data is an asset to any organization. “Ninety percent of enterprise analytics and business professionals say that data and analytics are key to their organization’s digital transformation initiatives. However, there are many companies that are reluctant to pull the trigger because they aren’t sure about the advantages of becoming data driven.”  

A data-driven organization captures the power of this ever-growing asset (data) and makes strategic and tactical decisions based on that information, not on gut reactions, historical references, or personal opinions.  

Despite the reluctance of some leaders, there is proof that becoming a data-driven organization is beneficial: 

• “Data-driven organizations can outperform their competitors by 6% in profitability and 5% in productivity. Data-driven organizations are 162% more likely to surpass revenue goals and 58% more likely to beat their revenue goals than non-data-driven counterparts.”

• Through a data-driven cost modeling approach, an EV start-up business ensured the profitability of its product at scale. This collaborative, data-led engagement with a focus on the supply chain resulted in an overall reduction of over 25% in Bill of Materials (BOM) costs.

• BARC research surveyed a range of business leaders and found that those “using big data saw an 8 percent increase in profit and a 10 percent reduction in cost.”

• The correct data can also shape an organization’s sustainability success. For example, “One Life Sciences company has a state-of-the-art continuous manufacturing facility … Live operations data is fed into a virtual twin, enabling continual optimization through real-time analytics. This initiative has seen an 80% reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions, a 91% reduction in the facility’s water footprint, a 94% drop in the use of chemicals and a reduction of 321 tons of waste per year. What’s more, it’s 80 times more productive, making medicines for twice the number of patients in less time.”  

Data holds the power to improve decision making and create new opportunities for growth and innovation throughout the organization. To truly be data driven and leverage the value of enterprise information, organizations need a secure, holistic view of its digital and cloud strategy. This includes how and when to deploy powerful off-the shelf software or when to customize and rapidly apply new use cases built on existing IT infrastructure.  

For years the question businesses faced when applying new digital solutions to existing operations was – should we make or buy? Given the availability of open innovation especially through recent releases from AWS and Microsoft, the same question leads to a new answer: We need to do both - make and buy.  

The Xcelerator program from Siemens is an example of such a hybrid approach. The robust ecosystem of sellers and developers with integrated hardware and software leveraging a strong solution portfolio and interconnectivity of systems, companies can apply specific operations improvements via SaaS products. A custom-built add-on approach allows them to quickly apply the newest innovation or business requirement delivering significant business impact. 

The Digital Core serves as a remarkable illustration of Siemens Xcelerator's vision to enhance collaboration and co-creation. It demonstrates interoperability by seamlessly integrating with both Siemens and third-party systems. Moreover, it is intentionally designed to be flexible, allowing for the creation of tailored solutions according to customer-defined use cases, with the added benefit of expandability and scalability. Lastly, it embraces openness through the use of standardized application programming interfaces (APIs).  

The Digital Core operates not as a super platform dominating everything, but as an integral component running in parallel with existing systems. It seamlessly integrates necessary and minimal data to fuel new business logics and processes, leveraging outputs from various systems. Therefore, adding a customized Digital Core to the digitalization mix enables companies to use qualified data and existing corporate knowledge to transform into a powerful decision-making body. It also allows them to own their digital backbone with the option and availability to scale it over time. 

Having a Digital Core creates a new level of data ownership that is fully customizable and scalable to meet the company’s needs. This positions the organization to answer additional new business needs by repurposing data from SaaS/PaaS products landscape for advanced analytics and decision making. This will enable enterprises to create new IP or build their own data team, further accelerating digital transformation with the benefit of not relying 100% on third party vendors. 

Establishing a Digital Core and becoming a data-driven organization are not overnight processes. It is important for leaders to grow the Digital Core on a case-by-case basis and for critical business reasons. The biggest leap leaders will take is simply to start designing and building the Digital Core framework.  

Here are seven points to consider when establishing the Digital Core:  

1. Align the company’s data strategy with corporate strategy and involve champions at the highest level of the organization. 

2. Secure enterprise-wide buy-in and understanding of the changes involved in becoming data-driven including the impact on the company culture.  

3. Demonstrate the potential value of your data by selecting the most valuable use cases where data can drive strategy for success.  

4. Create an IT/OT blueprint and detailed roadmap of the expected journey. 

5. Design the Digital Core with consideration of the company’s existing digital infrastructure and software products in use. 

6. Scale the Digital Core into new areas of the organization and increase its functionality for success, even consider how the data could be used in multiple ways. 

7. Consider implementing an expert team who own the organization’s data and Digital Core to create accountability, to continuously incubate new innovations, and to improve data-driven decision making.  

Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence (AI) provide the perfect business cases to leverage data across the organization because their importance can be quantified quickly due to recent developments and the speed of innovation.  

The importance of harnessing enterprise data can be seen in the worldwide effort for better, more accurate sustainability reporting. For example, in Europe, organizations must comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, providing details on sustainability-related impacts, opportunities, and risks. The US and the UN have other reporting requirements that are also dependent on good data sources. Without access to the correct sustainability information organizations may struggle to complete the requirements.  

And the next challenge is already on the horizon – optimizing – operations based on data driven decisions. This can only be achieved with qualified, reliable data which includes new business logics and advanced analytics to understand and predict impacts. 

Data-driven organizations measure their environmental impact such as CO2 emissions and waste and water consumption across a large infrastructure. Then with the right data quality they optimize operations to reduce their ecological footprint. Finally, they augment their ability to make faster, more effective decisions and support new ways of working with more diverse teams and communities. 

Meanwhile, AI is gaining more attention around the globe. 

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, explained that the rate of AI adoption depends upon each specific firm, rather than which industry sector it belongs to. “I think whether it’s in financial services, retail or even healthcare, it’s very exciting to see the broad swathe of industries being reshaped [with AI].”  

AI is important because it helps manage large and complex data sets to extract information usable for the company. AI-powered tools like Microsoft Copilot allow users to interact with complex systems using natural language, making it easier to extract valuable information. AI also benefits labor-intensive activities such as cataloging, cleaning, integrating, and organizing the data that goes into the Digital Core.  

The Digital Core opens opportunities for companies, but it also generates debates within the C-Suite with challenges from finance to security, and IT. Let’s debunk some of these pain points: 

Security Measures in the Digital Core: In the digital landscape, security is a paramount concern for CXOs. The Digital Core is custom-built on hyper-scaling cloud technology and incorporates robust security measures (i.e., advanced encryption protocols, multi-factor authentication, and continuous monitoring for potential threats). The architecture prioritizes data integrity and confidentiality, meeting industry compliance standards. 

Cost-Efficiency Strategies: Cost-effectiveness is a constant challenge for CXOs. The Digital Core optimizes resources through cloud scalability, allowing organizations to pay only for the resources consumed. The absence of a subscription model further empowers clients by providing transparency and predictability in budgeting, eliminating unexpected financial burdens, and allowing for efficient allocation of resources. 

Seamless Integration Capabilities: For CIOs a pain point is the complexity of integrating diverse IT and OT systems. The Digital Core is designed with openness and scalability in mind, facilitating seamless integration with various systems and applications. Through well-defined APIs and standardized data formats, it ensures interoperability, allowing organizations to adapt and expand their technology stack without major disruptions. This addresses the concerns of CIOs regarding system compatibility and ease of integration. 

Scalability for Future Growth: CFOs often worry about the scalability of digital solutions and impact on long-term budgets. The Digital Core, built on hyper-scaling cloud technology, is inherently scalable. It grows with the organization, accommodating increased data volumes and expanding operational complexities without compromising performance.  

Ownership and Control of Data: CXOs are concerned about data ownership and control. The Digital Core addresses this by making the organization the sole proprietor of its data. Unlike subscription-based models where intelligence might be hosted externally, a custom-built core ensures know-how stays with the corporation as is not embedded in an external software which might not be available as necessary and is not part of the digital backbone of its daily operation.   

The technical architecture of the Digital Core not only empowers organizations to harness the benefits of digital transformation but also directly addresses the key concerns of CIOs, CXOs and CFOs. By providing a secure, cost-effective, and seamlessly integrable solution, the Digital Core becomes a strategic asset in driving the success of modern enterprises. 

Once a business reason / use case is defined to create new insights (e.g. sustainability challenges) or innovation infusion (AI), a Digital Core needs to be created which involves key components including:   

• Data Structuring: This component not only manages data ingestion and acquisition but ensures efficient storage, retrieval, and transformation. It plays a pivotal role in structuring data to align with organizational needs and standards, enhancing its overall utility. 

• Front-end single pane of glass: Serving as the main user interface for operational data, the web application is designed with a user-centric approach, providing an intuitive experience. It fosters collaboration by centralizing data analysis, featuring dashboards for multiple KPIs, other metrics, and an alarms and notifications system. 

• Analytics: The analytics application offers flexibility with customizable reports, providing insights into various parameters. Its adaptability and scalability make it a robust tool for evolving data needs and technologies. Additionally, it facilitates diagnostics, high-level management, and control capabilities across connected subsystems. 

• Integration Layer: Operating as more than just a storage area, this component serves as a dynamic communication backbone, facilitating seamless data flow within and between data centers. Its versatility in supporting various data formats and protocols enhances its role in integrating data from defined subsystems. 

• Process Automation and Event Processing: Working alongside the Integration Layer, this component excels in real-time capabilities, managing automated processes and pipelines for data processing. It ensures data quality, consistency, and reliability, contributing to the overall efficiency of the Digital Core. 

• Work Order Management: Derived from insights provided by the web application and reports, the work order management component streamlines operations by initiating actions. It plays a crucial role in fostering a proactive approach, addressing issues promptly, and optimizing workflows based on analytics and data-driven decision-making. 

Each of these components works together allowing the Digital Core to enhance strategy implementation through data driven insights generated from combining external market data with the company’s own performance, lower operations and maintenance costs, reduce failure rates, and achieve the highest return on investment. Overall situational awareness is provided for connected infrastructure, serving as a single point of reference for all involved in joint decision making. 

For example, a Port wants to create situational awareness of its operating entities, with the goal of delivering services to all stakeholders to improve the operational performance and efficiency. This will at the same time increase supply chain transparency or full emissions footprint through the implementation of the different views on an integrated control center. By creating a Digital Core and a Common Operational Picture (COP), the Port Operator would meet the need for awareness across its operation of a single port or multiple locations it is managing across the globe. The COP will replicate information from related sub-systems, and be shared between the command, control and coordinating groups serving as a single point of reference for all involved parties for joint decision making. The Digital Core creates additional insights by further processing the data from the subsystems to create prediction models for operations. 

Leaders may arrive at this point in this post and feel overwhelmed by the importance of the Digital Core and how complex the transformation is for their organizations. There are still so many business leaders who do not see how data and powerful innovations will radically change their businesses. Successful companies will run a hybrid strategy build (Digital Core) and buy (SaaS), leveraging great software products for specific operations. Optimization and an owned Digital Core create enterprise intelligence and control of their digital transformation. To achieve this, leaders will need a guide and engaging the right partner with extensive IT/OT and digital transformation experience is critical for success.  

And remember – the goal is not to connect everything with everything. The Digital Core runs on minimal data with meaningful use cases embedded and can be created based on individual issues or use cases that a specific company faces. It underpins total enterprise reinvention by providing agility, flexibility, easy interoperability, and resilience.  

Sustainability reporting has come a long way since the publication of the first environmental reports in 1989. But so has that amount of data that companies generate. 

In a company's data lies a spectrum of information, spanning from product development details to environmental measurements. However, this diversity in data is often spread across multiple departments, complicating the task of gaining a comprehensive understanding of the whole picture. Breaking down silos or accessing data in divergent systems is a challenge. All of this leads to companies not knowing exactly what data they have access to daily.

As a Harvard Business Review article notes: “Increasingly, companies must come to recognize and appreciate that data is a business asset that flows through an organization. Data cuts across traditional organizational boundaries, often without clear ownership.” With the increased amount of data and the lack of visibility across the business, for most companies, corporate sustainability reporting and monitoring is a tedious and time-consuming task. It often involves manual data collection, data processing, and interpretation. Data constitutes the foundation for various use cases in sustainability reporting (e.g., value chain mapping).

Sustainability reporting and monitoring is becoming more important to customers, politicians, employees, and investors. In fact, “Businesses are not gauged through their financial performance alone. Instead, stakeholders weigh in more on the sustainability aspect of the business than just the profitability.”

Several new reporting rules require data and transparency from companies no matter where they are in the world. For example, in Europe, organizations must comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, a part of the Green Deal reforms, requiring details on sustainability-related impacts, opportunities, and risks. Germany has its Supply Chain Act. And in the U.S. companies are responsible for reporting via the United States Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new climate risk disclosure rule. The UN has additional reporting obligations that also rely on high-quality data sources.

Research by ESG Book found that “1,255 ESG regulations have been introduced worldwide since 2011, compared to 493 regulations published between 2001 and 2010. Since the turn of the millennium to the present day, there has been a 647% increase in ESG regulations.” Without access to the correct sustainability information organizations may struggle to complete requirements.

“Put simply, noncompliance is not an option and could have significant consequences.” Errors or avoiding any of the regulations can result in fines and damage the overall reputation of the company. According to Harvard University Law School’s Forum on Corporate Governance’s report, The State of U.S. Sustainability Reporting, “There has never been a more important time to ensure that company sustainability disclosure is robust, clear and credible—while also keeping pace with the rapidly evolving demands of stakeholders.” 
 

Sustainability reporting creates internal accountability as well as transparency and accountability with external stakeholders. Reporting on sustainability can be complex. It is often made more difficult because leaders do not know specifically what information to report. They are also unaware of the data they have within their grasps leading to one of the largest challenges to achieving sustainability reporting requirements – the way companies gather data for those reports. 

In these situations, the employees do the best they can to interpret the data manually which often leads to errors. A recent Qlik survey showed, “… just 24% of the global workforce claimed to be fully confident in their ability to read, work with, analyze, and argue with data.” In addition, “85% of organizations believe they are ahead of their peers concerning sustainability reporting, but almost half (47%) still use spreadsheets to aggregate their data.” 

There is hope for improving the process for obtaining required information for sustainability reports. In fact, leading organizations have turned to technology to automate the harvesting and interpretation of data. 
 

Achieving the technical automation necessary to assist in data gathering for sustainability reporting requires both a clear business strategy and an appropriate structure to unite IT/OT and other various data sources within the organization. 

Let’s look at the strategic component. There are four questions that the executive team needs to ask:

1. What data are we already collecting?
2. What data is required for reporting regulations?
3. What do we want to collect in the future?
4. Who is responsible for capturing and harmonizing the data?

Once there is a clear and documented approach capturing the data required for automated collection and report generation, then the company can move to building the appropriate IoT framework to make this solution a reality.

“An IoT framework is a set of protocols, tools, and standards that provide a specific structure for developing and deploying IoT applications and services.” It enables collection, standardization, and processing of data. It also connects with IT/ OT where data from various sources within the company (e.g., in ERP systems or on operational/shopfloor level) are assimilated, hosted centrally, and interacted with through a dashboard. The entire process is done in real-time, is cost efficient, reliable, and easy to use. Ultimately, the IoT Framework generates a holistic overview of the company and its progress on ESG initiatives.

A critical part of the IoT framework is the interplay of the semantic layer and processed data because it is the foundation for future processing to aid in certification, reporting and visualization. Since the data is from various places within the organization and may not follow the same format or criteria, “it is necessary to implement a method of sophisticated data integration … it is challenging to efficiently fuse a large amount of probably noisy data and then infer an accurate result.”

“Incorporating data fusion, the process of merging multi-source data to increase integrity, allows companies to effectively deal with noisy data of dynamic environment, and helps the decision-making process based on the available information.” This means the heterogeneous data of an organization is conveyed, stored, and accessed in the same way. “The data structure is expressed through the links within the data itself, it is not constrained to a structure imposed by the database and does not become obsolete with the evolution of the data. When changes in the data structure occur, they are reflected in the database through changes in the links within the data.”
 

Automatically generated sustainability reports provide several advantages compared with manual processing, including: a reduction in errors, allowing employees to focus on more value-added work, and faster, more accurate production. 

In addition to ensuring accurate data is available and referenced in automated sustainability reports, the IoT framework delivers even more benefits to the organization. For example:

• It allows for improved data quality and interpretation because it can be queried easily, and calculations are based on real data and not average or estimates. 
• The interactive dashboard used in many IoT framework solutions is automatically updated allowing the sustainability manager (and others) to manage process on goals.
• IoT frameworks offer advanced visualization and modeling. The information is shareable in several views and dimensions (technical, commercial, geographic).

Spreadsheets and manual data entry aren’t made for the era of Big Data and IoT. Changes are necessary across industries and around the globe to move to more automation such as IoT frameworks, especially for gathering data to demonstrate sustainability growth and achievements for companies. 

Leaders must accept technology’s role because sustainability reporting is a necessity. In fact, “Regulators and investors hold sustainability reporting to a higher standard: Companies making sustainability claims without defensible data [supporting information generated through a data-driven approach] put themselves at risk of greenwashing lawsuits and other liabilities.”

Therefore, “Companies … need robust reporting technology to help ensure organizational alignment while meeting complex reporting requirements. A focus on data consolidation and using an IoT framework are essential for businesses to “achieve their strategic goals, comply with regulations, and become a leader in sustainability.”

Embracing technology and implementing robust reporting systems are imperative for companies to navigate the evolving landscape of sustainability reporting, mitigate risks, and position themselves as leaders in sustainability, all while ensuring transparency, credibility, and organizational alignment.