Q&A with Nokia VP David de Lancellotti

The convergence of digital transformation and sustainability is at a pivotal point, where it is capable of delivering significant efficiency gains and facilitating data collection for ESG reporting.

Research suggests that digital transformation alone could contribute to a 20% reduction in global CO₂ emissions.

Once recognised for its legendary ‘brick’, Nokia has transitioned from a mobile phone producer to a leader in digital transformation and telecommunications.

Founded in 1865 as a pulp mill, the company is now dedicated to bridging the gap between humans and machines through advanced communications infrastructure.

This encompasses technologies such as 5G, AI, and cloud solutions.

David de Lancellotti serves as VP, CNS Enterprise Campus Edge Sales at Nokia.

He is committed to leveraging innovative technologies to enhance operational efficiency and drive innovation in industrial enterprises, along with applications that extend beyond connectivity, including worker safety and sustainability.

David shares his insights with ClimateTech Digital.

Q. How can digitalisation contribute to sustainability efforts?

Every business has its reasons for digitalisation — to become more productive or efficient, enhance worker safety or sustainability or gain agility through supply chain visibility.

Whatever the reason, during research into the GlobalData and Nokia 2024 Industrial Digitalisation Report, we discovered that 79% of enterprises implementing Industry 4.0 technologies, such as edge computing and private wireless networks, have reduced their carbon emissions by at least 10%.

That’s great news for senior decision-makers in industries where environmental pressure is growing but that must balance endeavours with increasing business performance.

IoT sensors, for example, are being deployed at mines to monitor tailings, dams, water quality and levels, air quality and temperature at ports and for thermal monitoring at chemical processing plants.

Teams can identify changes in conditions that could impact worker safety, productivity or the environment and take steps to prevent issues from occurring.

By connecting assets and creating a digital twin or virtual model of their operations, enterprises can see changes in energy consumption, adapt processes to optimise operations and achieve their goals faster.

For example, they can monitor asset health through energy consumption spikes and proactively address problems before downtime impacts productivity.

This also helps extend the lifetime of assets while reducing material waste associated with costly breakdowns.

Connected drones are being used for efficiency and sustainability gains, for example, in the mining industry, where they can be deployed with a mixture of payloads to deliver more intelligence about a site’s potential for yielding minerals.

Companies can gain more data, faster while also removing the hefty costs and fuel consumption associated with traditional site surveillance. This reduces unnecessary excavation of areas with low mineral deposits.

The value of drones doesn’t stop at the site survey, as once the mine is operational, drones can be used to deliver more environmental data about waste piles, for example, or to enhance employee safety.  

Autonomous vehicles can also optimise fuel consumption. By aggregating data from real-time sources, including weather, traffic and terrain, they can take the safest, most cost-effective and fuel-efficient route.

At ports, for example, this could mean plotting the best path from the ship to storage to optimise turnaround times, lower fuel consumption and minimise wear and tear. 

All this means whatever reason a company implements digital technologies it will ultimately benefit from sustainability gains.

Q. How can workforce communications support sustainability?

By connecting workers using ruggedised mobile devices designed for industrial or remote, harsh conditions, enterprises can benefit from advanced team communication and collaboration and minimise the energy emissions associated with inefficiencies.

For example, by giving workers access to data and videos about machinery and vehicles and allowing them to use augmented or virtual reality, maintenance activities are simplified. 

They can solve issues or video or voice call a remote expert to get their opinion, reducing truck rolls and fuel consumption.

And, because faulty machines often use more energy, faster fixes can reduce emissions.

Greater workforce connectivity also means work instructions are delivered faster across vast factory floors, mines, ports as well as other industrial locations, barriers to collaboration and productivity are removed and worker safety is greatly enhanced.

For example, our calculations show that in a port environment reliable worker communication could increase efficiency by 5% — i.e. lowering energy consumption while maintaining the same level of productivity and reducing the risk of injury by removing unnecessary worker movement on-site.

Q. Why is it important to gather data?

Whatever the enterprise goal, gaining access to reliable, consistent and complete data is the starting point and ESG success is no exception.

In an IBM study 41% of IBM executives identified inadequate data as a barrier to ESG progress.

Using real-time environmental, operational, machine and vehicle data, enterprises can identify changes that signify potential issues, monitor the impact of use cases and make informed decisions to optimise operations. They can also improve ESG reporting and demonstrate progress to stakeholders.   

Once connected across a digital platform, IoT sensors constantly collect data, sharing it with relevant applications and systems.

Data can be augmented in real-time by video feeds, drone data and more.

That’s impossible to do manually — the way 47% of companies currently manage their ESG data according to KPMG — or using legacy systems. This means data silos created by legacy systems are broken down and companies gain more intelligence about every aspect of their operations for better decision-making. 

Q. What are your tips for implementing scalable digital infrastructure for sustainability?

For true agility, visibility, efficiency and productivity, enterprises need an integrated digitalisation platform that incorporates new and existing technologies, including Wi-Fi and private wireless and can connect to legacy systems.

Industrial edge processing is at the heart of a digitalisation platform enabling on-site real-time data processing for data governance and the deployment of advanced use cases.

But these aren’t the only considerations.

When selecting a digitalisation platform, enterprises should also understand the array of integrated devices and applications available.

By choosing a platform aligned with their needs today and allowing them to evolve as those needs change, they can see the best return on their investment and reap sustainability and efficiency benefits even faster. 

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