Harnessing Eco-Digital Revolution's Billion-Dollar Promise

Digital innovation is at the forefront of empowering organisations to magnify their efforts in reducing energy usage, marking a crucial shift towards sustainable corporate practices.

Still in the initial stages of realising its full potential, digital technology awaits the unleashing of a vast array of opportunities, with predictions from Capgemini forecasting the eco-digital economy's worth to soar to an approximate US$33 trillion by 2028.

​​​​​​​Detailed in the recent report by Capgemini, titled The Eco-Digital Era: The dual transition to a sustainable and digital economy, developed in collaboration with the Digital Value Lab at Harvard’s Digital Data and Design Institute.

This comprehensive analysis engaged 1,500 top-level executives from 1,350 large entities and 150 startups, each generating revenues surpassing US$1bn and deeply entrenched in digital strategy and initiatives.

Inside Capgemini’s groundbreaking findings

“In the eco-digital era, there is greater exploration of digital technologies’ value to business – for instance by the scaling of data and cloud, and by having digital technologies play a crucial role in achieving sustainability goals. There is also a fast evolution of emerging tech such as generative AI and synthetic biology, and greater collaboration giving rise to digital ecosystems,” said Dr Suraj Srinivasan, Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Head of the Digital Value Lab at the Digital Data and Design Institute at Harvard.

“This shift is truly fundamental, cross-sectoral and global in nature. One of the biggest questions that organisations have to address and manage, as they scale, is knowing what to centralise and what to decentralise in terms of platform architecture, and most importantly, data governance.” 

Emphasising technology's significant impact, the report reveals that digital solutions have led companies to reduce their energy consumption by nearly 25% in just five years, alongside a 21% drop in carbon emissions during the same timeframe. It projects even greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2028 through the strategic application of digital technologies.

Moreover, the research indicates a strong belief among nearly three-quarters of entities in the critical role of digitally-driven business models to elevate revenue streams. Less than two-thirds foresee these models outperforming traditional approaches in efficiency and effectiveness.

“The eco-digital economy is unlike anything that has come before it, and society has harnessed only a fraction of the overarching potential that mainstream technologies such as cloud, AI, and automation hold,” stated Fernando Alvarez, Chief Strategy and Development Officer at Capgemini and Group Executive Board member.

“Organisations will need to leverage focused efficiencies in their core business, enabled by digital, in order to free up investment to support their dual transition. We are at the dawn of a new transformative era and we have only scratched the surface of how digital technologies can help expedite the delivery of substantial economic, environmental and societal benefits.”

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