Thursday 28 April 2022: CIONET, in collaboration with LCL, organises a unique event under the title “Manifesto for sustainable data centres”. With nearly 1,000 members, CIONET Belgium leads the community of CIOs and Top Digital Leaders in Belgium. LCL is the Belgian specialist provider of data centre facilities with a high sustainability value.

With this roundtable, both organisations are joining forces to organise a brainstorming session between sustainability managers on the one hand and CIOs on the other, on the role IT - the IT team, the systems, and digital transformation - (already) plays in the sustainability programmes of companies.

The question of the actual role of IT in sustainability programs is driven by a three-stage rocket:

1. Sustainability is increasingly explicit on the board’s agenda. Non-financial reporting is becoming more and more of a requirement, and not only for listed companies. Non-financial factors such as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) are becoming part of the analysis process to identify risks and opportunities for growth. Companies increasingly provide information on these topics in their annual report or in a separate sustainability report. Moreover, CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is the new EU legislation requiring all large companies to publish regular reports on their environmental and social impact activities. Again, the aim is to help investors, consumers, policymakers, and other stakeholders assess the non-financial performance of large companies. Companies thus no longer focus solely on material drivers for value creation. Intangible drivers, such as sustainability performance, are also becoming increasingly important. Companies need sustainability data to support and adjust their strategy and business activities: from the choice of supply chain partners to internal governance. And, last but least, (potential) employees are likewise looking for socially responsible organisations.

2. Do Sustainability managers then look at IT and ask the CIO for answers?

3. Do CIOs see sustainability coming up on theiragenda - and do they, in turn, look to their partners and suppliers (such as LCL and its sector peers)? Is greenwashing taking place at the expense of another player in the value chain? Does the entire chain take responsibility for preventing its efforts from being nullified by another link in the chain?