New research from Alibaba Cloud, “Tech-driven Sustainability Trends and Index 2024,” reveals that most (84%) Singaporean businesses are intrigued by digital technologies' potential to drive corporate sustainability.
Potential for sustainability
The study, which surveyed 1,300 businesses across 13 markets, including Singapore, reported that among digital technologies, Singaporean companies believe that AI and machine learning (41%), cloud computing (37%) and collaboration and communication tools (34%) are the most crucial to advance sustainable development.
Concerns
Despite this optimism, 80% of Singaporean executives feel their organisations lag in adopting cloud computing and AI to accelerate progress towards corporate sustainability goals.
83% of Singaporean businesses acknowledge a significant gap in understanding how digital technology can help them achieve their sustainability goals.
Singaporean businesses are acutely aware of the potential high energy consumption associated with these technologies, which could limit their widespread adoption (85%).
“With feedback from decision-makers across 13 markets, the survey report sheds light on the current attitudes and challenges businesses face in adopting AI and cloud computing for sustainability,” said Selina Yuan, president of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.
“At Alibaba Cloud, we are committed to supporting businesses on their sustainability journeys with scalable and sustainable solutions. By pledging to use 100% clean energy by 2030 and improving the energy efficiency at our global data centres, as well as optimising Generative AI capabilities such as large language models (LLMs) performance, AI can be a powerful tool to improve efficiency and optimise energy consumption,” she added.
