The digital revolution represents the synthesis of the three dimensions of sustainability: economic, social, environmental. Digitizing means laying the foundations for reducing inequalities and guaranteeing equal opportunities in the use of the network and in the development of a culture of innovation, thus combating new forms of illiteracy and discrimination. The speech by Michelangelo Suigo, Director of External Relations, Communication and Sustainability Inwit
Sustainability is not synonymous with environmental protection, but it is a concept that presupposes multidimensional action by companies, citizens and states.
One could comment in this way on the data of the recent survey conducted by Norstat, which highlighted how most Italians (64.7%) identify sustainability only in efforts to improve the health of the planet. The process, which began in 1987 with the Brundtland Report, and culminated with the adoption of the UN Agenda 2030 on sustainable development, has undermined the absolute concept of green, as the only objective of sustainability, which is based on a triple dimension: economic, social, environmental. Three pillars that must not be considered absolute values, but as permeable elements capable of interacting in an integrated and universal effort aimed at achieving the essential conditions for sustainable, inclusive economic growth capable of creating long-term value.
Think of the contribution given by digitization, whose strategies and projects are perfectly integrated with the concept of sustainable development. In fact, the digital revolution represents the synthesis of the three dimensions of sustainability. Digitizing therefore means laying the foundations for reducing inequalities and guaranteeing equal opportunities in the use of the network and in the development of a culture of innovation, thus countering new forms of illiteracy and discrimination. And the development of 5G, rightly considered an indispensable tool to make cities more sustainable, is not extraneous to this discourse.
According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, with 5G Smart Cities will be safer (-10% accidents, -30% thefts), faster (-45 / 65% of the time in public offices), greener (-10 / 15% emissions) and more sustainable (+ 3% employment and lower cost of living). This study shows how the digitization of cities reverberates in several aspects that form the idea of quality of life: safety, health, environmental health, social cohesion, civic participation, work.
These data not only reinforce the very concept of sustainability, anchoring holistic development projects on a practical level, but also clear the field of a partial vision of the relationship with ecology. In fact, superimposing the two concepts risks falling into a reductive vision of sustainability. Which route to indicate, therefore, to achieve the goal that allows us to overcome the concept of green? One of the answers is offered by digitization, which in this sense represents one of the clearest operational tools. Without a doubt today, compared to the past, there is much more awareness of how new technologies can give concrete help to the achievement of a new model of sustainable development.