How Digital Technology May Facilitate a More Sustainable Future

Sustainability is a key strategic goal for Vodafone, but many organizations struggle to dedicate enough time to prioritize it. We will show how 5G, when paired with IoT sensors and the Cloud, can collect coastal cliff ground motion data. We will also display our mobile network base stations that are self-powered by renewables. And we hope to build a society where socio-economic progress does not come at a cost to the planet.

Vinod Kumar CEO, Vodafone Business

'Organizations globally agree that sustainability is a key strategic goal, but over the last year, we discovered many have struggled to dedicate time to it as, understandably, business continuity took priority'.

It is time to bring this back up the agenda.

During Mobile World Congress this year, we’ll be looking to engage with customers, partners, and stakeholders on the topic of Digital for Green and the innovations in AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G that allow us to do things differently. To do things better.

Green operator
Our exhibition stand has been divided into three distinct areas: 'green society', 'green operator', and 'circular economy.

Highlighting environmental care and the protection of the natural ecosystem, the ‘green operator’ area will showcase how a drone-based early-warning system can help tackle wildfires and the first connected smart forest.

Alongside this, our work with the revolutionary platform, MyFarmWeb, will also be on show.

A digital precision farming platform that collects data from IoT sensors lets farmers make faster and better-informed decisions, maximizing their efficiency while reducing waste and environmental impact.

Already used by 7,200 farmers across the United States, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, MyFarmWeb will now be available in Europe too. Seamus O’Mahony from Dairygold Agri Business and dairy farmer Douglas from County Cork tell us more:

Circular economy
As a mobile-first company, we are aware of the impact devices can have on the environment, which is why we’re working hard to act more sustainably, ensuring that the mobile industry minimizes waste and further reduces carbon emissions.

Through our Device Lifecycle Management (DLM) green offering, we encourage our business customers to extend the life of their devices at the end of their contract while making it easier for them to buy and own refurbished ones.

As part of the stand’s demos, we will showcase our device lifecycle strategy so that everyone can see what happens to a phone when it is being refurbished, from start to finish. After undergoing a secure data wipe and being restored to the original settings, old devices are either re-used or stripped down for precious metals for re-use. This means the minerals go back into the value chain and e-waste is reduced.

Additionally, we will have a Cloud Smartphone demo showing a concept to redesign smartphones by moving processing to the cloud, simplifying processing power and making them far less prone to becoming outdated and obsolete.

Green society
Finally, our 'green society' area will show how technologies benefit the planet and also improve society’s quality of life.

For example, we will show how 5G, when paired with IoT sensors and the Cloud, can collect coastal cliff ground motion data. This will allow academics, businesses, and local authorities to monitor environmental and public safety issues smarter.

When looking at energy waste, transport is now one of the largest sources of emissions. One of our demonstrations will show that using mobile private networks (MPN) can improve our railway services – the most sustainable mode of transport – by identifying potential failures and maintenance needs in advance, which, as a result, can help reduce greenhouse gases.

We will also display our mobile network base stations that are self-powered by renewables. Reducing our energy consumption, these sites do not need to connect to the electricity grid, overcoming the engineering challenges of building sites in rural locations.

Sustainability center stage
The stand itself is built from sustainable and recyclable materials, including untreated pine that can be reused in the future.

ISO 20121 certified, it features a six-meter vertical garden, the plants of which will be donated at a later date, and a sculpture made from recycled telephones which will be donated to the Red Cross at the end of the show. Fully committed to sustainability, we are working hard to minimize our impact on the planet but are helping our customers prioritize and achieve greater sustainability too.

We hope to build a society focused on socio-economic progress that welcomes people but not at a cost to the planet.

source: Vodafone