The world produced a staggering 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, marking an 82% increase since 2010.This figure is projected to grow by another 32% to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030. (Source: UNITAR). The numbers are staggering. While efforts are on to prevent and manage e-waste, we must embrace more sustainable ways to address the e-waste problem, which is reportedly the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world. 

This World Environment Day, we feature a homegrown Indian company that’s pioneering environment-friendly, sustainable practices in the telecom technology  – a field with a high e-waste footprint. In fact, this company’s commitment to eco-friendly practices sets them apart in the industry. 

The greener the better

Chennai-based Telekonnectors, a leading brand that offers communication headsets, analog phones, copper cable testers, and Air-Traffic Control solutions, has a few decades-old story in ‘green telecom’ and sustainable product lifecycle. 

Karthik Krishna Murthy, Managing Director & CEO of Telekonnectors says, “Employee turnover and hence disposal of personal use telecom products amongst our customers is as high at 45% every year. One can imagine the amount of e-waste that gets generated. If we are to treat our plant with respect, we ought to manage and recycle the amount of waste that gets generated.”

The company’s TLK Buyback program is just one of the many ways in which the company works toward this goal. The program ensures recycling and safe disposal of plastics, cables, and other e-waste, in addition to encouraging clients by incentivizing them. “Our buyback program ensures that we collect all headsets including those of other brands to dispose of them safely,” Karthik highlights. 

And there’s more! The company’s ‘green’ philosophy reflects across the entire product lifecycle. “All companies including our customers have a responsibility to sign up to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have taken this responsibility seriously. Right from product engineering, design, design for manufacturing and customer servicing, we are enforcing a culture of environmental friendliness. So we are pushing through a behavioral change within our employees and an appreciation of the same with our customers,” elaborates Karthik. 

End-to-end sustainability

Hence, the aspect of sustainability is not an after-thought for Telekonnectors, but something the company consciously incorporates right at the design stage of the products. Karthik maintains that they focus on picking more sustainable materials for production and packaging to ensure minimal environmental impact, both during its lifespan and after its usability has ended. 

Similarly, its manufacturing processes are centered around efficiency and waste reduction while the distribution mechanisms are optimized for minimal environmental impact. 

Karthik believes that a product’s sustainability journey does not end there. Factors like high durability and energy efficiency are equally critical. “Typically headsets need to be replaced within 12 months, but we promise our customers a product life of anything between 24-36 months,” he adds. 

Their dedication to sustainability extends beyond environmental practices. Telekonnectors is one of the few companies to champion gender inclusivity across all levels, including its factory floors. “More than 40% of our Manufacturing, R&D and Quality teams are staffed by women. Our production floor has nearly more than 1 woman for 2 employees. We find women being more sincere, committed, delivering less manufacturing faults, and abstaining less from work,” sums up Karthik. 

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Change is the only constant. But what if the pace of change is unusual and unprecedented? Are C-level executives prepared to deal with the speed and scale of business change? The Accenture Pulse of Change Index, published recently, reveals a number of interesting factors on this point. Per the Index, the rate of change affecting businesses has risen steadily since 2019, by 183% over the past four years and by 33% in the past year alone. Almost 80 percent of C-suite executives expect this change to accelerate even more in 2024. 

Pulse of Change Index is built on a range of business indicators such as labor productivity and IT spending, quantifies the change companies are facing, across six factors – Technology, Talent, Economic, Geopolitical, Climate and Consumer & Social. It then compares this data to a survey of 3,400 C-suite executives on how they view the impact of each factor on their organizations, as well as their preparedness to respond.

While 60 percent of the respondents in the survey believe that ‘change’ is a great opportunity for them, over half of them don’t feel fully prepared to respond to the change they will face in the 2024 business environment. 

Technology the biggest driver of change

Among the six factors, the Index indicator analysis reveals that Technology change increased the most, catapulted by advances in generative AI. It was the top cause of change in 2023, up from No. 6 in 2022. While this factor was validated in the survey, a significant portion (61%) expect the pace of technology disruption to accelerate even further in 2024. An impressive 76% of C-level leaders see generative AI as more of an opportunity than a threat, and more beneficial to revenue growth than costs reduction. 

Despite the realization, almost half (47%) of C-suite executives don’t feel prepared for the accelerating rate of technological change. Further, only 27% claim their organizations are ready to scale up generative AI, and 44% say it will take more than six months to do so and take advantage of the potential benefits. 

One of the key reasons for this lack of preparedness, according to the survey, is the recent backlashes on generative AI – especially with regard to the responsible use of the technology. 72% of C-suite leaders in the survey highlighted that they are approaching AI investments with caution because of societal concerns about the responsible use of the technology. 

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CES 2024, one of the most powerful tech events in the world, came to a close after setting the technology narrative for the year ahead. With 4300+ exhibitors, including a record 1400+ startups from around the globe in Eureka Park, CES showcased the innovative trends shaping tomorrow and solving the world’s most pressing challenges.

“The resurgence of CES proves that face-to-face conversations and meetings are a necessity for the technology industry,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, Consumer Technology Association (CTA). “For more than 20 years, I’ve said that every company must become a tech company, and the diversity of exhibitors at CES 2024 proves it. The CES footprint and conference programming span the entire tech ecosystem.”

“CES 2024 brought the ALL ON experience for media, executives and industry thought leaders. Across the show and on CES conference stages, thousands of global brands announced new visions, products, investments and partnerships,” said Kinsey Fabrizio, CTA Sr. VP, CES and membership. “Technology is solving global challenges, and we’re excited to see so many collaborations and partnerships start here in Las Vegas, and produce a show where attendees come to meet, dream and solve.”

CES 2024 Highlights

• Artificial Intelligence – AI led the global conversation at CES 2024. Companies highlighted the enormous potential of AI to improve our world with cutting-edge applications that will transform how we communicate, do business and take care of one another.
  
• Human Security for All – CES established access to technology as the eighth pillar of the Human Security for All (HS4A) global campaign, which focuses on the critical role technology plays to improve every aspect of the human experience.
  
  Tech is a catalyst for tomorrow, powering solutions to pressing global challenges. This week at CES, Force for Good released a new report at the CES Research Summit on tech’s influence on human securities. Aligned with CTA’s CES 2024 Tech Trends to Watch, the report proved that universal connectivity and leveraging AI across human securities will improve our world.

• 
  Keynotes – For the first time, beauty brand L’Oréal Groupe took center stage for a CES keynote. Joined by partners and actress Eva Longoria, L’Oréal shared a vision of inclusive beauty tech improving lives across the world and highlighted new products and acquisitions.
  
  CEOs from Best Buy, Elevance Health, HD Hyundai, Intel, Nasdaq, Qualcomm, Siemens, Snap and Walmart also took to the keynote stage to present new collaborations across industries, highlight partnerships with enterprise tech leaders and announce new products.
  
  
• Mobility – 600+ mobility exhibitors, including players like BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Magna, Mercedes, Paccar, Recaro, Sony, Supernal, Togg and Vinfast, displayed the ecosystem of mobility, with global unveils highlighting the future of autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, micro-mobility, software-defined vehicles and flying cars, plus the future of assistive mobility and safety systems.
  
  
• Sustainability – Exhibitors like 3M, Caterpillar, Doosan, Goodyear, Jackery, John Deere, HD Hyundai, Kubota, Midbar, Nasdaq, Panasonic, Siemens and SK Group showcased their commitment to sustainable solutions through technologies, products, and services to reduce emissions and waste by streamlining electrification, developing renewable energy sources, and experimenting with new technologies such as battery recycling.
  
  
• Digital Health – Tools and technologies aimed at lowering costs, improving health equity and saving lives were highlighted. Innovations included digital therapeutics, mental wellness, sleep tech, women’s health tech and telemedicine. At the CES Digital Health Summit, Mark Cuban and his Cost Plus Drug Company broke news about a new partnership, while capacity crowds joined the Digital Health mixer and programming with officials from the FDA and across the health policy space.
  
  
  Exhibitors & Sponsors included: Abbott, American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, Dassault Systèmes, Humetrix, Moderna, NuraLogix, Philips, ResMed, Withings, Xenco Medical.
  
• Accessibility & Innovation for All – CES 2024 fostered a platform centered on universal design for the diverse tech industry to come together and converse on the next wave of innovation. CES featured sessions on diversity in the tech industry, a wave of new technologies that will improve lives and advances in accessible gaming. CTA also announced a new investment partnership in TFX Capital, which supports veteran entrepreneurs in tech. Attendees saw, heard and touched advancements in the health space, ensuring technology bridges the gaps in care through improved eye testing cameras or using AI-driven speech technology to simulate a natural voice for those with disordered speech. Nuance Audio Hearing Glasses by EssilorLuxottica transformed what glasses can do.

• C Space: Entertainment and Content – CMOs, CCOs and CXOs converged across CES for conversations and exhibits, including at C Space, which spanned ARIA, Vdara and Cosmopolitan. Attendees from the marketing, entertainment and media industries explored the tech trends impacting content consumption, AI, programmatic and connected TV, advertising and consumer behavior—including catering to Gen Z.
• Innovation Policy Summit – At a moment of global uncertainty and rapid technology advancement, government leaders shared an optimistic view of regulation to empower tech innovation, including in AI. 160+ international, federal, state and local government officials and staff participated in the Leaders in Technology Program and IPS, which convened top innovators and policymakers to discuss the future of pressing tech policy issues, including privacy, health innovation, trade policy, competition, artificial intelligence and self-driving vehicles.

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Much before business became technology and vice versa, the CIO was just the custodian of technology. IT departments were the slow-moving bureaucratic lot. But CIOs and their teams have travelled quite far from that point. Today, CIOs are acting as key business strategists, helping businesses transform and grow. 

Meet a CIO, who also successfully led several business roles, including that of a CEO of a multinational firm’s India business –  Muralidharan Ramachandran.

This former CEO of Atos India offers a handful of lessons on what it takes to be the “CEO of your own career” (to borrow his own words).

In this exclusive interaction with CIO Dimension, Murali explores some key aspects that today’s CIOs must consider, including the changing talent scenario, new opportunities around digital transformation and also on working with startups. 

Watch the full video here: 

Before becoming the CEO of Atos India, Murali worked as the CIO of Syntel (later acquired by Atos) for over 8 years. He also moved onto other responsibilities as vice president later during his stint at Syntel, in the areas of quality assurance and cybersecurity. Before moving out of Atos in 2022, Murali became the vice president of Growing markets for the company’s key services. 

In his two-decade long leadership journey of great diversity, Murali has acquired the rare skill of striking the balance between technology and business.

He believes that the biggest challenge for a CIO going forward will be to ‘filter out the noise’ amidst the overwhelming technology options. “Today you have the option to choose any technology that you want. But the tricky part for CIOs will be how they can take the whole organization along in the journey and manage change. CIO will need to be a big ‘change-manager’ rather than being a hard-core technologist” he says. 

In this conversation, Murali also takes us through the evolving talent landscape where the industry transitioned from the traditional SDLC models to agile methodologies and how it drove a big change for tech leaders. He explains why the current mass layoffs in the tech sector are a result of imprudence and why companies need more sustainable models for talent acquisition and management. 

He believes that a CIO’s digital investments will be strictly evaluated based on the four fundamental business criteria – revenue growth, cost optimization, customer experience and regulatory challenges. “The CIO has to choose her battles wisely,” he sums up. 

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Research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group has published its newest industry blueprint, Build an IT Risk Taxonomy. This data-backed resource aims to help organizations to become more flexible and agile to adapt to changing business conditions, according to the company. 

“Managing emerging risks such as climate risk, the impact of digital disruption on internal technology, and the greater use of third parties will require IT leaders to be more disciplined in how they manage and communicate material risks to the enterprise,” says Donna Bales, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group.

“Establishing a hierarchical common language of IT risks through a taxonomy will facilitate true aggregation and integration of risks, enabling more effective decision making.”

Info-Tech’s blueprint highlights the challenges IT departments face in managing and addressing risks. These challenges include business leaders who are seeking to make informed decisions and expect timely and consistent risk reporting from IT. The constantly evolving threat landscape also adds complexity, requiring IT risk managers to balance the emerging threats while not losing sight of the current risks.

The firm’s research explains that developing a relevant and detailed IT risk taxonomy over time can be particularly challenging and that gaining acceptance and promoting accountability within the organization may pose further obstacles. However, involving business leaders and risk owners in the development of the IT risk taxonomy can enhance organizational acceptance and understanding.

In the new resource, Info-Tech advises that risk management must also mature as technology and digitization continue to advance. To strengthen operational and financial resiliency, organizations must move away from a siloed approach to IT risk management toward an integrated approach.

Without a common IT risk taxonomy, effective risk assessment and aggregation at the enterprise level is not possible. The firm’s blueprint outlines an IT risk taxonomy approach that can provide a common language to enable more efficient risk aggregation and interoperability between IT and the enterprise. The recommended approach includes the following three phases:

1. Understand Risk Management Fundamentals: IT departments must take a collaborative approach when developing an IT risk taxonomy to enable greater acceptance and understanding of accountability.
   
2. Set the Organization Up for Success: Risk managers must invest sufficient time in conducting a comprehensive analysis of the existing and future threat landscape when defining level 1 IT risks and consider the causal impact and complex linkages and intersections.
   
   
3. Structure an IT Risk Taxonomy: IT risk managers must recognize the dynamic nature of the threat landscape and acknowledge that an IT risk taxonomy is a living document that requires regular review and enhancement to ensure its ongoing relevance and effectiveness.

“This holistic, disciplined approach to risk management helps to promote a more sustainable risk culture across the organization while adding greater rigor at the IT control level,” explains Bales.

As the risk landscape continually evolves, there is greater pressure on the risk function to work collaboratively throughout the organization to strengthen operational resilience and minimize strategic, financial, and reputational impact. A successful risk taxonomy is forward-looking and codifies the most frequently used risk language across an organization.

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An overwhelming majority (97%) of knowledge workers in India expect action from businesses on issues related to the environment, health & wellbeing, the economy, technology, human rights and equality, and 82% believe businesses should be just as concerned with their social impact as they are with their financial performance. These are the findings of a research, commissioned by Atlassian Corporation and undertaken by PwC Australia with support from PwC India. 

Crucially, there are high risks if an employer’s actions don’t align with the values held by their employees, according to the Return on Action research.

Half (50%) of knowledge workers would go so far as quit their job or start looking for employment elsewhere as a result of value misalignment – this increases to 51% amongst Millennials, the core workforce, and 53% of women knowledge workers who are also more likely to admit feeling pressure from their employer to support causes they don’t believe in. 

The survey was conducted among 2,406 knowledge workers across a range of states, industries, and demographics in India. 

It also highlights that there is a danger of a negative impact on workplace culture, performance, and organizational reputation if employer and employees’ values do not align. Nearly half (49%) would discuss discontent with their colleagues and over one-third (34%) with people outside of their organisation, while 43% would be “disengaged” at work. Discontent manifests differently across genders, with men more likely to discuss their grievances with colleagues, while women are more likely to consider an alternative job role with lower pay and fewer benefits, despite the current challenging economic environment. 

Consultation is key (and reaps rewards) 

Jessica Hyman, Head of Sustainability, Atlassian said, “Our inaugural Return on Action research in India sends a clear message to businesses that speaking up and acting on social and environmental issue is non-negotiable. It’s no longer a decision on whether to act, it’s a matter of how.” 

“But before making that leap, the research highlights the crucial need for businesses to consult with their employees from the outset, with over three-quarters (83%) of knowledge workers wanting to have a say in the societal issues their employer acts on. From here, businesses must determine its approach in a way that aligns with both employee values and its business strategy.” 

The business case for considered action is clear with the research revealing a strong correlation between satisfaction with the actions of an employer and overall job satisfaction, which is crucial for employee retention and attracting talent in an increasingly competitive market. 

Issues where employees demand action 

As India leads the G20 Summit Presidency for 2023, there is a huge focus on digital transformation, sustainability and equitable growth for all, and these themes are mirrored in the Return on Action findings. 

A large proportion of Indian knowledge workers consider businesses to be primarily responsible for addressing issues relating to technology, the economy and the environment, and hold high expectations for businesses to do even more. 

Technology: Companies looking to compete in technologies like AI, Machine Learning and cloud have a big opportunity to prove they are adopting these technologies responsibly.Almost one-third (31%) of respondents agree that businesses have the primary responsibility for addressing issues related to technology pertaining to digital privacy, responsible use of technology and data and digital infrastructure, even more so than the government (18%). When asked the top issues businesses should act on, technology issues topped the list across all age demographics – specifically, digital privacy for Gen Z (86%) and Millennials (84%), responsible use of data for Gen X (88%) and digital infrastructure for Baby Boomers (91%). 

The environment: According to the 2022 World Air Quality Report, India was eighth globally in its rankings of PM2.5 concentration, i.e. harmful air pollutants, and 12 of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia are in India. Atlassian’s study found environmental pollution placed at the highest relative importance by respondents. 89% agree businesses need to do more in addressing waste and pollution, and 87% agree they should take full responsibility for their environmental impact e.g. renewable energy and zero waste. 

The economy: Over half (56%) of knowledge workers believe issues related to the economy, such as unemployment, corruption and poverty, are more important now compared to the past 12 months, and 43% believe businesses need to do more to address these issues. In the current economic environment, unemployment ranked fourth in relative importance of social issues overall. 

Empowering employees 

“There are many ways a business can demonstrate to employees its commitment to an issue, from setting public facing goals, reporting out progress against them, investing in external partnerships and advocating for critical policy,”Jessica Hyman added. “But above all, knowledge workers expressed a desire to be empowered to take action themselves, such as through education programs or opportunities for fundraising or volunteering. This is a powerful way for businesses to work alongside their employees creating the time, space and support for them to lead the change they want to see, rather than dictating the path ahead.”

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