Streamlining business process, improving efficiencies & gaining better Return of Investment is the motivation behind embracing digital transformation for most of the enterprises, today. However, digital transformations by organizations can lead to creating value in more than one way. Hyper automation, intelligent automation or RPA can facilitate both accurate as well as streamlined ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) reporting. Furthermore, the disruption that is caused owing to the pandemic has made global investors looking for business models which are sustainable as well as has the capability to withstand potential market shocks, which further highlighted the requirement for proper Environmental, Social and Governance standards in order to enable enterprises to render their sustainability-related reports for their stakeholders, appropriately.

SG Analytics enables enterprises to focus on strengthening their sustainable performance. As one of the leading ESG consulting firms, it helps client organizations to achieve this by rendering its end-to-end support to clients spread across various parts of the world. SG Analytics possesses expertise in assessing sustainability performance, enhancing disclosure quality, bridging gaps, monitoring progress & driving resilience in order to ensure business continuity.

Obtaining accurate reports

There are numerous aspects to be tracked in Environmental, Social and Governance reporting and these include carbon emissions, supply chain activities & many other variables. To obtain accurate reports, it needs sourcing, as well as analyzing massive data & such activities could be error-prone. However, fortunately automation makes it easier. A survey that was conducted by Enterprise Strategy Group, in May 2020, showed that by successfully implementing RPA initiatives more significantly mature enterprises drove digital transformation across processes. Furthermore, these enterprises are not just only automating tasks by leveraging numerous bots, but by leveraging the power of intelligent automation they have progressed to the next level of digital transformation. Therefore, it means they are leveraging ML & AI integrated Robotic Process Automation solutions.

Enterprises can gain better & more accurate insights by leveraging intelligent automation. As it can be cumbersome for measuring ESG performance & value by using a traditional framework, an intelligent automation framework will help in solving this issue by providing accurate insights that can prove to be highly useful for enterprises. It also lets enterprises to identify future risks as well as opportunities which is a critical factor in ESG investments.

Better communication, learning & governance of ESG aspects

Streamlining Environmental, Social and Governance reports by implementing intelligent automation facilitates better communication, learning & governance of the aspects of ESG in an enterprise. Maximizing communication value in Environmental, Social and Governance reporting is to ensure proper, clear & streamlined engagement among the investors, stakeholders & corporations. Intelligent automation makes sure that the measured learning of future risks as well as opportunities in ESG is owing to proper communication, considering the discrete parameters or Key Performance Indicators involved. Lastly, intelligent automation lets accurate digital documentation and ensures transparency, promoting trust & agreement on ESG policies.

One such company that has implemented a robust (Environmental, Social and Governance) ESG governance framework that is intended for leveraging the knowledge & expertise of its internal as well as external stakeholders is UiPath.

Like UiPath, several organizations around the world consist of several partners who recognize the significance of prioritizing ESG goals, progress & disclosures.

Intelligent Automation use cases in ESG compliance

“Organizations must re-assess their sustainability approaches to unlock the potential of smart technologies and move from a net-zero strategy to green product and service experiences,” comments Aiman Ezzat, CEO of Capgemini.

Intelligent automation helps in decreasing reduce in a huge part of the workload of the workforce to simplify ESG compliance. Here are some of the automations use cases in ESG compliance.

ESG Reporting & auditing

Intelligent automation can enable organizations to track their performance against Environmental, Social and Governance Key Performance Indicator targets. A few of these targets are environment targets that include carbon emissions while the social ones include workplace diversity. Automation facilitates in simplifying reporting on metrics for risk management, cybersecurity etc.

The road ahead

We will be witnessing a huge number of organizations across industries that would be making ESG commitments & begin reporting on sustainability-related data transparently. Enterprises should also be intuitive in implementing intelligent automation in their business & operating models for streamlining Environmental, Social and Governance reporting. Intelligent automation will help in alleviating all the time-consuming as well as laborious tasks and facilitate maximizing the efficiency of the reporting process.