It’s been pegged as one of the top trends shaping Australia’s mining future for years but, in 2022, we’re seeing environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and tracking really changing the way businesses are run.
ESG has become a priority issue. Those that are slow to adapt are being left behind.
In fact, Deloitte’s 14th annual edition of Tracking the Trends report references ESG in more than half of its top 10 trends shaping the Australian industry and business direction in 2022.
Top trends recorded in Deloitte’s report include:
- Aligning capital allocation to ESG
- Demonstrating corporate value beyond tax to governments, including by capturing ESG efforts
- Embedding ESG into operations by addressing ESG-related opportunities, challenges, and risks and creating operating models to support ESG commitments
- Achieving better social responsibility by establishing a new paradigm with indigenous communities
- Preparing operations for changing climate
- Unlocking value through integrated operations, including better use of digital transformation to drive effective decision-making and reporting on ESG measures.
Digital Transformation
The latter trend – digital transformation – is a priority being backed by Government. In its 2022/23 Budget, the Australian Government announced a suite of measures to encourage the expansion of the digital economy.
Incentives of up to $100,000 are being offered to small-to-medium businesses as part of a Technology Investment Boost to encourage e-commerce arrangements, digital upskilling, data management and software uptake.
This reinforces Deloitte’s commentary about the value of digital solutions to successful, sustainable business operations.
For those businesses that are ready to enhance their ESG performance, digital solutions can be used to not only track regulatory compliance but deliver holistic reporting.
As on-the-ground teams collect and collate environmental information, people statistics and community and governance data, software systems provide invaluable insights that can guide capital allocations, risk management and reporting to government, investors and more.
What to look for in ESG software
Advanced technology tools, like software from INX, will be fully integrated and automate all business compliance tasks.
The system will bring together disparate ESG metrics, including occupational health and safety, risk, compliance, environmental monitoring, people, stakeholders and contractor management. Software will compile and analyse that data to provide powerful insights.
The very best software solutions will replace standalone systems with a centralised platform that operates across the enterprise with speed and simplicity.
INX Software, for example, brings together a range of ESG elements, including:
- Training and safety tracking through INX InTuition and INX Assessor
- Site access data, workforce management through Sitepass by INX
- Health and safety information through INX InControl and INX InHealth
- Environmental performance, including environmental monitoring data, through INX InViron
- Tools to manage stakeholders, issues and risks, compliance and reporting through INX InForm
Companies that are prepared to adapt and innovate in this space will not only make themselves leaders in their respective industries but be better positioned to leave a positive social impact in their wake.
If you’d like to be an industry leader in ESG performance and tracking, contact INX Software today.
