Big data and IoT are back in the news, as real-time cargo tracking and monitoring service Arviem scores a Green Supply Chain 2017 Award for advancing supply chain transparency and UNEP calls for greater collaboration between Africa’s public and private sector to develop solutions for pressing social and environmental problems.
Real-time cargo tracking and monitoring service Arviem has been selected as a recipient of the Green Supply Chain 2017 Award. The company’s IoT-enabled, real-time carbon footprint monitoring technology provides in-transit visibility which enables exporters, importers, distributors and manufacturers to understand the impact of their supply chain activities at any given moment.
Arviem’s carbon emissions reporting is calculated based on effective transport data instead of less accurate planning data. It offers granularity down to each individual shipment. Additionally, Arviem’s pay-as-you-use monitoring service enables companies to monitor the carbon footprint of their logistics supply chain from day one, without the burden of introducing new processes or investing into equipment software.
“Receiving this award is an important milestone for us towards our vision of making the entire supply chain ecosystem more visible by uncovering blind spots. Our real-time carbon footprint monitoring service for logistics is a powerful addition to other components of our IoT-enabled services, such as real-time cargo condition and location monitoring, shipment performance reports or working capital management solutions,” said Stefan Reidy, CEO of Arviem.
The Green Supply Chain Award recognizes companies making sustainability a core part of their supply chain strategy and are working to achieve measurable sustainability goals within their own operations and supply chains. The awards also recognize providers of supply chain solutions and services assisting their customers in achieving these ends.
Meanwhile, a recent meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly at the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi revealed that opportunities to innovate and solve pressing sustainability issues are being missed due to a lack of collaboration between universities, NGOs, private sector and government agencies, particularly in regards to Big Data, IoT and high-powered computing (HPC).
“African universities have not been very good at engaging the private sector and non-governmental agencies like UNEP,” said Professor Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, Vice Chancellor of United States International University-Africa (USIU). “However, there is a lot of shared data that can help us solve our pressing problems.”
According to Zeleza, many universities, government agencies and NGOs are undertaking similar projects and research, but the lack of communication between the bodies means resources are going to waste and the work being done is significantly less effective. Working together would not only increase efficiency, but it could also prompt the growth of HPCs and IoT across the continent and drive issue-based data collection to address challenges such as air pollution, food security, sanitation and more.
USIU has begun providing spaces for researchers, students and innovators to collaborate on sustainability projects, but integration with governmental agencies is essential to achieve greater impact. UNEP has called for greater public-private cooperation in problem-solving in lieu working in silos.
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Published Dec 5, 2017 7pm EST / 4pm PST / 12am GMT / 1am CET