Sustainability

Software: An industry at a turning point

Software does incredible things

It makes society more efficient, provides more people with opportunities and helps us collaborate across the world.

…but it’s not perfect

Software also contributes to climate change by consuming energy and materials.

It can have negative social impacts in the supply chain and for the people using it.

Demand is increasing, so emissions are too. Unless we do something about it …

How can we limit the bad and maximise the good?

Software and environment

Reducing emissions from the design and development of software.

It’s about location, location, location.

Data centres are where we house the world’s applications and data. It’s estimated they could consume as much as 20% of global electricity by 2030. It matters where they’re located, who runs them, and where their energy comes from.

Demand in the palm of our hand

To deliver our products, we need to constantly run cloud processes. But it’s hard to choose the energy that powers them, as the energy mix and supply are always variable.

What if we could influence where and when we run our processes? Demand shifting is one answer.

Looking outward

While we’re doing our thing with software development, we’ve also got 1.4 million customers depending on us. How do we help them to be more sustainable?

We do it through various products and add-ons seamlessly connected to accounting and payroll.

Software and social sustainability

Prioritising people for a more equal and just world.

Bridging the tech gender gap

The world lacks the developers we need to build tomorrow’s software. Not only that, the proportion of women in technical roles is still just 25% in the IT industry (Deloitte, 2021).

What goes in usually comes out

AI does wonders to predict and automate decision making. But if that data has human biases mixed in, we can’t expect decisions to be better – or more just.

Access for all

Accessible software ensures that everyone has the same opportunity, regardless of ability.

To do that, we need diverse people who represent the communities they’re building software for.

Sustainability

Raising ambition

Through our products. By our people.