Technology itself has no purpose, but its impact is driven by human choices and actions.
Alex Wang, VP of Global Procurement & Supply Chain of Orange Group – where he has worked for more than three decades – and a double PhD graduate in philosophy and engineering from the University of Paris, firmly believes in that idea. “Technology is neutral,” he said. “Turning technology into products and services that make companies profitable or allow people to lead more efficient, comfortable lives does not necessarily signify social progress. We have to think about the ‘greater self’ and look more broadly at global challenges. How can technological applications address global challenges like climate change, COVID, or wealth disparity?”
Since its launch in 2017 under Dr. Wang, CSRtech (Tech for Corporate Social Responsibility) has helped companies address the challenges of sustainable development through more innovative technologies. It has also turned increased attention from the ICT industry and more companies to tech for good.
Each year, CSRtech collaborates with innovative companies, as well as upstream and downstream industry partners, in search of innovative solutions that respond to sustainable development. At the 4th CSRtech Innovation Summit in 2021, co-organizers Orange, Saint-Gobain, OPPO, and Deutsche Telekom, along with co-host Impact Hub Shanghai, connected and supported exchanges between start-ups and large companies, investment institutions and so on, all while jointly promoting the concept and best practices of CSR.
In sharing their reasons for joining CSRtech, Denis Michel, Secretary General of Saint-Gobain APAC, said that collaboration between large companies and innovative start-ups was essential for addressing various social and environmental challenges. Melanie Kubin-Hardewig, VP Group Sustainability Management at Deutsche Telekom, likewise expressed that working with innovative start-ups was indispensable for executing their company’s green ideas. Scott Zhang, VP of Overseas Sales at OPPO, shard OPPO’s mission “Technology for Mankind, and Kindness for the World” and emphasized the importance and willingness of working with more cross-industry partners to create greater sustainable value for people and society.
During the summit, 13 outstanding start-ups presented their innovations, centered on the larger themes of "Protect Our Planet", "Drive Sustainable Business" and "Value Everyone’s Wellbeing".
Innovative company Passive Edge Tech spoke about their focus on architectural sustainability. They set out to explore how thermal energy storage and AI HVAC technology could be used to make buildings more energy-efficient while reducing carbon emissions. In a real-world scenario, Passive Edge Tech uses the area of the client’s home to determine the installation area of the phase change material (PCM) and then install a “thermal battery” comprised of PCM for energy storage. Solar power is stored during the day and released at night when the temperature drops, thus keeping indoor temperatures within the comfort zone. The energy from the air conditioner can also be “recovered” by the thermal battery to achieve energy recovery. Passive Edge’s solution can save energy by 38% for heating in the winter and 35% for cooling in the summer, which massively reduces a building’s energy consumption and carbon emissions.
Another company, SATOR TECH, acts as “the key link between energy and mobility.” They offer the world’s first AI-distributed modular energy storage and charging solution, based on technologies like self-developed AI and autonomous driving. That, combined with advanced energy storage technology, provides a one-stop solution for energy, real estate, automotive, and other leading companies. SATOR pioneered a mobile power supply and fully automated robots that broke away from fixed charging ports for vehicles. It can accurately reach the vehicles of clients with charging reservations while providing both fully and semi-automatic charging. For fixed ports, an estimated 3 hours per every 100 hours is spent on charging vehicles. In comparison, SATOR’s mobile charging solution can charge for about 20 to 30 hours per every 100 hours, greatly improving the efficiency of new energy charging.
Accessibility was another major focus of the summit. A disease caused Shi Chengchuan, founder of Voibook, to become deaf at 11, so he understands the difficulties faced by people with hearing loss. Through the power of technology, Voibook hopes to empower them to communicate efficiently. They provide real-time translation, speech training, AI-assisted hearing, community engagement, and other services for those with hearing loss, as well as helping them train their language expression. They have already served more than 60 special education schools and vastly improved the instructional efficiency in those classroom environments, to widespread acclaim.
“Technological developments change day by day. People with hearing loss can already obtain textual information through voice technology, which replaces the function of the ear to a certain extent,” Shi said. “I believe that technology is fully capable of achieving more breakthroughs for people with disabilities.”
Given technology has no purpose in itself, how can we use the ever-changing power of technology to help humankind address and solve issues of sustainable development? CSRtech brought forth some answers.
Company：Saint-Gobain
Contact Person: Jieqi Zhang, Jing Zhou
Email:
Jieqi.Zhang@saint-gobain.com
jing.zhou2@saint-gobain.com
Website: https://www.saint-gobain.com/
City：Shanghai