What is the Carbon Footprint of the iPhone?
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CES 2024: How Sustainability Matters for Tech Industry
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It’s the start of a new year, which means CES 2024 is just around the corner – but why is this event essential for all of those involved in the tech industry?
As sustainability grows in awareness and importance in the midst of a world facing climate change – CES 2024 may be one of the most important tech events to date for companies trying to stay relevant and essential in the midst of greater efforts to go green.
In this article, we’ll explain what CES 2024 is, why it is garnered towards the tech industry, and why sustainability is important for those who are eligible to attend CES 2024.
What is CES 2024?
“ CES is known as the biggest event in the tech industry – which takes place annually, and allows new opportunities for companies in the tech industry to discover new technologies to help them in their tech and sustainability journeys. CES 2024 is beneficial for any company in the tech industry as it provides them a common place for meeting with others in the industry. ”
👉 CES 2024 is set to take place from January 9th until January 12th in Las Vegas – and over 130,000 attendees are expected to attend this year’s CES event.
“ Think of CES 2024 like this: imagine one songwriter trying to finish a song alone, but they get writer’s block and are stumped for new ideas to provide them inspiration. The next time they attend a songwriting group, the songwriter is either able to recruit the help of another songwriter – or now has fresh ideas to inspire the rest of the song. CES 2024 works exactly the same way for all companies in the tech industry – as it can present them with novel ideas or encourage them to make progress in their success in the tech industry. ”
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CES 2024 will provide the biggest companies in tech with the chance to network and potentially make new business partners – as CES strives to include a wide variety of companies involved in the tech industry at the annual conference. CES is owned and operated by the Consumer Technology Association, otherwise known as CTA for short.
CTA will organise CES 2024 to include suppliers, producers, and developers in the technology industry. Besides creating an annual event for those in the tech industry, CES also invites business leaders and entrepreneurial thinkers to speak at the annual event to inspire those in the tech industry in the midst of relevant, global issues – such as climate change and sustainability.
Some examples of companies in the tech industry that are eligible to attend CES 2024 include companies working in:
- Blockchain Technology
- 3D Printing
- Home Entertainment
- Sports Technology
- Smart Houses
👉 Specific examples of featured companies set to attend CES 2024 include Amazon, Samsung, Google, Hyundai, Sony, and Panasonic.
Quick Recap: What is the Tech Industry?
The tech industry refers to the wide-variety of companies which develop, create, or sell any kind of electronic devices – such as computers, appliances, video games, or software.
Think of the last time you went to see a movie at the cinema – have you ever thought twice about how much work goes into creating a production like that? It requires lighting, sound check, several camera angles, and then even more is completed in the editing process –where music, sound effects, and visual aids are added to amplify the viewers' watching experience.
All of the steps mentioned all require the same thing to create an end product: technology.
“ Technology can often go hand in hand with the word, “innovation” – which means to create something. Technology has been used for hundreds of years since the discovery of electricity, and now – has become more common with the use of the internet for humans to find information and function on the daily. ”
👉 A fridge that tells you the temperature of its filtered water, a 3D video game with effects that are all too surreal, or an app that helps you figure out which song is playing in the coffee shop – are all thanks to technology.
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Since technology is used so widely in today’s society, the tech industry has become an appealing field to study in college and to help graduates find a well-paying job that can also open them to several different career paths. For instance, someone who designs graphics can hop from the world of video games to the world of film with ease.
“ As the technology sector continues to grow with the world’s technological advances, jobs will continue to be plentiful in this sector – making it a common choice for college students to major in something applicable to the tech industry. ”
However, one of the many challenges that companies in the tech industry face is how to adjust their business models to become more environmentally friendly and reduce electricity consumption. This can prove challenging, as the technology developed in these companies often requires extensive amounts of power to execute the trial and error processes necessary to acquire the end product to be put on the market.
While this process is important for the final product, the tech industry is known to be energy intensive and to leave a large carbon footprint behind – raising the question of how these companies can alter their activities in technological advancements while still maintaining the state of the environment and preventing further pollution.
👉 This is why CES 2024 can prove beneficial, as CES 2024 can step in and help to provide companies in the tech industry with new ideas on how to implement sustainability into their business models.
What is sustainability?
Sustainability is the effort made to achieve the same end goal without the use of finite resources or putting the planet in more environmental danger. Sustainability is often best understood when discussing the three pillars of sustainability – which include economic sustainability, social sustainability, and environmental sustainability.
“ The difference between fighting against climate change and implementing sustainable measures can often be used interchangeably, and while both are ultimately good for the planet – sustainability is its own separate concept. ”
👉 Any business, including those in the tech industry set to attend CES 2024, should seek to make progress in all three pillars of sustainability in order to achieve maximum success in their business. All three pillars of sustainability are important for any business looking to achieve long-term success.
Why does sustainability matter for the tech industry and CES 2023?
“ Sustainability is essential for the tech industry and CES 2024 seeing as the tech industry is responsible for a minimum of 5% of the globe’s overall emissions – meaning the tech industry could make a huge difference in climate change if they seek alternative ways to conduct their business. ”
“ While the tech industry isn’t the highest emitting industry, it still accounts for almost a tenth of the world’s excessive emissions – therefore, demonstrating the importance of the tech industry and CES 2024 combining forces to facilitate a collective effort to fight against climate change. ”
For instance, the transportation industry accounts for over a quarter of emissions emissions in the U.S. – holding responsible for 28% of greenhouse gas emissions produced in 2021. If a sector like the transportation industry were to reduce their annual emissions by even something as small as five percent – it would help the nation as a whole to reduce their carbon footprint.
👉 The same goes for the tech industry, and it remains even more imperative as their impact is on a more colossal, global scale.
Think of it this way: it takes an enormous amount of technology to manufacture and continue powering the operations of many new vehicles. Those fancy new cars that have completely eschewed the need for a key have made use of technology. The bluetooth connection that allows phones and maps to be synced with car systems makes use of technology. The beeping sound your two front mirrors make if you’re about to hit someone uses technology.
It’s true that the tech industry isn’t doing as much damage as industries like oil, gas, or electricity. However, the biggest reason why tech should recognise their importance in implementing sustainability is because of their impact across all other industries.
“ If the tech industry finds new ways to reduce their own carbon footprint and implement sustainability, it would directly help other industries to reduce their emissions as well – ultimately paving the way for a more sustainable world and more eco-friendly businesses. ”
Several operations integrated into many items we use in our daily lives, such as cars or phones, make use of technology. In fact, even after the CTA shared their upcoming estimations for prediction for consumer sales in technology in the U.S. – they continued to raise their predictions in order to surpass previous U.S. consumer spending records on technology.
Even more so, more and more Americans are favouring remote work following the pandemic – spiking another uptick in the use of technology on a frequent basis. Therefore, seeing as so many items make use of products, business models, and services provided by companies in the tech industry – it is fair to say that the tech industry has the potential to help other industries reduce their emissions and create a ripple effect of environmental change and newfound awareness towards the importance of sustainability.
👉 CES 2024 has the opportunity to help companies in the tech industry get a jump start on the inspiration they need to incorporate new sustainability tactics into their business models.
Have previous CES events been successful in encouraging the importance of sustainability?
Although CES consistently takes place every year in January, whether previous CES events have been successful or resulted in any key progress for tech companies that have attended in the past is often subjective.
“ However, it should be noted that CES is one of the largest tech events of the year, besides IFA – which is held every fall in Berlin and draws in around 100,000 more annual visitors than CES does. However, the difference between an event like CES 2024 and IFA is that IFA allows all visitors in attendance while CES only allows professionals in the tech industry to attend CES for the duration of the event. ”
CES 2024, or the Consumer Electronics Shows of 2024 – is expected to draw in over 130,000 people, meaning its potential to impact a large audience is viable. However, many argue that events like CES 2024 are nothing more than a grown up version of “show-and-tell” where new companies can reveal their latest products to guests – many of which will attend CES for the sole purpose of discovering the latest technology about to be released.
Nevertheless, CES deserves credit for its strategic timing and operations – seeing as winter allows potential business partners to purchase products in bulk at a reduced price following the price surges in the fall and winter during the holiday season. This could be viewed as one of the biggest pros for tech professionals to attend CES 2024, as deals like this may only be presented whilst attending a CES event.
Another benefit of CES events is that allows distributors to receive live feedback from others in the tech industry on the product before it hits the market. In turn, just as this feedback is helpful for the company seeking outside expertise – it is also beneficial for the tech professionals who attend a CES event, so that they can determine which ideas they would like to use for their own upcoming products and services.
👉 Many products shown at CES events will pertain to other avenues dedicated towards sustainability, such as health and sports technology like smart workout machines or fitness bands.
Ultimately, it’s difficult to measure the success of an event like CES 2023. However, while it’s difficult to determine if CES 2024 will help influence tech companies to be more sustainable, there’s one thing for sure – events like CES 2024 can’t hurt.
What about Greenly?
If reading this article about CES 2024 and why sustainability matters for the tech industry has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
If you’re trying to determine if an event like CES 2024 is worthwhile for your company to attend, but can’t decide! Greenly can help you to point in the right direction with all things related to sustainability and climate change – and help your company make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.
Click here to learn more about Greenly and how we can help you reduce your carbon footprint.
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