Touch embraces sustainability with hydro-powered data centres

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is enjoying a rise in popularity, largely driven by a growing awareness from organisations that their actions and operations have a significant on employees, society, the communities in which they operate and, of course, on the environment. 

CSR equates to business acumen

CSR is commonly referenced back to the 1950s, but there is evidence that industrialists in the late 1800s had growing business concerns about working conditions, worker well-being, poverty, and productivity. At the time, these considerations were not just seen as a humanitarian and philanthropic exercise, but also as astute business acumen.

On a simple level, happy employees – working with an organisation that is aligned with their own social ideologies – equates to improved productivity. But, CSR offers many other business benefits, including:

• Better brand recognition
• Positive business reputation
• Increased sales and customer loyalty
• Operational costs savings
• Better financial performance
• Greater ability to attract talent and retain staff
• Organisational growth
• Easier access to capital

As a society, we are increasingly aware of inequality, human welfare, social injustice, and our impact on the environment – the latter evidenced by the significant rise of consumers only willing to purchase products and services from responsible organisations.

Sustainability and environmental credentials enhance business reputation

Put simply, consumers – who may also be employees and consumers working at your own company or at your suppliers and partners – are increasingly only willing to support, and work with, organisations that they see as responsible and aligned with their own social ideologies.

Unsurprisingly, sustainability and the environment are increasingly cited as some of the most important factors taken into consideration by customers when choosing to work with a specific brand or service.

It means that responsible (and smart) organisations are already putting in place KPIs and processes that aim to monitor and minimise (or even eliminate) their impact on the climate throughout their supply chain.

There are currently no specific regulations around the implementation of sustainability initiatives, but it seems only a matter of time before they are introduced. For example, the EU aims to be climate-neutral by 2050 – an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. It means that all parts of society and economic sectors have a role to play – from the power sector to industry, mobility, buildings, agriculture, forestry, and so on.

Touch data centres are 100% powered by hydroelectricity

It means that forward-looking organisations are taking the lead by measuring not just their own sustainability performance, but also insisting on working only with partners, suppliers and providers that have the same goals and meet the same sustainability KPIs.

At Touch, we consider ourselves forward-thinking when it comes to sustainability, perhaps due to our Scandinavian heritage and our historical attachment to the environment. For example, according to an analysis from New Statesman Media Group in 2020, Norway, Finland and Sweden were ranked as the second, third and fourth most cost-effective countries, respectively, in which to build a data centre – behind only Canada.

At Touch, this is a sustainability trend that we are proud to follow. That’s why our geo-redundant data centres – which meets all our customers IT security requirements – are 100% powered by hydroelectricity.

By ensuring that our own data centres are completely sustainable and green, operating fully on clean energy, it means that you can relax in the knowledge that we are aligned with your own sustainability goals. Together we can work towards not just meeting our business goals but also our social responsibilities. Contact us to find out more about our on-going sustainability initiatives.