How data can help build and manage sustainable supply chains

The way that businesses manage their sustainability and supply chain risks is now highly influenced by potential threats, particularly from some of the world’s most devastating natural disasters. The ability to meet the increasingly high demand for goods and services, in recent years, hinged on companies’ efforts to innovate and incorporate risk management data into their operations.

The demand for technical solutions to global supply chain problems is where Interos—a primary sponsor of Sustainability LIVE—comes in. At the hybrid conference, Jennifer Bisceglie, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Interos, discussed the challenges that supply chains face today and how digital platforms, that leverage data, can provide the necessary tools to mitigate risk and ensure compliance to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. 

ESG is achievable with data 

Bisceglie moves into a discussion about the importance of data in providing insights for critical ESG issues while explaining that platforms must make data usable for people within the business—in a very data-centric world where more and more information is accessible. 

“You get overwhelmed with data because that’s the world we live in right now. You have to be able to make sense out of data so that you’re driving better-informed decision making, but the decision making still has to happen with people,” Bisceglie says. 

When it comes to sustainability within the supply chain, Interos’ platform supports businesses in uncertain events to react quickly to global events and action a suitable response. “We are monitoring just over 350 million business entities globally,” says Bisceglie. 

“We had a banking customer that [in the event of the solar winds] and within hours was able to evaluate—using the platform—out of their 2000 critical vendors, there were only 16 that were connected to the solar winds situation.” 

Embedding social value in supply chain practices 

Transparency is one of the most sort-after capabilities within businesses, especially when it comes to social causes and diversity within organisations. 

Bisceglie emphasises the importance of transparency and knowing exactly who comes into contact with the supply chain. Finance has also become a tool to push companies towards more sustainable practices with the rise of ESG investing, which Bisceglie believes is a critical step in incentivising organisations to take action and become responsible for all aspects of their supply chains.