Software Monitors ICT Supply Chain Sustainability

The Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) has partnered with EcoVadis to launch an online platform to monitor sustainability practices in the information and communications technologies (ICT) sector supply chains.

The Electronic Tool for Accountable Supply Chains (E-TASC) supply chain monitoring software from EcoVadis will allow the ICT industry to access data and scorecards, covering 21 environmental and social criteria. The data is adapted to the specific regulations and CSR issues covering more than 150 purchasing categories and suppliers in more than a 95 countries, GeSI says.

The software release comes with this week’s expected final version of the European Commission’s Guidance for the Information and Communication Technologies Sector on Implementing The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The guidance is one of several of initiatives and regulations launched in Europe and North America to address environmental and other ethical issues in the supply chain, GeSI says.

E-TASC combines a cloud-based platform and data validation services to allow the ICT industry to implement a common approach in monitoring suppliers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. ICT industry suppliers will be able to use E-TASC to avoid duplication of questionnaires and audits, and share easy-to-understand scorecards and reliable ratings with their customers, EcoVadis says.

Since the ICT industry relies on a pool of common suppliers, the approach to assessing standardized sustainability practices will drive maturity of CSR practices throughout the ICT value chain, according to GeSI.

ICT companies such as Alcatel-Lucent, Atos, Belgacom, Bouygues Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, O2, SFR, Swisscom, Telefonica, and Vodafone along with their suppliers have deployed the EcoVadis platform, the partners say.

GeSI is a strategic partnership of the ICT sector and organizations focused on creating and promoting economic, environmental and social sustainability technologies. GeSI has 36 members representing leading companies and associations from the ICT sector. GeSI also partners with two UN organizations: the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).