A Call to Action for Industry Change-Makers: Building a Sustainable Future Powered by People + AI

Blog
Deepak Garg
Published: December 11, 2023
7 min read

Standing on the brink of unparalleled challenges driven by climate change, the imperative for bold and strategic action becomes starkly apparent. And in time like these the call for such action is glaringly evident. This moment is pivotal and resonates personally with me, fueling my commitment to making a difference.

I am driven by my passion to address the critical issues- Energy + Water + Climate, surrounding three of Mother Nature's most invaluable resources, and it's this deep-seated commitment that gave birth to the WE3 Movement—a global initiative I am proud to be a part of. It's more than just a movement; it's a close-knit community of change-makers and visionaries in the energy and water industry. Being at the forefront of this journey is not merely a professional endeavor for me; it's deeply personal. Having witnessed the urgency, the WE3 Movement is deeply rooted in the commitment to Engage, Empower, and Educate people, carving a path toward a cleaner and sustainable world.

Many people ask why the term WE3- because it is WE who can Engage, Educate, and Empower. The WE3 Movement, in essence, embodies a transformative shift, urging us to move beyond individual efforts and collectively engage, educate, and empower.

The drive for meaningful change rests on critical pillars: decarbonization, innovation, eMobility, net-zero, energy, water, and ESG. Comprising forward-thinkers who embrace the potential of AI to construct a sustainable future, the WE3 Movement heralds a conscious and actionable shift from 'I' to 'WE,' reimagining the landscape of Energy, Water and Climate.

Witnessing industry visionaries uniting under a shared vision is heartening. Through collaborative commitment, we unlock the potential to address sustainability challenges, offering practical solutions to the intricate web of climate, societal, policy, and technological issues. Our vision is nothing short of inspiring billions of people to join us in building a sustainable world. This movement transcends the singular to become a collective force for positive change

This is the essence of WE.

Let us take pride in our cause, ignite meaningful conversations, and, above all, catalyze tangible change.

The Consequences of Inaction

Climate change casts its long shadow across the globe with wildfires in North America and Northern Africa, droughts in Uruguay, floods in Asia, and heatwaves in Europe. Urgent and strategic responses are imperative. The path to Net Zero is challenging, but finding the solution all boils down to two critical elements: People and AI. Let's dissect these further.

 

 

The People Factor

Amidst a world teeming with 8 billion individuals, we find ourselves with 8 billion unique possibilities. Initiating impactful change, particularly in addressing climate change and fostering a sustainable future, hinges on our ability to unite and forge active partnerships. Drawing from my extensive experience collaborating with utilities worldwide, I've identified eight core strategies essential to our pursuit of building people partnerships:

  • Education Awareness: Foster understanding through interactive resources, promoting sustainable habits, and conservation awareness initiatives.

  • Accessible Technology: Leverage intuitive and intelligent platforms, ensuring seamless access to personalized energy-saving and water-management tools for all users.

  • Incentive Programs: Reward consumers via incentives and rebates, encouraging energy-efficient and water conservation practices, creating a culture of responsible consumption.

  • Collaborative Campaigns: Forge dynamic partnerships with citizens and communities for impactful conservation and sustainability initiatives with measurable outcomes.

  • Continuous Engagement: Sustain consumer interest through real-time data insights, fostering long-term commitment to sustainability through personalized next steps and progress tracking.

  • Workforce Efficiency: Optimize utility operations with digital platforms, enhancing workforce productivity and resource management with data-driven solutions for agile and efficient service delivery.

  • Clean Energy Shift: Embrace digital platforms for efficient management of DERs, enabling seamless renewables integration and driving a widespread clean energy transition.

  • eMobility Adoption: We can pave the way for reduced carbon footprints and enhanced urban living through strategic partnerships, smart mobility initiatives, and innovative infrastructure.

The Intelligence Quotient- Powered by AI

The distinctive characteristic of the human race lies in intelligence. How can we leverage this wisdom to conquer the climate crisis? AI emerges as the technology to amplify our collective wisdom.

The Human-AI Collaboration Framework is the cornerstone to achieving net zero. This pivotal approach encompasses three fundamental pillars:

  • Sustainability by Technology: Unleashing the potential of technology to propel us towards sustainability involves a comprehensive strategy. From achieving net-zero transitions and cultivating responsible value chains to fostering sustainable human experiences, embracing clean energy transitions, eMobility adoption, energy efficiency, water conservation, and forging community partnerships, this facet underscores the role of technology as a catalyst for positive change. AI-powered digital platforms, energy-water accessibility, equity, grid modernization, and infrastructure advancement can drive us to a greener world.

  • Sustainability in Technology: Integrating sustainability into technological practices is paramount. This entails incorporating sustainability measurements ensuring privacy, transparency, fairness, robustness, and accessibility. Implementing the proper governance mechanisms, promoting accessibility, inclusivity, and innovation, prioritizing safety and compliance, leveraging data-based insights for intelligent decisions, enhancing accountability, and championing circular products and services is pivotal. Cross-industry partnerships and developing new business models and value chains further underscore responsible and sustainable technological advancement.
  • Sustainability at Scale: The true impact of AI in driving sustainability is measured by its reach. Establishing platform ecosystems, incentivizing change, propelling electric vehicle (EV) adoption, fostering sustainable cities, reducing carbon footprints, embracing solar and distributed energy resources (DER) programs, facilitating multichannel customer communication, ensuring customer savings, and promoting digital connectivity contribute to an all-encompassing and inclusive human experience. Our commitment must extend to scaling AI-driven sustainability initiatives to touch every corner of the globe, making a meaningful impact on a global scale.

Vision for 2030

Looking down the road to 2030, let us envision a future where we have achieved all the climate action targets and are sustainable. But how do we get there?

Drawing from my experience, the path to this idyllic future is marked by deliberate actions across various fronts.


1. From Grey to Green: Decarbonization and Net-Zero

I believe the imperative is clear in navigating the industry toward decarbonization and a net-zero future. Enhanced monitoring and data analysis form the bedrock, fostering accurate data collection and driving active participation from citizens. To mobilize public support, impactful awareness campaigns, and policy advocacy are essential, creating a groundswell of momentum. Strategic investments in cutting-edge technologies, encompassing carbon removal devices, smart grids, and AI-driven energy management systems, are pivotal for a transformative shift.

2. Turning Ideas into Infinite Impact: Innovation

In our pursuit of effective climate action, innovation is a collective effort, embracing ideas from both developed and developing nations. Positively, transparency in financial support becomes the catalyst for fostering innovation globally. Elevating public awareness about the benefits of renewable energy and water conservation is a linchpin, fostering partnerships and propelling the adoption of clean energy. Facilitating public-private partnerships globally on research and development becomes a conduit for transformative breakthroughs.

3. Move Smart, Charge Green: eMobility

The industry must align itself with dynamic action plans to redefine transportation and a clean energy future. I firmly believe raising public awareness and ensuring personalized accessibility for EV adoption is paramount. Advocating for green policies, emphasizing public transport, shared mobility, and reduced individual vehicle usage will realize the global vision for sustainable mobility.

4. Empowering Billion Possibilities: Energy

In the journey toward illuminating the global energy landscape, there is an urgent need to emphasize expansive electricity accessibility and ensure energy equity on a worldwide scale. Empowering communities through education, advocating for sustainable practices, and engaging in energy audits are essential. Advocating for policies supporting renewable energy adoption and emphasizing resource preservation are imperative to a sustainable energy future.

5. Safeguarding the Liquid Lifeline: Water

We must be committed to safeguarding the water lifeline with a comprehensive approach. Leveraging technology for real-time water quality monitoring and driving community-driven water management initiatives are key. Collaboration with governments, policymakers, and local communities ensures effective project planning and transparent fund allocation.

6. Architecting a Tomorrow Built on Responsible Choices: ESG

Finally, Environmental, Governance, and Social (ESG) commitments must be remembered. Encouraging enterprises to adopt critical operating model changes supporting the transition to net-zero targets is foundational. Building a well-connected, intelligent, efficient, and low-carbon ecosystem is an industry-wide endeavor, with net zero integrated across the entire value chain.

As we collectively navigate the road to 2030, let's envision a world where sustainability is not just a goal but a lived reality—a world where the collective wisdom of humanity, combined with AI-powered innovative solutions, propels us toward a future where life is, indeed, pretty good.

The WE3 Movement is a global movement, a strategic roadmap towards a sustainable future. It's a call to action for individuals, communities, and corporations to come together, leveraging the power of people and AI to address the critical challenges of our time.

At SEW, we are committed to the responsible delivery of Customer and Workforce Experience Platform that are vital to global providers. We do this with firm focus on safety, reliability, integrity, customer satisfaction, customer experience, workforce experience, and corporate responsibility. We understand that a clean future only works if it’s access to digital technologies and communication channels are accessible to everyone. And, at SEW we are changing the global ecosystem by helping utilities and their consumers conserve water and energy through digital platforms. We invest in innovative solutions, such

as AI, ML, to meet the growing needs of utilities and communities to ensure a more sustainable future. We as a technology platform provider are really making sure that people around the globe are empowered, educated and engaged, which is essentially billions of people on our planet.

As we stand at the crossroads of history, let us take pride in our cause, spark conversations, and effect change. This transformation is not a distant dream—it's a journey we embark on today, shaping a cleaner tomorrow for generations to come.

Together, let's reimagine energy and water.

Together, let's build a sustainable world.

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Author
Deepak Garg
CEO & Founder

Deepak Garg is the Founder and CEO of Smart Energy Water (SEW). A respected leader in the technology and utility industry, Deepak has over two decades of experience in product development and is responsible for driving innovation, vision, and strategy at SEW. Deepak has spearheaded SEW’s initiatives to build innovative digital platforms that address the challenges of global sustainability and help utilities connect with people. He has successfully established high-powered technology teams, to develop the #1 Digital Customer Experience, Digital Workforce Experience, Smart AI/ML Analytics platforms that address key business challenges for energy, water and gas providers. All the SEW platforms leverage next-gen technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, IoT, to power customer and workforce experiences. Backing on scalability, modularity, flexibility, and security, SEW clients deliver award-wining experiences and set new benchmarks for the industry.

Driven by Deepak’s stellar vision, SEW has navigated 37+ geographies to serve energy and utility companies, connecting 1.5 B+ people and serving 22000+ Smart Cities/communities.

Deepak’s passion and dedication to transform the energy and utility industry is mirrored in the company’s vision to Engage, Educate, and Empower. Deepak founded SEW, guided by five core values — Sustainability, Integrity, Innovation, Compassion, and Performance. Over the years, he has brought together like-minded people, developed high-powered business and technology teams, and started a SEW family (now 1000+ strong) that aims to connect billions of people with their energy and water providers.

The company has been recognized by INC 5000 and is one of the fastest growing companies in America. Deepak is an active contributor in the Forbes Technology Council. Deepak is also propelling the cleantech conversations with other utility and tech leaders with the WE3 platform. The thought leadership space brings perspectives from industry leaders on the key themes affecting the energy and water world to spark change and normalize innovation.

Deepak has received multiple industry recognitions such as EY Entrepreneurship of the Year, Best CEO Award, Innovator of the Year and more.

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