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On August 29, 2023, Google made available a new set of APIs for mapping everything developers need in order to determine, for hundreds of millions of buildings worldwide, the location-specific value of rooftop solar on a facility-by-facility basis, as well as tools for monitoring and predicting local air pollution and pollen levels. (Link: https://www.engadget.com/googles-new-sustainability-apis-can-estimate-solar-pollutant-and-pollen-production-231303184.html?src=rss)
On August 22, 2023, AWS and GE Vernova’s Digital business announced a collaboration agreement to help manufacturers and utilities accelerate digital transformation, whereby cloud migration will enable better data-driven decisions that will help organizations address sustainability challenges. (Link: https://www.ge.com/news/press-releases/ge-vernovas-digital-business-collaborates-with-aws) This fits the Sustainability Pillar which is one of the six AWS pillars for the AWS Well-Architected and AWS’s related Carbon Value Modelling for achieving Net Zero. (Link: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/industries/applying-carbon-value-modeling-to-achieve-net-zero/)
And on May 25, 2023, Microsoft and KMPG announced their launch of new ESG digital solutions, which have at their core the Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability. And Microsoft has a long track record of also enabling its cloud customers to demonstrate the sustainability benefits of migrating to the cloud, e.g. including via use of the Microsoft Emissions Impact Dashboard. (Link: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/empowering-cloud-sustainability-with-the-microsoft-emissions-impact-dashboard/)
These solutions add to what the hyperscalers already offer the market―generally speaking, data management and visualization tools, designed to support use cases that focus on measurement and reporting. As with digital transformation, it is expected that the hyperscalers will begin to deliver solutions that tackle more of the action end of sustainability, which is ultimately what the market needs.