Open systems appear to have a huge advantage over traditional, closed systems. Witness Firefox 3.5 ascending to the most used Web browser, or Wikipedia revolutionizing the world of online encyclopedias. The folks at Google recently outlined their understanding of the meaning of open. This paragraph stood out:
Open systems have the potential to spawn industries. They harness the intellect of the general population and spur businesses to compete, innovate, and win based on the merits of their products and not just the brilliance of their business tactics. The race to map the human genome is one example.
Sustainability metrics are growing in importance as organizations attempt to better measure their environmental impact. For more information, see the Aquinas College Center for Sustainability. If you doubt the importance of these initiatives, have a look at the Walmart Sustainability Index and consider how the third largest company in the world might drive some new requirements in this area.
I believe that the need to share, compare, and aggregate sustainability data will drive the creation of open standards in sustainability metrics. We need transparency, collaboration, and standardization in order to build meaningful measures.
Disparate IT systems typically store information in silos and surface that data in closed formats that cannot be aggregated or integrated across organizations. Measuring the percentage of recyclable/reusable materials, use of hazardous materials/chemicals, and carbon/energy footprint of a product will continue to be guess work without standards and protocols to collect and surface this data.
Blue Sphere experienced this dilemma first hand when we helped create a system to measure the sustainability of products consisting of parts supplied by many different manufacturers within a supply chain. We quickly learned that without standards and open systems by which to communicate data, measuring the recyclable content or carbon footprint of an assembled product is almost impossible.
Open standards, XML and Web Services could be the answer. Manufacturers could require an XML schema for each part or piece of material supplied. That schema could describe the relevant sustainability data, which would be consumed and aggregated by a standardized process. Each supplier in the value added supply chain could feed sustainability data to the consumer of their product or material. The end result would be the transparency we need, with consumers and businesses choosing sustainable products based on accurate data and a meaningful feedback loop.
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