Ideas
Gabriele Zedlmayer

The Changing Rules of the Game ... These are times of unprecedented change.

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

The Changing Rules of the Game ... These are times of unprecedented change.

That was the message Gabriele Zedlmayer, VP and Chief Progress Officer of Corporate Affairs with HP, delivered recently in a presentation at DLDwomen14. Among the changes she spoke about were the digital revolution and the unprecedented amounts of data we now produce. Today, more data is created in two days than was produced from the beginning of mankind through 2003. To many people the biggest result of that is efficiencies in doing business and marketing. However, one of the consequences often overlooked is the toll this is taking on the environment.

According to Zedlmayer, in the next few years data centers occupying a space equivalent to the size of Manhattan will need to be built in order to house this incredible amount of data. “The way we live today is not sustainable,” she explained. In recognition of this, HP made a commitment to downsizing their servers. The company was able to shrink the size of these servers by 80% and in turn, increase energy efficiency by 89%. This ultimately led to cost savings of 70%.

This is only one of the impact changes spearheaded by Hewlett Packard. They’ve recently joined forces with Conservation International on Earth Insights—a project to help scientists better understand the causes behind biodiversity loss.

The program uses HP’s big data technology in order to capture and analyze data from forests around the world. To date, the project has collected about 1.5 million images from around the world using cameras planted throughout forests. Conservation International’s Topical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Scientists are measuring data from over 6,000 sq. kms in a matter of hours—where it used to take months. This data is then analyzed at a rate that is almost real-time.

All this information is helping scientists to better understand what’s happening in bird and mammal communities around the world. Not only that, they’re able to react to their findings in a much quicker fashion.

Said Zedlmayer, “The rules of the game have changed, and are changing every day...[On applying new ideas] I think that is as important as anything else. Value for society, environment and people as much as a value that you create for your own company.” Those values seem to be in effect at HP.

Gabriele Zedlmayer is an advisor to Global Impact Forum.

Zedlemayer's presentation can be found here.