There are plenty of new, innovative technology tools that can help sustainability systems gather data - but it's important that this increased availability of data creates real value.

Big data, artificial intelligence and other technological innovations are rapidly changing many aspects of our lives. These same technologies are also transforming the business and operations of sustainability systems. The biggest challenge that these initiatives face is to understand which technological innovations are worth pursuing, and how they can be leveraged to scale-up sustainability.

ISEAL’s work in this area has focused on understanding these new technologies and innovations in the wider world, particularly around data management, and exploring how they can be used to solve some of the most pressing sustainability challenges.

We support our members to become data-smart, which can help organisations to:

• gather data from surveys, mobile apps, sensors and crowd-sourced input
• integrate data using data standards, databases and exchange formats
• analyse data with data science, visualisations and other reports
• share data via open data, citizen science and trust networks.