The Record - Issue 21: Summer 2021

42 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om partner solutions available that are using tech- nology such as Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power BI, Power Platform, data and artificial intelligence (AI), to help organisations achieve more through their sus- tainability goals.” And IoT, data and the cloud also have an important role to play here. “A great example of this is the work being done by Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft,” says Clark. The three organisations are combining their expertise in cloud, data, AI, IoT, digital twins and digital transformation to help utility and energy companies in the UK transform their energy system and lower the cost of decarbon- ising electricity, with the goal of achieving a net- zero target for carbon emissions by 2050. To do this, the businesses will encourage the use of open industry data to provide secure and accessible information that will drive effi- ciency, support cross-industry innovation and improve asset performance. Renewable energy developer and operator SSE Renewables is working with the companies to reimagine its own operations. “The scale of the net-zero challenge is so great and the significance of achieving it so impor- tant, we need all hands on deck,” says Rachel McEwen, SSE Renewables’ chief sustainability officer, in a Microsoft article about the part- nership. “The energy system – electricity in particular – must be completely decarbonised very quickly, so that trickier sectors like heat and transport can reach zero carbon emissions. “The answer to all the technological, market and regulatory challenges that result cannot pos- sibly come from a single organisation or sector. Partnerships, like the one between Microsoft and Accenture, are essential in bringing together an electricity utility like SSE with business and digital technology transformation specialists.” “The scale of the net-zero challenge is so great and the significance of achieving it so important, we need all hands on deck” COV E R S TOR Y