Twin Transition #1: The Power of Double Transformation

Who would have thought that “green” and “digital” would be paired together as twins after so many years of having to choose between one or the other? Who would have thought that “green” could become an ineffable concept despite its compost, hippie beginnings? Or that “digital” would be one of the most trusted concepts in the world, when it was seen as science fiction until just recently?

But it’s happening. Humans are becoming increasingly transformable, in a positive sense. Slowly, we’re understanding the context, accepting that change really does occur, that the DeLorean of new paradigms won’t wait, and that versatility and breadth of knowledge keeps us afloat in unfamiliar waters.

A few days ago, while reviewing literary devices during a workshop, a participant described the oxymoron as the symbiotic relationship between two words: a way of pairing them and keeping them together throughout a narration, whether through encounters, opposite ideas, or complements. This person explained that the relationship serves to accomplish a more captivating and lasting poetic effectiveness, in order to strengthen a new meaning. I can’t help but compare this device with the reflection that our article will offer us today.

Multiple things are constantly occurring at once. It’s important to understand what we obtain when combining two elements that were viewed as isolated facts until recently. 

The beginning

Between 2019 and 2020, The European Commission became aware of two revolutions that are transforming the world: the digital revolution and the ecological transition. Through the European Green Deal, this nation aimed to “be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050,” setting the goal at accomplishing neutrality in carbon emissions, developing a circular economy, and promoting sustainable development. This will transform the European Union into a highly competitive economic player, whose growth will no longer depend on the use of resources.

Today, various countries in Europe, Asia, and America are leading twin transformation in different sectors: Germany, Denmark, Singapore, Netherlands, Sweden, Chile, and Mexico. 

Inspiring ourselves with this initiative and driving twin transformation can guarantee useful solutions that will lead us towards a more just future on a global scale. This translates into mandatory unification for a strengthened environment (decreased CO2 emissions, responsible land use, ecological traffic management, and waste management, to name a few) with the new (and not so new) digital technologies (Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, 3D printing, circular construction, robotics, etc.), in order to achieve a more direct agility in the market and more than double cost-effectiveness in businesses.

Let’s imagine, for example, the amount of time, money, and carbon emissions we would save on large-scale projects, housing systems, and other structural elements if we were to implement augmented reality based on holograms. Millions of vehicles would no longer be needed, less trees would be felled, overstock of property would be avoided, and thousands of extra possibilities would be available for our clients, who would choose to engage with us for these precise reasons.

We can also reflect on the decrease of the resources that would no longer be required for automobile production: iron extraction, the amount of necessary steel (over 1900 pounds), the energy required to bond it, and the amount of fuel used to transport raw materials towards chassis manufacturers, if we were to implement 3D printing with natural polymers. 

Keep the twins together

What happens if we fail to practice this idea simultaneously? What happens if we develop green transition and digital transformation separately? Most likely, we’ll share the Wonder Twins’ fate: when the two are out of reach, they are unable to activate their powers.

Many organizations are considering new technologies, but ignoring the environmental crisis, and vice versa. A mindset that only prioritizes one of these aspects lowers their levels of visibility and projection. Development with a lack of one of these aspects feeds the hole that may cause our business to fall from its own weight.

We’ve seen this before with different, more simple examples, such as the transition from traditional project management to agile and innovative methods. Understanding that simultaneously developing more than one concept could bring about unexpected success proved to be a challenge. More than ever, it’s time to keep prioritizing this combination.

Twin is the perfect concept to describe these two transitions that should be carried out simultaneously and synchronically, serving to guarantee benefits within an organization and outside of it. These are the necessary aspects for propelment, which will be further explained in our following articles:

• The positive impact in the business for strengthening and updating our products and services, and creating new opportunities for development.
• The positioning of our value proposition in the market and in the world of innovative, avant-garde brands.
• What connects these two aspects: better-prepared leaders with clear business models that align with these ideas, and who maintain transformation. 

We can all agree that no one wishes to be left out of the dual sustainability and digital challenge. However, we also know that change can prove difficult and takes time. We need to be able to rely on innovation and its processes of designing solutions centered around people, communities, and countries, as accelerators for transition.

Companies that implement Twin Transition are typically those which aim to promote business models based on ecosystems that are impulsed by sustainability users of technology. They view sustainability as a business opportunity and a solution to the challenges in society. They combine resources to transform technological applications into sustainable habits, and empower their talent so they can drive and maintain their transformation. 

So, where do we begin? It might be best to postpone planning and start off with spreading this idea among our teams and choosing a process of digitalization.

By Paula Benardoni, Leader specialized in Innovation and People Centricity