HP Innovation Journal Issue 12: Summer 2019 | Page 63

DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE
SOLUTIONS FOR
EMERGING MARKETS populations that live in remote locations. But implementing
By Nate Hurst, Chief Sustainability
and Social Impact Officer, HP specific opportunities that exist within the country.
these solutions is about more than just dropping
technology into a school setting. It entails understanding
the unique needs of the citizenry and the limitations and
HP School Cloud is a great example of a solution
that addresses a problem facing many educators in
Today’s emerging markets oftentimes face sig-
nificant challenges, including a lack of strong
infrastructures to support business, citizens who
lack basic and technical skills, access to quality
education and health care, and limited natural
resources. Despite these challenges, developing
countries have the opportunity to implement
sustainable solutions that can position them to
succeed in a global economy. developing countries: access to the Internet. HP School
Take, for example, the energy challenge. With population students, including refugee learners, providing access to
growth and increased industrialization, developing educational resources needed to build the skills required
countries will need larger amounts of energy to fuel their for work of the future. It will also empower teachers and
schools, businesses, and homes. But this rise in energy educators and help them bring locally relevant content to
consumption will be costly and will increase the impact of their classrooms.
climate change as more fossil fuels are burned.
From a technology perspective, ensuring that products
are more energy efficient can help reduce a country’s
energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Cloud is a learning management system preloaded with
free educational materials that students, teachers, and
adult learners can access via Wi-Fi-enableddevices
and a wireless router built into the system. It also has
the ability to track outcomes to help ensure intended
learnings are taking place.
In Uganda, we are partnering with Education Cannot Wait,
UNHCR, and Learning Equality to implement HP School
Cloud technology to bring tech-enabled learning to
PARTICIPATING IN THE FOURTH
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
3D printing and digital manufacturing are expected to
disrupt the $12 trillion global manufacturing industry.
At HP, energy efficiency is a core component of our They also allow developing countries to participate in
research and development activities and supports our product design, manufacture, and distribution, while
Design for Sustainability program, which guides every sidestepping many of the traditional and costly aspects of
aspect of product design and development, including manufacturing.
efforts to reduce power consumption. Through these
efforts, since 2010, we have reduced, on average, the
energy consumption of our personal systems portfolio by
43%, our HP LaserJet printer portfolio by 56%, and our HP
inkjet printer portfolio by 20%.
For example, with 3D printing, companies can lower costs
and save energy by creating virtual inventories rather than
physical storage areas to house products. Digitization
also enables companies to produce cost-effective short
runs of products that are delivered on demand. This
And we continue to design our products to ensure they means businesses won’t have to build large physical
meet industry standards for energy efficiency. In fact, in manufacturing or storage infrastructures like those already
April 2019, for the second consecutive year in a row we created by companies in more developed countries.
were named an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year. Also
in 2019, we became the first company to have its desktops,
notebooks, all-in-ones, workstations, and thin clients named
to the EPEAT® 2019 Gold and Silver ecolabel registry.
In addition, since companies can transmit digital files for
production locally rather than shipping physical parts and
products, 3D printing can lower the energy and emissions
related to the distribution process.
BUILDING SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE For developing countries, technology can help ensure
Automation and the introduction of newer technologies, that they are full participants in a global economy—and
including robotics and artificial intelligence, will open up do so in a way that is more efficient, economical, and
job opportunities that require different skills and a focus environmentally sound.
on lifelong learning. Technology can be a great equalizer
by helping bring educational opportunities to developing
countries, as well as frontier markets—particularly to
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