WEBVTT - Sustainable Business Solutions as a Force for Good

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim

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<v Speaker 1>Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio. Molly, we are crossing over the

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<v Speaker 1>threshold into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Can it solve the

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<v Speaker 1>world's challenges? And there are many challenges out.

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<v Speaker 2>There, and we are also crossing over to the Atlantic

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<v Speaker 2>for our next guest. Marca hoche Is on Zoom from

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<v Speaker 2>the Netherlands Market. It's got to be pretty late there.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much for joining us. Marga is the

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<v Speaker 2>chief executive officer. She is a She just came out

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<v Speaker 2>with a new book that's all about tech. It's called

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<v Speaker 2>Tech for Good Imagine solving the world's greatest challenges. So Margat,

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<v Speaker 2>thank you once again for joining us on this exciting

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<v Speaker 2>Monday evening in the Netherlands.

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<v Speaker 3>Thanks. It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me of course.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so tell us a little bit about the book.

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<v Speaker 2>What inspired you to write it and what's like your

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<v Speaker 2>background in this topic.

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<v Speaker 3>So the book is coold, like you said, Tech for Good,

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<v Speaker 3>and it's a book that synogized is on the one hand,

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<v Speaker 3>sustainability and on the other hand technology, and both of

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<v Speaker 3>them are very important topics, but not very often they're

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<v Speaker 3>brought together to see how, you know, the intersection of

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<v Speaker 3>technology and sustainability looks like. And I've been a CEO

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<v Speaker 3>in the past, and then I moved on to lead

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<v Speaker 3>a sustainable business association because I was passionate about the

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<v Speaker 3>fact that business can be a first for good and

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<v Speaker 3>having a good business case at the same time, and

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<v Speaker 3>even more so, being progressive on sustainability strengthens companies competitive position.

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<v Speaker 3>And before this, I wrote the book The Trillion Dollar Shift,

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<v Speaker 3>which was about the sustainable development goals, you know, the

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<v Speaker 3>goals that we set out in twenty fifteen with the

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<v Speaker 3>timeline to twenty thirty. You just refer to the intro

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<v Speaker 3>to all these challenges which are in these sustainable development goals.

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<v Speaker 3>And in that book, I described all the opportunities that

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<v Speaker 3>arise if companies really engage with sustainability in their business,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, to do less horror but really see how

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<v Speaker 3>they can create value. And then it appeared that technology

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<v Speaker 3>is you know, maybe even our biggest ally moving forward

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<v Speaker 3>because it can be huge force for good and also

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<v Speaker 3>strengthen companies' commercial positions. So though that's exciting, because you know,

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<v Speaker 3>the whole debate is so often about how we fear

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<v Speaker 3>technology how you know, it's supposed to do bad things

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<v Speaker 3>and you know, replacing our jobs and all that. But

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<v Speaker 3>I think it's important with all of those challenges around us,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, in a way, the consequences of the former

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<v Speaker 3>industrial evolutions, that in essence we have to embrace what

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<v Speaker 3>technology can do for both humanity and the world. And

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<v Speaker 3>that gets a bit lost. And so that's the reason

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<v Speaker 3>why I wrote the book Imagine Tech for Good, Solving

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<v Speaker 3>the world's challenges, to put people's you know, and hopefully

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<v Speaker 3>inspiration with that positive view on technology.

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<v Speaker 1>We already have technology who's doing it right at this point?

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<v Speaker 1>Do you look at specific companies as example?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, of course in the book, I have written about

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<v Speaker 3>seventy five real life business cases from all over the world.

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<v Speaker 3>So there's many companies that do the right thing. Of course,

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<v Speaker 3>it's not enough, you know, it's still a minority and

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<v Speaker 3>it should become a majority. But yeah, we have either

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<v Speaker 3>large companies that do a bit good or smaller companies

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<v Speaker 3>that do a lot good, or anything in between. But

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<v Speaker 3>we have enough good examples to learn from.

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<v Speaker 1>I want technology Mali to cure cancer. I want technology,

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<v Speaker 1>with the help of business at this point to come

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<v Speaker 1>up with the challenges of climate change. I want all

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<v Speaker 1>these things. Is it going to deliver?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? Can you tell us? I mean some of the

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<v Speaker 2>hope here, I have no idea, don't ask me.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it can deliver, I mean, will not go by itself.

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<v Speaker 3>We have to you know, join efforts and have all

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<v Speaker 3>stakeholders you know, pointing in the right direction and focus

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<v Speaker 3>on that. And if we put our energy, our mindset,

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<v Speaker 3>and our investments toward that, then it can actually be achieved.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean we have actually still no clue what technology

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<v Speaker 3>can do. We want to, you know, come across as

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<v Speaker 3>if we do know, but to be fair, we don't know.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean even the other day there was a message

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<v Speaker 3>and I put it on Instagram that, for instance, Google's

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<v Speaker 3>Deep minds AI has predicted over three hundred thousand, three

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<v Speaker 3>hundred eighty thousand stable materials, meaning there's all kinds of

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<v Speaker 3>new advanced materials that can do take care of technological breakthroughs,

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<v Speaker 3>and we have no idea what they will be, so

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<v Speaker 3>nobody can predict. But I am absolutely sure that we

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<v Speaker 3>can do much more than we think. And John, the

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<v Speaker 3>topics that you pointed out is hugely important. I mean

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<v Speaker 3>tech for for medical reasons, and for healthcare is hugely important,

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<v Speaker 3>also hugely important to close what they call the digital divide,

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<v Speaker 3>meaning that we have to disseminate progress technoy that technology

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<v Speaker 3>brings us equally around the world.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, wasn't there something recently? I think that

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<v Speaker 2>I saw that It was the chat GPT, one of

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<v Speaker 2>the other bots was giving like faulty medical advice I

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<v Speaker 2>believe on one of those. I mean, there's some there

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<v Speaker 2>could be some potentially really dangerous stuff out there, MARKA.

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<v Speaker 2>Isn't there right, of course?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah? Yeah, of course. And we need we do need

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<v Speaker 3>rules and regulations and policies around technology, and they have

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<v Speaker 3>to do both. They on the one hand, have to

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<v Speaker 3>uh as much as possible, you know, prevent bad intent

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<v Speaker 3>because after behind every bad technology is people that have

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<v Speaker 3>not the positive intent, of course, and on the other hand,

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<v Speaker 3>help and support technology to do good and not paralyze

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<v Speaker 3>that or prelimit it. So it has to do both well.

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<v Speaker 1>It's like at the dawn of the nuclear age, the

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<v Speaker 1>promise was for free, clean energy for the world. What

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<v Speaker 1>we got also were nuclear weapons that could destroy us

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<v Speaker 1>in the blink of an eye.

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<v Speaker 3>Exactly exactly. And we can have drones in wars and

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<v Speaker 3>we can all imagine what they're doing there. But we

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<v Speaker 3>can also have robots in battlefields that save people because

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<v Speaker 3>the first seconds is first thirty seconds is the most important.

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<v Speaker 3>And drones that can deliver medicine and seeds to remote areas.

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<v Speaker 3>So there's always those two sides. But if we only,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, focus on fearing the downside of technology, we

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<v Speaker 3>forget that we actually also needed to achieve the good.

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<v Speaker 2>And you know, margut is something that this brings up

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<v Speaker 2>the question of sustainability and ESG and that's become you know,

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<v Speaker 2>as I'm sure you know, a very political debate on

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<v Speaker 2>our side of the pond, but you're telling us that,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, you don't think that it necessarily has to be.

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<v Speaker 3>Well again, we need both, but you know, sometimes to

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<v Speaker 3>make a big of a joke, I was talking to

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<v Speaker 3>a big bank and then they said, yo, you because

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<v Speaker 3>I'm based in Europe, you have all these rules and regulations.

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<v Speaker 3>We have to you know, settle whole departments to monitor

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<v Speaker 3>all that, but where are the deals? So in other words,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, the sustainable business has to be profitable and

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<v Speaker 3>sustainable by itself, and then of course rules and regulations

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<v Speaker 3>can close the back door, but it very rarely opens

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<v Speaker 3>the front door. In other words, you know, businesses have

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<v Speaker 3>to do it by themselves because they see good rules

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<v Speaker 3>for it. And then it can be sative to have

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<v Speaker 3>rules and regulations and all kinds of policies around it,

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<v Speaker 3>but it won't solve it by itself.

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<v Speaker 1>In this new Industrial revolution, the Fourth Industrial Revolution as

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<v Speaker 1>you term it, do you have a favorite technology that

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<v Speaker 1>stands out that you see as most promising?

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<v Speaker 3>Well, what's actually my favorite, if you will, about this

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<v Speaker 3>fourth Industrial Revolution? That it's so very different. So in

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<v Speaker 3>former industrial revolutions we have one two things you know,

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<v Speaker 3>like coal, oil gas. All these a few innovations, but

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<v Speaker 3>they had big effect. The difference with the Fourth Industrial

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<v Speaker 3>Revolution if that it's like, you know, a huge toolkit.

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<v Speaker 3>In my book, I describe eight groups of technologies from

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<v Speaker 3>AI and data to three D printing, robotics, advanced materials,

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<v Speaker 3>and so on and so forth, and they blend physical

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<v Speaker 3>and digital technologies and in every solution, the culbination of

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<v Speaker 3>those eight groups appears. So what's my favorite. Why I

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<v Speaker 3>like it so much is because we're so rich this time,

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<v Speaker 3>with so many options and combinations that we can do

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<v Speaker 3>you know things beyond the unimentionable. To give you an example,

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<v Speaker 3>you know our core reefs are about to disappear for instance.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh well, we'll only about twenty seconds. But coral reefs

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<v Speaker 1>three D printing at the intersection. You believe it's actually

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<v Speaker 1>something that could could save the coral reefs.

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<v Speaker 3>Mark correctly. It can reverse the damage you inflicted because

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<v Speaker 3>we can print and then the ecosystem doesn't recognize it

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<v Speaker 3>as artificial, so we can actually restore nature.

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<v Speaker 1>Margaret Hope, we appreciate your appearance that I CEO of

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<v Speaker 1>Business for Good, author of Imagine Tech for Good, solving

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<v Speaker 1>the world's greatest challenges,