Climate change is wreaking havoc. From the scorching temparatures of North America’s “heat dome,” deadly floods across China and Europe, and unprecedented wildfires across southern Europe and California – humanity is steadily marching towards an uncertain future. But there is still time to change.

Technology shapes the way we live our lives – and it needs to be at the forefront of the fight against climate change. Understanding how to implement sustainable technology solutions across industries and sectors is a crucial step in safeguarding our planet. Change is not just initiated by governments and politicians. It’s about business, industry, and most importantly people.

Following Capgemini’s net-zero ambition announcement last year, the Group launched “Climate Circles” – one of its biggest mobilization campaigns. Focused on bringing our people together to share ideas on sustainability transformation for positive change, Climate Circles consisted of leader-facilitated talk circles to redefine what it means to be a responsible business.

The urgency to implement sustainable solutions and services

This exciting and inspiring initiative was led by Capgemini Group CEO Aiman Ezzat, who invited Capgemini’s leaders to organize 1-hour conversations with their teams.

The intention behind these conversations was to spark curiosity and provoke thought and action among team members, laying the foundations for bringing sustainability thinking into our products and services, helping our clients with sustainability challenges, while also demonstrating a dedicated commitment to the climate crisis.

Leaders were presented with two choices for discussion:

• The race to net-zero – key topics around the global climate emergency, fore fronting the science and facts around climate change. The discussion focused on each person’s own beliefs about climate change to lay the groundwork for a review on the role of businesses in this equation, and whether the Group is doing enough in the global struggle against climate change.
• Breakthrough and innovation for a sustainable future – the role of industry in the face of climate change, focusing on technology and innovative solutions to address the global climate crisis. There was an evaluation of Capgemini’s business capabilities to understand how the Group can enable global development for a sustainable future.

Coming full circle with sustainable transformation

Climate Circles is accelerating our peoples’ learning journeys on sustainable transformation in a dynamic and engaging way, creating a pipeline of ambassadors for Capgemini’s new breed of solutions and services. It is mobilizing our teams to actively forge a brighter future, which will not only positively affect all internal areas of our business, but also our clients and the industries they work in.

Just as a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so each small, individual action can have a big impact – which when mutualized, can help break down apathy and stagnancy towards real change in the fight against climate change.

To learn more about how Capgemini’s Frictionless Enterprise approach can drive a sustainable future for your organization, contact: joerg.junghanns@capgemini.com

Jörg Junghanns leverages innovation and a strategic and service mindset to help clients transform their supply chain operations into a growth enabler.

SAP will no longer support the current ERP business suite from 2027. By then, those SAP customers who still want a future-proof version to rely on should have completed their transition to the S/4HANA in-memory platform.

Incidentally, there are other reasons to switch to this new version in good time. Thanks to its simplified data model and extremely user-friendly SAP Fiori user interface, the new environment is more straightforward, more intuitive, and faster. Moreover, the open environment allows better integration with other business software and cloud applications, providing an excellent basis for corporate and process innovation. Last but not least, S/4HANA features a powerful engine for real-time analytics, which enables you to make rapid, informed decisions or adjust business processes when needed. The sooner you can benefit from these advantages, the more competitive you will become.

Tailored migration

Migrating an ERP package will always be a project that impacts business operations and requires a substantial financial investment. Not every organisation will be prepared to undertake a ‘big bang migration’; some will be happy with a straightforward upgrade and conversion to S/4HANA. Other companies may want to enjoy all the benefits of this new environment right from the start. Then there is a whole group somewhere in between these two extremes.

Capgemini has developed three approaches to offer each client a migration path tailored to their needs and ambitions. The customer can use the ‘greenfield’ approach for an entirely new implementation, including redesigning processes, to exploit the new platform’s functionality to the full. In contrast, a ‘brownfield’ migration only requires upgrade and conversion, without process reviews, no innovation, and minimal business impact. While all historical data will be preserved, they will not undergo a ‘cleansing’ process to improve quality.

Customers can also opt for a ‘selective data transition’. This might be a good choice if one department needs innovation, while another does not immediately see a need for a complete transition to the new environment with all the associated costs. In that case, Capgemini will be happy to meet them to discuss which modules will be included in the new system for each department and where to remain as close as possible to the existing way of working. For the latter group, we will look into data ‘cleansing’ so that at least the data quality can be improved.

While ‘greenfield’ migration is clearly the most likely to bring innovation and competitive advantage, it will not be appropriate for every organisation at this time. For those choosing this complete restart ‘from scratch’, it is essential to realise that it will significantly impact the organisational structure and involve a far-reaching change management process. A ‘greenfield’ approach usually means a radically different way of doing business, which companies are not always ready for. Unless there is an explicit and absolute buy-in from management, the organisation can expect a considerable backlash from employees. They will be faced with a new environment and will also have to adopt a different way of working if they are to make the most of their potential. They will only accept this if they fully understand the company’s objectives with this new way of doing business.

Multi-pillar as a prerequisite for flexibility

Whichever of the above three options the client chooses, Capgemini will always suggest an agile approach to the client’s migration project in which the new environment is developed on a modular basis and is always tested before progressing to the next step. Obviously, we will start with the elements that bring the organisation the most business advantages so that they can reap the benefits as quickly as possible. Further modules will be added gradually.

The ‘Multi-Pillar’ Service Architecture (MPSA) is key to this flexible migration approach. This involves dividing the environment into core processes – financial, logistics, etc. – and supporting processes – often SaaS software such as Ariba, Concur, SuccessFactors, or others. We keep the core as standard as possible, and it will not be interconnected with the other pillars. In this way, when an upgrade is made, the supporting software is less of a concern, and we can upgrade the standard core to the new version quite easily. The supporting processes and services will then gradually be upgraded at the pace the customer considers feasible and desirable.

In this way, the ideal of the ‘renewable enterprise’ comes a little closer. It will not be necessary to upgrade everything at once. Instead, you start with the core and then plug in other functionalities and processes whenever possible. At the same time, the innovation made possible by the first pillar can be enjoyed to the full.

For SAP customers migrating to S/4HANA, Capgemini is the right partner regardless of whether they prefer greenfield, brownfield, or something in between. The two companies have a shared history spanning more than three decades of joint development. Many of the solutions developed by Capgemini for clients in specific projects have subsequently been recycled by SAP as generic solutions. This is a logical consequence of the long-standing close cooperation and, at the same time, an ultimate recognition of Capgemini’s expertise in the field of SAP.

Capgemini has an extensive pool of SAP experts (over 22,000), and with more than 11,000 certified consultants, it is the strongest SAP partner in Europe. Moreover, Capgemini has the appropriate mix of technical and business consultants, which is an increasingly significant advantage in these innovative times, when advanced technology and in-depth sector knowledge increasingly need to work hand in hand to make a real difference for the client. Capgemini is your partner for the entire end-to-end process, from writing business cases and project management to extended testing and delivery, integration and maintenance of the new environment, and the associated change management.

Bram Sabbe is Practice Head of the Package Based Solutions department (SAP S/4, Oracle, HCM Solutions) at Capgemini Belgium – Contact: bram.sabbe@capgemini.com

The buoyancy of trust

Data flows through the public sector on a wave of trust. The proliferation of data-driven technologies brings with it a natural concern about cyber security, information security, and data sovereignty. When data sits on the cloud, the journey there must be a trusted one, embodying robustness and adaptability along the way. Citizens need to be confident that their data will not be leaked, or exploited without their consent. And that their data is protected by the laws of their jurisdiction. If their data escapes, it isn’t coming back.

Securing the trust of all parties using and producing data is critical. In fact, both public servants and citizens use services and, in the process, produce data that feeds the machine. Therefore, the trust of public servants must be nurtured, as well as the trust of the citizen. This will ensure that public servants are fully onboard and empowered to tackle the digital divide, promote data democratization, and upskill other employees in their organizations.

However, trust in government today certainly cannot mean blind trust. Instead, the public sector needs to empower and inform all citizens, putting them in control, making them sovereign in relation to the data that describes them, and proactively ensuring that the systems through which it flows are safe. Legislating for data privacy extends the human right to privacy into the digital realm. Trust must underpin every citizen experience.

Digital trust in action

A fine example of how rights can be protected in the digital realm is the EU’s Lisbon Declaration “Digital Democracy with a Purpose”. The declaration is the “kick-start” for a future Charter on Digital Rights and seeks to affirm Europe as a “space of confidence, trust and balance between economic and technological development and ethical principles.” In short, the declaration appeals to EU governments to commit to strengthen the human dimension of digital transition.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) also provides a strong framework to protect and safeguard the privacy of all citizens. In a data-powered society this enables not just trust, but also sovereignty.

While Capgemini is proud to contribute to the debate on guidelines, our fundamental role is in building concrete aspects of trust by, for example, harnessing the power of anonymization tools and synthetic data; explainablity AI tools; and other trust approaches, such as zero knowledge proof.

TechnoVision 2021 Public Sector Edition identifies a diverse range of stories that illustrate how we have helped public sector organizations face challenges and opportunities offered by new trends in technology.

For example, Capgemini created the Support Centre for Data Sharing (SCDS) for The European Commission, to facilitate data sharing among governments and public as well as private organizations. SCDS ultimately contributes to the EU’s aim of creating a singular data market, ensuring Europe’s global competitiveness and data sovereignty.

The Dutch Ministry of Defense implemented Whiteflag, a decentralized protocol that provides transparent communication to help save lives in disaster and conflict zones. Whiteflag provides both fighting and neutral parties with a reliable way to digitally communicate using blockchain technology. The blockchain secures and records messages, which also ensures transparency in case of litigation.

Meanwhile, Försäkringskassan, a Swedish welfare agency, was previously unable to leverage its patient-related data due to privacy and compliance risks. Using Sogeti’s ADA solution, the organization now generates enough production data for testing and accelerating QA. Medical data is produced and leveraged to give insights on patient status, while GDPR compliance is secured by synthesizing sensitive patient data.

Balancing value, quality, and control

Citizens often express concerns that increased data sharing means giving up control, exposing our data to malicious forces. Think of it this way. The old logic says we should put our money in a locked safe. The new logic says, instead, we should invest the money to deliver a good return. Likewise, instead of focusing on the danger of our data being abused, shouldn’t we take a broader view and be concerned instead that it’s well used or, at least, not wasted? Making this shift demands that we systematically integrate pre-emptive elements of trust, rather than worry whether our data will be guarded and policed.

In the same way, why do some people trust a hard drive under their desk at home, more than the cloud guarded by armies of security engineers? Why do they trust planes less than cars, although planes are demonstrably safer? For most, the perception that we are giving up control to a complex system is outweighed by evidence of reliability and safety, economies of scale, and convenience. Governments and public sector organizations need to earn citizens’ trust in both the technology and the broader political system. It’s a question of balancing trust in value, quality, and control.

Informed digital trust

Of course, technology evolves fast. It’s crucial that governments invest in digital literacy. Citizens, public sector employees, the media and politicians all need to be educated as to what data is and what it can do for them. In the public sector, employees need to be familiarized with new technologies, so they can trust in the value, quality, and control of the solutions they are proposing to the public. Similarly, citizens need to be empowered to understand the added value of AI and cloud technologies, reaching a level of informed digital trust. When technologies become extremely complex, citizens also need to have the awareness of when to trust the experts and to feel comfortable in bestowing that trust.

Building trust by design

Often, we’re victims of the cultural transition from non-digital to digital, again held back by trust issues. To counter this, the public sector needs to design modern, social, technical systems built for trust. Indeed, building trust by design must be a principle from the outset.

As data is pivotal to the technology-driven society, trust is constantly under attack. So, technology and business becoming one needs to become a reality, rather than being seen as a trend. Organizations need to put the quest for trust at the core of their operations. Capgemini’s Cyber Experience Center offers on-site and remote cybersecurity incident simulations in various settings.

Develop digital social contracts

To build trust, the public sector must create a clear digital social contract, applicable to its societal DNA. That might vary across countries, but it should be an agreement between society, politics, and industry on how, and to what extent, we use technology. Above all, technology must serve society, observing the key principles of transparency, explainability, and logic.

On principle, we need to be cautious of intelligent technologies, as they may create an alibi for human decision makers to take a step back and delegate their responsibilities to the machine. While predictive analytics can be used for highly sensitive, big impact issues like intelligent job matching, assessing eligibility for social benefits, or sentencing in court, they need a human being in control alongside. The public will not accept that such decisions are made autonomously by an algorithm alone.

Showing data sharing is safe

As the complexity of technology increases, citizens need clear statements of the values and principles that underpin the delivery of public sector digital services online. Public sector organizations need to be transparent about how they use and protect our information, giving us confidence that our data is safe. This is an opportunity for the public sector to lead the way in Society 5.0, setting the standards that others follow.

Guiding principles going forward

Going forward, public sector organizations should focus on two key thoughts. The first is the establishment of a digital social contract, which underwrites solutions, leveraging the best emerging technologies to best serve citizens’ interests. The second is to pursue a heightened awareness of what using data means, in terms of usage, storage and security, guaranteeing accountability, transparency and openness. To get to a future where 100% of public services can be accessed online, nurturing this trust, and creating a safe online environment for citizens’ data, is essential. Not addressing this will jeopardize the realization of the digital transition.

For more information read TechnoVision 2021 Public Sector Edition, our annual guide to what’s new and what’s coming next in the world of technology, focused on the public sector.

Authors:

	Gianfranco Cecconi Director, Data Ecosystems global lead, Capgemini Invent
	Esther Huyer Senior Manager at Capgemini Invent, Data Strategy and Data Policy

Pierre Adrien Hanania Global Offer Leader – AI in Public Sector

You’re probably familiar with our concept of the Frictionless Enterprise. It signifies an organization that’s designed to enable information to flow smoothly and intelligently between people and processes – as, and when, and where, it is needed.

It’s a concept that’s built on five pillars. You can read more about each of them here, but in brief, they are hyperscale automation, cloud agility, data fluidity, sustainable business, and secure business.

It’s the fourth pillar that is the subject of this short series of articles. Our topic – and it’s an important one – is sustainability.

Gaps in awareness…

IT sustainability may be a pillar for us at Capgemini, but it seems that for many other organizations, it isn’t as significant a factor as it ought to be. In research conducted just a few months ago by the Capgemini Research Institute (CRI),[1] it was found that globally, only 43% of executives said they were aware of their organization’s IT footprint. Half of businesses said they have an enterprise-wide sustainability strategy, but only 18% said they specifically have a comprehensive, sustainable IT strategy, with well-defined goals and target timelines.

The range of factors implicit in sustainable IT is quite broad. It isn’t just about the levels and kinds of energy used. It also includes the carbon cost of data center and user device hardware, such as the use of rare minerals and water in its manufacture; the extent to which hardware is (or isn’t) recycled or refurbished; the degree to which carbon-friendly cloud computing models are being adopted; the rationalization of infrastructure and applications; and the governance of the supply chain from an environmental perspective.

As you might expect, the onward march of technology means that environmental challenges are, if anything, likely to intensify. For instance, the CRI report tells us the e-waste generated by hardware disposal globally is expected to grow from 53.6 million tons in 2019 to 74 million tons in 2030. Even new technologies make an impact. The carbon footprint of operations of a major cloud computing solution provider was stated in the CRI report to have been 295 thousand metric tons of CO2e in 2019 – a 4.31 times increase from 2015. Also, a study from the University of Massachusetts quoted in our report found that training an AI language processing system produced 1,400 pounds of carbon-equivalent emissions – about the amount produced by flying one person on a round-trip between New York and San Francisco.

… and in remediation and governance

The problem isn’t just one of awareness and strategy. As yet, few organizations are taking practical steps, either. CRI’s research shows, for example, that of those surveyed, only 15% had taken steps to reduce the carbon footprint of IT hardware, with 46% only at pilot stage, and 39% taking no action at all. Even lower proportions had undertaken carbon reduction measures on cloud computing, networks and communication systems, or apps and data.

Governance is also an issue. Overall, only a third of organizations surveyed in the CRI report said they have established policies mandating the reporting of their enterprise IT carbon footprint. This is perhaps not surprising: after all, effective reporting is difficult when few organizations (27% in the survey) have established the carbon cost of their IT operations, and with only 29% saying they use carbon assessment tools.

In addition, most organizations said they do not extend disclosure requirements to their vendors.

Reasons for inaction…

One of the main reasons for lack of activity on IT sustainability can be found right here, as a factor in the governance issue above. If it’s difficult for organizations to establish policies when they haven’t quantified the problem, this lack of knowledge also makes it difficult for them to start taking practical steps. In short, it’s hard to fix what you haven’t measured.

The other main obstacle is inexperience. Over half of organizations in the CRI survey (53%) said they do not have the required expertise, and 48% said they are concerned about the high cost of setting up a green infrastructure. Almost as many (45%) said they were concerned about the impact sustainable IT measures might have on business continuity.

… and for action

In the next article in this short series, we’ll look at the benefits of taking steps on IT sustainability: the advantages are commercial as well as environmental. And in the third and final article, we’ll look at how to develop a roadmap to get there.

Read the full CRI paper entitled “Sustainable IT is the backbone of a greener future” to learn why it’s time for a Green revolution for your organization’s IT.

Learn more about how the “sustainable business” pillar of Capgemini’s Frictionless Enterprise concept can help your organization factor in responsibilities to the environment and society.

[1] Source: Capgemini Research Institute, Green IT survey, December 2020 – January 2021, N = 1000 organizations.

At its core, the Professional Services Capability aims to enhance Project Management Delivery by focusing on Agile principles, solid Project Management standards, client customization, and business process optimization. To better understand the impact of their work, we spoke with Mitchell Hines, Manager in the Professional Services Capability to hear his experience of navigating clients’ challenges using Capgemini’s Professional Services offerings.

Can you share an example of how the Professional Services offerings support federal agencies in achieving their missions?

An agency we support required an independent testing team that could provide multiple types of testing for over 40 interfacing software systems. These systems directly supported the agency’s mission to digitize and automate their manually processed paper forms. Each system was created and maintained by a different contractor and Scrum Team, each with their respective federal Product Owner(s). As paper forms were digitized, it became clear that there were communication gaps regarding certain dependencies between interfacing systems. In order to ensure that the entire end-to-end business process for a paper form was accurately, securely, and efficiently captured, Capgemini created a PMO Team that worked closely with our testing leads and federal clients to devise a solution.

Capgemini’s Professional Services offerings include our Scaled Agile approach, which our PMO Team utilized by establishing a PMO specific agile project that focused on establishing strategic initiatives of the program to help achieve the agency’s mission. This approach ensured that the communication gaps within the agency’s multi-vendor environment were effectively addressed. Additionally, our team led the documentation of the full end-to-end processes of the paper forms we were digitizing. Using our team’s intimate knowledge of each interfacing system, we created a full end-to-end process flow diagram for each new paper form, which helped to establish additional transparency with all involved stakeholders (including the C Level suite within the agency). Lastly, we worked with our testing team to establish a cadence for End-to-End Regression Testing and Live Interface Testing of all interfacing systems for each digitized form. This resulted in addressing more defects ahead of time and ensured on-time delivery of software releases.

Capgemini’s efforts in support of the agency’s mission resulted in an increase of automation, innovation, and transparency that transformed the way that the agency processes their forms and provides services to the public.

To learn more about the CGS Professional Services Capability driving innovation throughout the organization, visit the capability web page.

For all Capgemini Government Solutions blogs, Click here.

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From cubicles to open plan and back again, clear desk to hot desk, and the advent of hybrid working, the office workplace has been in a constant state of change since it was invented.

… and this was all before the global pandemic.

At Capgemini, our global HR function was seeing a trend in its team members preferring to work from home. This presented them with a challenge of how best to utilize their empty desks, as costs remained the same, despite its office space being mostly empty. Once the global pandemic was declared, however, this need became critical to keep them in line with governmental guidelines across the globe.

An intuitive, frictionless HR operations booking system

Enter Capgemini’s HotDesk – a new HR operations tool that provides simple, secure, and automated desk booking, enabling individuals and teams that are going to be in the office at any given time to be monitored – significantly limiting the risk or spread of infection.

HotDesk enables users to book desks within specific office spaces and managers to book desks on behalf of their employees. It also provides managers with a view on their team’s desk utilization habits, enabling them to close off part of their office space or assign it to other teams, as required.

Based on Microsoft Power Apps and SharePoint technology, Capgemini’s new HR operations tool provides transparency around when teams work from the office vs. when they work from home. This gives our people the flexibility to work from where they want to, while remaining safe at all times.

Reduced cost and enhanced HR operations

HotDesk has already delivered a range of business outcomes to our HR operations team. This includes accurate desk utilization tracking to reduce the office space our teams require, a simple interface requiring no third-party support that makes it easy and cost-efficient to maintain, and the ability to implement the tool across any team.

Of course, all of this has enabled Capgemini’s HR function to drive a permanent and significant reduction in cost, with savings made through reduced desk numbers across engagements.

Recognized for its innovative approach

And that’s not all. The value HotDesk brings to our HR operations has recently been recognized by BrandonHall, who recently awarded it a Silver Award at their prestigious Human Capital Management (HCM) Excellence Awards. This international recognition shows just how much HotDesk can help businesses meet their objectives and improve their performance.

HotDesk has proved so successful that our HR team is currently looking at making the tool available both internally and externally – to ensure our engagements and clients are ready for the next big market disruption, whatever that might be.

To learn more about how Capgemini’s HotDesk tool can help improve your HR operations through better desk utilization and office security capabilities, contact: malgorzata.praczynska@capgemini.com or tomasz.zajac@capgemini.com

Małgorzata Praczyńska is the founder and manager of Capgemini’s HRInnHUB team. She specializes in finding automated solutions for a range of HR processes, including project and people management that provide significant cost benefits to clients.

Tomasz Zającis a Junior Automation Manager in Capgemini’s HRInnHUB team, currently responsible for identifying areas for improvement, automation, and designing tailor-made solutions for multiple clients.

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