Next 20 Years Will Be the Age of the Eco-efficient Economy

From the paper "The emergence of the eco-efficient economy" by IBM Institute for Business Value

Executive summary here: ftp://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/en/gbe03300usen/GBE03300USEN.PDF

Three core conclusions emerged from the collaborative discussion:

• Eco-efficiency is poised to become the biggest economic game-changer for organizations over the next 20 years.

• Direct and collaborative action from a range of stakeholders will be needed to address the challenges and opportunities posed by ecoefficiency.

• There is a strong imperative for stakeholders to advance the ecoefficient economy.

Best practice recommendations

1) Leverage innovation to deliver “green” infrastructures that are highly efficient and overlay the physical infrastructure with digital intelligence

2) Implement sustainable solutions that promote resource efficiency and reduce the environmental and social impact of operations

3) Embrace intelligent systems that use open standards to provide near realtime information for better management of the infrastructure, water quantities, or, even, entire transportation systems.

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My question: What are the opportunities for social entrepreneurs and social enterprises in the eco-efficiency economy?  

Please respond with your ideas...