Digital Bridges over Air Bridges: Takeaways from COVID-19

Up until the pandemic struck, business outsourcing and the constant need for expansion made travel patterns both unsustainable and inefficient. Globalization contributed to a closer collaboration between governments and authorities throughout the world which resulted in a significant increase in air travel.

An urgent need was felt by environmental-conscious businesses to find a link, between the use of the old transportation system and the urgent need for the creation of a new one, where virtual meetings with the help of Information and Communication Technology (ICT/IT) solutions played a critical role in downsizing the physical infrastructure by creating a more viable digital structure that was strategically built to reduce carbon footprints and focus on innovative engagement so as to ensure that their business models were built sustainably enough to not depend on CO2 intensive technology in the long term. Physical travel involved extensive use of flights which contributed to the companies’ carbon footprint, which was often 50% or more among non-manufacturing companies.

Until COVID hit,  technology and services were all able to support virtual meetings

and conferences in a much more time and resource-efficient way and there was an opportunity for virtual meetings such as video conferencing. More and more companies want to ensure that the environmental problems they create are solved in a sustainable way.

Now, the mindset is slowly shifting with the hybrid work culture in place. Innovative

mechanisms such as offsetting/compensating air travels by investing in strong virtual presence and solutions are now paving the way for companies to be a part of the solutions to

the problem they have created.

But how can this help aviation companies? Increased dependence on the virtual world means lesser travel and lesser revenue for the aviation industry. In the optimist’s view, however, this is not the case. In fact, this could provide some much-needed time for every airline to rework its ideas to speed up green aviation. More research is needed to make green aviation a reality. Currently, only a limited number of companies have worked on this side of sustainability. In rare cases, a single route has been made carbon-free but this is of little use with the growing numbers preferring to go back to old routines.

It is imperative to move beyond incremental changes into strategic investments needed for a  low-carbon society. We need new innovative ways backed by strategic investment and with a financial crisis looming, there is a unique opportunity for investments in digital  infrastructure to deliver more than a simple injection to the economy, where innovative and high-tech solutions are essential for a real and long-term emission reduction, can  help to strategise for a sustainable community of the future

There is evidence to show how virtual meetings have contributed to the net-zero goal. In an earlier Australian study it was estimated that videoconferencing could avoid 2.4 million tonnes of national CO2 emissions, equivalent to 0.43% of the country’s total. Should this be applied to every country and an individual estimate collected, there is a high chance that we could be looking at achieving the net-zero goal. On the flip side should one look at the current costs in the aviation industry, the estimated capital cost of $495 million is miniscule compared to that of

airport development. A third Heathrow runway could have a capital cost of up to $22 (£13) billion, whilst a new Airbus A380 superjumbo has a list price of around $320 million. Should these digital bridges become more synonymous with industrial working conditions, this would aid Green Aviation to become a reality sooner than we expect.

The only barriers to this reality are the concerns about the effectiveness of the technology; limited access to bandwidth and equipment; misalignment of user incentives and; a lack of strategic impetus; and the traditional mindset that ‘Digital bridges’ could easily replace, the ‘air bridges’ which once completely in sync with the net-zero goal can easily be inducted back as a primary mode of business travel and growth.

Air travel also has huge indirect impacts on both local and national economies. As an IATA study reported: “The sheer scale of the largest

airports, and the global reach of the industry, and its technological innovation, support the

the often-cited statistic that the travel and tourism industry drives 12% to 15% of the world

the output of goods and services”

Zoom and MSTeams can create environmental benefits by substituting for travel unless it is absolutely urgent. This will help avoid pollution and carbon emissions arising from the fuel used in transport and embodied in the equipment which supports it apart from saving larger corporations significant amounts of money.

Digital bridges kept people sane indoors for most of 2020 and can now open new windows of opportunity to help a net-zero economy.