Digital with Purpose: A Global Movement of Leaders to drive positive Impact
A 25-year journey to redefine the role of digital
For more than twenty-five years, the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) has been asking a question that has become increasingly relevant in today’s AI-driven world:
How can digital technologies create lasting value for business, society and the planet?
Long before artificial intelligence, data centres and digital infrastructure became central to the sustainability agenda, GeSI was already challenging conventional thinking about the role of digital technologies.
Rather than seeing digital as simply another industry with an environmental footprint, GeSI looked at digital to be understood by something far more significant: its ability to enable positive change across every sector of the economy.
This idea has guided GeSI’s work for more than two decades.
It has evolved from groundbreaking research into one of the world’s leading movements for responsible digital transformation—bringing together evidence, leadership, measurement, collaboration and implementation under a single vision:
First, we demonstrated digital’s enabling potential
The journey began with the SMART reports’ series. .
Published between 2008 and 2015, #SMART2020, #SMARTer2020, and #SMARTer2030 reports fundamentally changed the sustainability conversation around digital technologies.
At a time when discussions focused almost exclusively on the environmental footprint of ICT, GeSI demonstrated that digital technologies could create far greater value through their enabling impact—helping other sectors reduce emissions, improve efficiency, optimise resources and accelerate sustainable development.
The evidence became progressively stronger.
SMART 2020 estimated that ICT-enabled solutions could avoid 7.8 gigatonnes of CO₂e—equivalent to around 15% of projected global emissions by 2020—while generating approximately US$946.5 billion in energy and cost savings.
SMARTer2020 realised this estimate to achieve 9.1 gigatonnes of CO2e, while identifying US$1.9 trillion in annual energy and fuel savings.
SMARTer2030 broadened the vision beyond climate, demonstrating that digital technologies could enable a 20% reduction in global CO₂ emissions by 2030—around 12 gigatonnes of CO₂e—while generating more than US$11 trillion in economic benefits and supporting advances in healthcare, agriculture, education and urban development.
These reports established a principle that remains central to GeSI’s work today:
Digital technologies should be evaluated not only by their footprint, but also by their handprint—the positive impact they enable across society.
Then we connected digital transformation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The next step was no longer proving that digital could create business and societal value.
It was understanding how that value contributes to the broader sustainable development agenda.
This became the focus of the GeSI 2019 breathtaking Digital with Purpose: Delivering a SMARTer2030,
Building on more than a decade of research and based on over 500 real-world case studies, the report examined how seven transformative digital technologies—including Digital Access, Cognitive, cloud computing, IoT, blockchain, Fast Internet and Digital reality could impact the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
The findings were amazing.
Digital technologies had the potential to directly influence 103 of the 169 targets of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The adoption of those existing technologies could accelerate progress towards achievement of those targets by an average of 22% and mitigate negative trends by 23%.
Beyond its environmental benefits, ICT is a major engine of economic growth. Analysis across eight economic sectors showed that digital technologies could generate more than US$6 trillion in new revenues and close to US$5 trillion in cost savings by 2030, including US$2.3 trillion from energy efficiency improvements.
The report introduced a fundamental shift in perspective.
Digital transformation should no longer be judged only by operational efficiency or business performance.
Its real success should be measured by the value it creates for people, society and the planet.
From that moment, Digital with Purpose ceased to be only a report.
It became a vision and above all a “tool” to guide uptake of digital technologies and generate business value and positive impact.
From evidence to collective action
Evidence alone does not create impact.
People do.
Following the launch of the Digital with Purpose report, GeSI recognised that demonstrating the enabling potential of digital technologies was only the beginning. The next challenge was accelerating their deployment to help achieve the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This gave rise to the Digital with Purpose Movement— a platform designed to catalyse collective action across industries.
The Movement is a call to action. It is not about repackaging existing sustainability initiatives or reaffirming previous commitments. It is a race to the top, bringing together companies and organisations committed to creating business value by accelerating the enabling power of digital technologies while minimising the environmental and societal externalities they may create.
At the heart of the Movement are four universal commitments, the Pledge, that provide a shared foundation for responsible digital transformation. Participating organisations commit to:
- supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;
- accelerating climate action aligned with the Paris Agreement;
- ensuring transparency and accountability in measuring impact; and
- developing and deploying digital technologies that create positive societal value.
These commitments established a common ambition for organisations seeking to lead the next generation of digital transformation—one where innovation, competitiveness, sustainability, and measurable impact advance together. To reinforce accountability at the highest level, the Digital with Purpose Pledge is signed by each organisation’s Chief Executive Officer, embedding these commitments within corporate leadership and strategic decision-making.
Turning Purpose into Measurable Performance
A commitment is only meaningful if progress can be demonstrated—and measured.
This led to the development of the Digital with Purpose Performance Framework, designed not only to measure impact, but to help organisations accelerate it and to create business value. Unlikely traditional compliance frameworks the Digital with Purpose Framework was designed to be business driven and to reward sustainable innovations and responsible business.
Rather than functioning as another sustainability reporting framework, the DWP Framework serves as a strategic assessment and management tool, enabling organisations to understand how digital transformation contributes to sustainable development while identifying opportunities to strengthen business performance, resilience, and long-term value creation.
By providing a structured assessment of organisational maturity, the DWP Framework helps companies finding strengths, uncover critical gaps, and prioritise the strategic initiatives that will deliver the greatest impact—for both the business and society.
The DWP Framework evaluates organisations across three complementary dimensions.
The first is Purpose, helping organisations understand how purpose is embedded within their strategy, governance, and decision-making as they evolve into truly purpose-led businesses. It encourages companies to move beyond compliance and articulate how their business creates long-term value for customers, society, and the planet.
The second is Digitally Enabled Solutions, reflecting how organisations develop or deploy innovative digital solutions that generate measurable environmental, social, and economic impact. Building directly on the principles established in the Digital with Purpose report, this dimension recognises that the greatest contribution of digital lies not only in how companies operate, but in the positive outcomes their technologies enable across every sector of the economy.
The third is Responsible Business, assessing how organisations manage their digital value chains across Climate Change, Digital Trust and Responsibility, Circular Economy, Digital Inclusion, and Supply Chain. These interconnected pillars help organisations strengthen governance, improve transparency, reduce risk, foster innovation, and build resilience in an increasingly sustainability-driven economy.
Together, these three dimensions offer a holistic view of digital transformation—assessing why an organisation exists, what impact its digital solutions create, and how responsibly it operates.
Built around the ambitions and targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Framework transforms purpose into measurable performance. More importantly, it gives organisations a practical roadmap to continuously improve, helping them prioritise investments, accelerate positive impact, and create lasting value for business, society, and the planet.
Today, Digital with Purpose is a platform for implementation
Digital with Purpose continues to evolve.
Through the Digital with Purpose Global Summit, GeSI convenes leaders from business, government, academia, international organisations and finance to accelerate collaboration and move from dialogue to deployment.
Digital with Purpose Global Summit Shenzhen 2026
Green Digital Infrastructure and Supply Chain Resilience Panel Discussion at the DWP Global Summit Shenzhen 2026
And the Digital with Purpose Global Awards recognise organisations whose digital solutions demonstrate measurable impact for business, society and the planet, showcasing leadership that others can replicate and scale.
ZTE’s Signal Reach Program in Africa, the winner of the Digital with Purpose Global Award 2026
The DWP Award globes
The next chapter
For more than 25 years, GeSI has helped redefine the role of digital technologies—from understanding their footprint to demonstrating their handprint, and from measurable action to thought leadership..
Today, a new chapter is beginning.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the infrastructure underpinning every sector of the global economy. As AI reshapes industries, public services, scientific discovery and everyday life, the challenge is no longer simply how AI can accelerate sustainable development—it is also how AI itself can be developed, deployed and governed responsibly ensuring that the digital infrastructure powering AI—from data centres and energy systems to compute, data and governance—remains compatible with the planet’s ecological limits while delivering positive outcomes for society.
The future will not be defined simply by building more powerful AI.
It will be defined by building a trusted and sustainable AI ecosystem—one where innovation, competitiveness and sustainability reinforce one another, creating lasting value for business, society and the planet.
Governments will shape policy. Industry will drive innovation. International organisations will establish common principles. GeSI’s role is to help translate those principles into practical implementation—through measurable frameworks, trusted collaboration and evidence-based guidance that enables organisations to deploy AI responsibly and at scale.
This is where Digital with Purpose becomes more relevant than ever.
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