The Ethical Investor: ASX-listed NoviqTech becomes one of just a few globally to achieve this Google Cloud status

NoviqTech becomes receives the Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability Designation 
The company becomes one of just a handful globally to do so 
Stockhead reached out to NoviqTech’s head of Operations, Eoin Flynn

Earlier this week, ASX-listed company, NoviqTech (ASX:NVQ), received a Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability Designation from the Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program.

NoviqTech, based in Southport, Qld, is a tech company that provides reporting across supply chains and carbon emissions.

The company’s solutions – NoviqAI and TYMLEZ – deliver technologies to sectors ranging from maritime to regenerative agriculture, enabling them to track their carbon emissions with precision, while validating the authenticity of their products’ origins all in real-time.

NoviqTech says the designation by Google Cloud was awarded based on Carbon Central, a feature of its flagship TYMLEZ platform that provides trusted carbon emissions reporting.

“Google Cloud’s Cloud Ready – Sustainability initiative, is designed to help Google’s customers find the best technologies to assist them in solving their most complex challenges,” Eoin Flynn, head of Operations at Noviq, told Stockhead.

“We worked with Google Cloud for a number of months demonstrating and showcasing the capabilities of our Carbon Central platform, and how it can be utilised to assist their customer base in their sustainability transitions.

“Google quickly recognised the value in Carbon Central to their customers and as such, awarded NoviqTech with partnership status and the Cloud Ready – Sustainability designation,” said Flynn.

Carbon Central is currently being used by various organisations including the Queensland State Government.

The technology allows accurate reporting on the state government’s carbon emissions for the purposes of generating carbon offsets, tracking emissions for regulatory compliance, and verifying the green credentials of resources such as green hydrogen.

Big nod from Big Tech

The award by Google is a huge achievement for the $5m market capped NoviqTech, as it has now become one of just a handful of companies from across the globe with the Cloud Ready – Sustainability initiative designation.

Google Cloud has said previously that one of the guiding principles of this program is its rigorous selection criteria for partners.

This, says Google, has resulted in a partner ecosystem that embraces quality over quantity.

“Being a Google partner is a huge achievement for NoviqTech as it means that we will have both the technical and sales support of Google Cloud,” said Flynn.

“The designation also means that Google will be actively promoting NoviqTech and Carbon Central to their customers and at events across the globe.”

Eoin Flynn, Head of Operations at NoviqTech

NoviqTech concedes that as of now, this designation will not yet generate revenue for the company, but it does hold potential for future operating revenue, although there is no guaranteed outcome.

“We will be working closely with Google Cloud’s network of over 3,000 business development executives from across the globe in promoting Carbon Central to Google’s customer base,” said Flynn.

‘Sleight of hand’

The Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability program highlights the virtue of the old saying: “You can’t control things if you don’t keep track of them.”

It also highlights the fact that measuring progress can be challenging for organisations, especially when making effective ESG programs.

According to a recent survey, only 22% of companies are actively measuring their official ESG programs, putting many leaders in a tricky situation.

More recent research conducted by the American Accounting Association found that improvements in ESG performance can be little more than ‘sleight of hand’.

The research found that over the 2004-2020 period, 500 companies on the ASX have made restatements on their ESG data, resulting in improvements in ESG performance for the current period.

These restatements are somewhat spectacular – for example, the average size of the adjustment on social measures such as gender diversity or workplace safety is as high as 28% of the original value reported.

It’s an eye-opening metric and one that must be scrutinised since around 55% of companies on the ASX have tied a proportion of their CEO’s bonus to ESG metrics.

Naveen Shettar, director of services, Logicalis Australia, said that ESG metrics should tell the full story of a company, way beyond just the bottom line.

“They shine a light on how a company treats the planet, the people it works with, and how it operates,” he told ITWire.

However, he admits that pinning down ESG performance can be challenging as businesses face a mix of issues including data collection issues, measuring techniques, and integrating ESG into the existing business strategies.

“To clear these hurdles, businesses must have clear ESG goals, invest in solid data systems, and effectively weave ESG thinking into their business planning and daily operations,” he said.

Sustainability has evolved

The Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability designation meanwhile allows its partners not only to measure their sustainability metrics, but maximises their bottom line.

In designing the program, Google says it has observed that the term “sustainability” is evolving from a somewhat ambiguous notion, into a clearly defined component of benefits that accrue straight to the bottom line.

“For this reason, sustainability reporting is now becoming on par with financial reporting,” noted Google Clouds.

“Regulators, legislators, NGOs, and citizen groups are starting to demand clear, third-party reporting from organisations, while business leaders want to see positive financial results.

“Without reliable, accurate, and verified measurement, ambiguity and greenwashing risks loom.”

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