IEEE SustainTech Leadership Forum Draws World’s Top Technical and Sustainability Experts

The new global thought leadership event brought together industry movers and shakers to discuss the future of Buildings and Factories in the Built Environment.

The IEEE SustainTech Leadership Forum made its official debut on August 27-28, 2024, in San Diego, California. Presented by IEEE’s four largest Societies (Communication, Computer, Power and Energy, and Signal Processing), the forum aims to connect the world’s top engineers and technical experts with sustainability-focused companies and industry leaders. This year’s event focused on addressing sustainability challenges in buildings, data centers, and factories in the built environment. To stay connected and informed about future events, sign up for SustainTech alerts today!

Representatives from over 90 organizations attended SustainTech 2024 for an inside look at the latest advancements in AI, big data, blockchain, computer vision, communications, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and systems integration. Activities included presentations from C-Suite executives of the world’s most sustainable companies, talks with influencers and innovators from a wide range of industries and expertise, exhibitions and product demonstrations of market-ready and future solutions, and insightful discussions into market trends.

2024 keynote speakers and topics

• Takajiro Ishikawa, President and CO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
  
  • Navigating the Transition to Sustainable Energy Solutions in a Power-Hungry World
• Aravind Padmanabhan, Executive VP and CTO of nVent
  
  • Innovating for Product Sustainability – Making Data Centers Greener

Working towards a common goal

“I think it’s really important for corporates to collaborate,” explains Limor Schafman, Director of Strategy, LG Nova. “We may be competitive with one another, but – first of all – the marketplace is huge. Two, we cannot do it alone. Three, we need to continuously push the edge, and it’s only by sharing information that we can actually do that together.”

Schafman also stressed the importance of collaboration with the public sector to affect meaningful and sustainable progress. “The world is changing, our climate is changing, we have to do something, and so it’s vital for us to do it together. It’s actually the public sector as well…it’s really public-private partnerships that need to be formed so we can really move things together.”

Supporting startups to boost innovation

By providing a forum for networking and the open exchange of ideas, the SustainTech event facilitates funding and investment opportunities between startups and larger, more established organizations. IEEE believes this growth mindset has the potential to benefit everyone from newly formed startups to major corporations to end users.

“We’re able to make connections that I hadn’t even thought of before,” explains Audrey Rumsby, Founder of Edith, a web-based tool that helps women procure fashion sustainably. “Just in a brief conversation, we’re able to see new pathways to new opportunities and new ways of saving time, saving energy, and making a much, much better experience for the end user…collaboration, I think, is absolutely crucial.” When new talent and industry veterans rub shoulders, both gain access to new pathways and potential partnerships.

Sustainability is good for business

The forum also aims to clear up the common misconception that what is good for the environment is bad for your bottom line. Mike Hollinger (Chief Architect, Applied AI & Solutions, IBM) discussed the importance of taking a holistic approach when developing a sustainability strategy. “Sustainability is good for business because it helps our customers, our partners, their customers, [and] their partners do better in the world [and] respond to the challenges that we face as a global society. And that’s what I think is most important for us to look at in terms of leveraging data – the cool innovations that are happening, the things that are coming from startups, the ones that are not even formed yet – to drive action and ultimately turn sustainability ambition into action.”

Technology solutions for a sustainable future

SustainTech aims to facilitate the continued growth of environmentally responsible technologies and facilities by providing an intimate space for attendees to meet, talk, and exchange ideas.

The 2024 IEEE SustainTech Leadership Forum sessions can be viewed on the SPS Resource Center: https://rc.signalprocessingsociety.org/conferences/sustaintech

Sign up for alerts and join us at SustainTech 2025 for an inside look at the technological innovations shaping the future of industry.

About IEEE

IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization and is a public charity dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more at https://www.ieee.org.

About the IEEE Signal Processing Society

Founded as IEEE's first society in 1948, the Signal Processing Society is the world's premier association for signal processing engineers and industry professionals. Engineers around the world look to the Society for information on the latest developments in the signal processing field. Its deeply rooted history spans 75 years, featuring a membership base of more than 20,000 deeply interested and involved signal processing engineers, academics, industry professionals and students who are all part of a dynamic global community – spanning 120 countries worldwide.