# Sinan Küfeoğlu

# Emerging Technologies

Value Creation for Sustainable Development

**Sustainable Development Goals Series**

Te **Sustainable Development Goals Series** is Springer Nature's inaugural cross-imprint book series that addresses and supports the United Nations' seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. Te series fosters comprehensive research focused on these global targets and endeavours to address some of society's greatest grand challenges. Te SDGs are inherently multidisciplinary, and they bring people working across diferent felds together and working towards a common goal. In this spirit, the Sustainable Development Goals series is the frst at Springer Nature to publish books under both the Springer and Palgrave Macmillan imprints, bringing the strengths of our imprints together.

Te Sustainable Development Goals Series is organized into eighteen subseries: one subseries based around each of the seventeen respective Sustainable Development Goals, and an eighteenth subseries, "Connecting the Goals," which serves as a home for volumes addressing multiple goals or studying the SDGs as a whole. Each subseries is guided by an expert Subseries Advisor with years or decades of experience studying and addressing core components of their respective Goal.

Te SDG Series has a remit as broad as the SDGs themselves, and contributions are welcome from scientists, academics, policymakers, and researchers working in felds related to any of the seventeen goals. If you are interested in contributing a monograph or curated volume to the series, please contact the Publishers: Zachary Romano [Springer; zachary.romano@ springer.com] and Rachael Ballard [Palgrave Macmillan; rachael.ballard@ palgrave.com].

Sinan Küfeoğlu

# Emerging Technologies

Value Creation for Sustainable Development

Sinan Küfeoğlu Department of Engineering University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK

The content of this publication has not been approved by the United Nations and does not refect the views of the United Nations or its offcials or Member States.

This book is an open access publication. ISSN 2523-3084 ISSN 2523-3092 (electronic) Sustainable Development Goals Series ISBN 978-3-031-07126-3 ISBN 978-3-031-07127-0 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0

Color wheel and icons: From https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

Copyright © 2020 United Nations. Used with the permission of the United Nations. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2022

**Open Access** This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifc statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

# **Foreword by Li Wan**

Technological innovation has been instrumental in the evolution of human societies. For example, the advent of motor vehicles and container ships has enabled the movement of physical goods and people at ever-increasing speed and ever-decreasing cost. It has been transforming not only the spatial structure of cities but also the political and economic geography across regions, countries and continents. It has been argued that the rate of technological changes has accelerated in the twenty-frst century, epitomised by the prevalence of artifcial intelligence (AI), which results in existential concerns over the survival of humanism against dataism. Narratives on the role and impact of digital technology seem much polarised, where technology (perhaps more specifcally, AI) has been either celebrated as the saviour for sustainability or condemned as a looming tyranny. Perhaps we need more than narratives, but evidence-based investigations and deliberations to fnd ways forward.

Dr Sinan Küfeoğlu's book represents a formidable endeavour to investigate the nexus of value-based innovation, entrepreneurial ecosystems and sustainable development. It starts by introducing a theoretical framework for understanding the value creation of/through innovation, supporting mechanisms and impact. An overview of 34 emerging technologies of varying levels of maturity is then presented, including several widely perceived megatrends. He would impress the readers by then presenting an admirable series of case studies, covering 650 innovative companies selected from 51 countries worldwide and examining their specifc technological expertise and valuebased business model in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

I worked with Dr Küfeoğlu in the 'Digital Cities for Change' programme at the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, University of Cambridge. His extensive research experience on innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems has contributed greatly to the project. His expertise on business models and fnance for technological innovation largely enhanced our understanding of digitalisations in cities as complex socio-technical transition processes.

We would need technological innovation to address the unprecedented challenges of our time such as global warming and widening disparities incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and geo-political conficts. To this end, bridging the silos between technology innovators, fnanciers, regulators and consumers has never been more urgent. This book of pragmatism is an excellent start.

Assistant Professor, Department of Land Economy Li Wan University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK

# **Foreword by Yu Wang**

I met Sinan Küfeoğlu when I was at Cambridge University as a visiting scholar in 2018. At the time, we were working together at the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG). Sinan impressed me with his diligence, quick thinking and decisive action. After two years of the epidemic, I was delighted and encouraged to receive Sinan's masterpiece during the Chinese Spring Festival.

As a legally binding international treaty on climate change, the Paris Agreement's goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 °C, compared to pre-industrial levels. Although countries submit nationally determined contributions and plans for climate action, the knowledge of available technologies to support the carbon neutrality achievement is still badly needed. Sinan's book perfectly combines the macro sustainable development goals with micro concrete technologies very well and smoothly.

First of all, the author clearly explains the defnition of technological innovation and analyses the mechanism of technology innovation, from idea to application, the fnancing and funding and the specifc commercialization model needed in the process of technology commercialization.

At the micro-level, 34 emerging technologies are sorted out and evaluated comprehensively. Listed in this book, some of them are directly related to low-carbon energy transformation and sustainable development, while others are identifed with great signifcance to the global carbon neutrality and sustainable development from the system point of view.

Based on the above emerging technologies assessment, the author combines each available technology with specifc Sustainable Development Goals and attaches success cases to illustrate how the promotion and application of these technologies contribute to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals at the macro level.

I think this is a valuable guideline and reference to policymakers, managers and researchers. Which helps policymakers draw blueprints and specifc roadmap, helps enterprise decision-makers determine the future direction of technology development and action planning and helps researchers solve problems from a more systematic perspective.

Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy Yu Wang Tsinghua University Beijing, China

# **Foreword by John Seed**

Constrained government budgets resulting from the impacts of Covid-19 threaten the transition to the green and sustainable infrastructure needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, as identifed during the recent COP26, we are at a critical juncture in the global decarbonisation transition – this decade must mark the turning point during which the transition takes hold and accelerates. For multilateral development banks (MDBs) like the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), it is, therefore, all the more important to ensure that sustainability is at the heart of every investment we make. EBRD identifed in 2020 the role that technological innovation played in improving sustainable development and included this as a core pillar in the Banks Strategic Capital Framework. The identifcation of emerging innovative technologies that genuinely improve sustainability is, therefore, an essential frst step in improving green and sustainable investment outcomes.

The SDGs now represent a global common 'language' to express sustainability impacts and contributions. There is increasing demand from stakeholders, including global investors, to identify how investments supporting transition align with and contribute to SDGs and the broad development impact spectrum. MDBs have been working to coordinate a common approach on SDG achievements from investments, and their board investment approval processes now increasing require SDG contribution justifcations. Understanding the economic, environmental and social value that innovative technologies can bring to investments in the SDG contribution language helps greatly in achieving this.

Cities are not only at the centre of the Covid-19 crisis but also play a critical role in the transition to low-carbon economies. Cities are where an evergrowing majority of people in the world live at close quarters and are where most traffc, industry and commerce are located. Hence, most of the greenhouse gas emissions in the world come from cities – making them at the same time the biggest contributor to the climate crisis and the biggest opportunity to solve it.

Now Covid-19 has cast into a still sharper focus the need for urban infrastructure everywhere to be underpinned by smart technology that intelligently supports cities' needs while keeping communities safe. This is the reason that the G20 group of leading nations' Infrastructure Working Group responded to the onset of the Covid-19 by prioritising their 'InfraTech' workstream in 2020 that looks at incorporating smart technology into infrastructure. This follows evidence that more digitally enhanced, smarter, more innovative cities have been able to mitigate Covid-19 impacts quicker and more effciently than those that aren't.

Emerging technologies also have big green benefts, as integrating innovative solutions into urban infrastructure can result in 10–15% of greenhouse gas emissions savings. This is the reason for the EBRD's recent decision to integrate smartly into its fagship Green Cities urban sustainability programme. Since 2016, this EBRD €2 billion fagship programme has brought together 52 cities that want to upgrade their infrastructure for the twenty-frst century – the aim is to have 100 cities on board by 2024. The EBRD helps each one with both municipal investments and technical support to develop tailor-made programmes for green infrastructure projects.

The EBRD's experience has been that cities start to think about building innovative technology solutions into urban infrastructure in one of two ways. Either they are led towards smart integration by public-sector champions with experience or visions of city and community beneft, or, more commonly, they gain direct experience of how such solutions make life more effcient simply via private-sector 'leapfrogging' through the introduction of new digital applications.

Hence, for EBRD, emerging technology integration will not only include recommendations on how investments will beneft from such innovations but also include an evaluation of the maturity of the city municipal government to adopt these technologies. This will ensure that any technology applications that are specifed for new infrastructure projects will be of true beneft for the city and their communities, and value for money will be achieved. The knowledge and data contained within this 'Emerging Technologies: Value Creation for Sustainable Development' will greatly assist EBRD not only in identifying viable established innovations that deliver sustainable outcomes but also in justifying their inclusion in each investment through the identifcation and quantifcation of SDG contributions.

Head of Project Preparation and Implementation, Sustainable Infrastructure Group John Seed European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) London, UK

# **Foreword by Aaron Praktiknjo**

As societies, we have the responsibility to allow our future generations a chance for a good livelihood on our planet. While important, this responsibility for sustainability encompasses not only ecological but also extends to economic and social aspects. The 193 member states of the United Nations (UN) have committed themselves to this responsibility by agreeing on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) until 2030.

Germany has formulated a Sustainable Development Strategy in line with the 17 SDGs. Innovative sustainable technologies play a crucial role in Germany's strategy to reach these goals. The future technologies package, with a funding volume of EUR 50 billion, aims at fostering these sustainable innovations in fve domains: (1) mobility, (2) energy and climate, (3) digitalisation, (4) education and research and (5) healthcare.

In this book, Sinan Küfeoğlu analyses the potential of 34 emerging technologies for the 17 SDGs. However, this book does not limit itself to sustainable technologies but also includes an in-depth review of business models of 650 innovative companies. The lessons learnt in this book will be a guiding source for entrepreneurs, policymakers and regulators, and all those who want to learn about modern business development with emerging technologies to help contribute to a sustainable future.

School of Business and Economics Aaron Praktiknjo RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany

# **Foreword by Alex O'Cinneide**

I had the great pleasure of working with Sinan for a while in Cambridge, where his different approach and background to our shared research agenda in the area of energy transition allowed me to think about the feld in a very new way. When combined with aspects of social science and policy, his hard science and engineering knowledge led to many great conversations on topics where his depth of expertise (and sense of humour) allowed those chats to develop in many interesting ways. Our many conversations have improved my background as an investor in renewables and clean technologies. He is regarded by both his peers and his students as a radical thinker on the most important of topics. It is clear that we now need to embark upon a radical departure from the present socio-technical paths throughout the world's energy structures if we are to achieve sustainability and low-carbon goals. The quest for a bold energy system transformation has underscored the signifcant realisation gap between sustainability goals and current untenable paths. This transition creates a systemic task that our societies must meet, and Sinan's career is focused on helping that task, and this book is an important tool within that work.

Renewable energy policies have been created and implemented worldwide for much of the last 30 years, and the role of emerging technologies has been key to the development of those policies. Those policies and the work the UN has undertaken with their Sustainable Development Goals have been key in helping guide those policies and, therefore, the actual on the ground development. Although those goals are often treated as dry legal documents, they are critical support for how actors should use and develop technologies for our fght against climate change and the transformation of the energy system. The investigation of the innovation journey highlights the challenges facing society due to climate change. This book – addressing innovation as a concept, a detailed review of various emerging technologies and then a compression with the goals themselves – should provide a valuable tool for researchers, policymakers and the critical industry in pushing forward our transition to a low-carbon society.

CEO Gore Street Capital London, UK Alex O'Cinneide

# **Foreword by Seungwan Kim**

It has been my pleasure to know Sinan Küfeoğlu since 2018 as a colleague and friend. We met as post-doctoral researchers at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. I was thrilled when Sinan told me about his academic interests and achievements because they were almost the same as mine unbelievably. Our daily discussions in the offce mainly were about climate change, sustainability development, the future of zero-carbon energy systems, energy transactions and all kinds of related emerging technologies. After not that long academic visit, we continued our research inspired by our discussions back in 2018 on our own paths.

In the November of the last year, South Korea claimed a goal of 2050 Carbon Neutrality and enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with a strong will of mitigating climate change. Since then, diverse opinions have been expressed from the political world, academia, media and industry professionals. The most important one of the several issues is fnding a new way of sustainable development that can simultaneously reduce carbon emission and economic development.

Many policymakers and researchers in South Korea think that emerging technologies introduced in this book are keys to a new future of the Korean economy with a high-tech manufacturing base. In addition, creating new jobs for the young and transitioning to a start-up economy from family-owned conglomerates, called Chaebols, are also important matters for the sustainable development of the South Korean economy ecosystem.

This book will be a guiding source for those who want to learn a comprehensive foundation of innovative economics and their business practices, to overview up-to-date emerging technologies and their relationship with 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to search a variety of real cases of innovative companies for each SDG.

I am delighted to endorse *Emerging Technologies: Value Creation for Sustainable Development* as an inspiring book quenching readers' thirst with a big picture of a sustainable future.


Seungwan Kim

# **Foreword by Soysal Değirmenci**

Artifcial Intelligence (AI) is a feld aimed to devise systems with 'humanlike' intelligence. These systems can range from playing board games such as Go or predicting whether there is a cat in a given image or not. Machine learning (ML), a sub-feld of AI, uses data to build such systems that can learn and improve in tasks of interest.

Thanks to digital transformation, a tremendous amount of data has been available for academia and industry to research and improve systems' capabilities. This, along with advances in computing and AI research, enabled companies and researchers to build more capable AI models than ever before. AI algorithms can rapidly build and improve systems that can perform tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence. Now, we are at an important junction where some of such systems can perform at a human level or even better than a human level in some cases.

AI is already a part of our everyday lives. The apps we use on our smartphones, ads we see on the internet, TV shows we are recommended on streaming platforms and credit scores we receive all use a form of AI. Amazon leverages AI and ML in many domains to delight its customers. These include but are not limited to search, recommendations, logistics, stopping fraud and abuse and conversational voice assistants.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of how emerging technologies, including AI, can generate value for sustainable development. I highly recommend this book to readers interested in understanding the emerging technology landscape and how they relate to the UN sustainable development goals.

Machine Learning Scientist Soysal Değirmenci Amazon San Diego, CA, USA

# **Contents**





# **About the Author**

**Sinan Küfeoğlu** is working as the International Outstanding Research Fellow at the Scientifc and Technological Research Council of Turkey on his project 'Digitalisation in Energy Sector: Digital Solutions and New Business Models'. He is a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. He also works as a research associate at the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge. Furthermore, he is leading the collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in preparing recommendations for boosting the digital resilience of critical infrastructure. This work is a part of the EBRD's Digital Pathways agenda. He was an adviser at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), CIFAL Istanbul, for integrating United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into university education and provided consultancy to the World Bank in the feld of application of Machine Learning in electric power system.

**Dr Küfeoğlu** completed his DSc and MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering at Aalto University, Finland in 2015 and 2011, respectively. He got his BSc degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, in 2009. His research interests include energy futures, sustainable development, energy economics and technology policy.

Akif Ekrekli in completing this chapter.

# **1 Innovation, Value Creation and Impact Assessment**

### **Abstract**

Emerging technologies can be defned as a set of technologies whose development and application areas are still expanding rapidly, and their technical and value potential is still largely unrealised. Naturally, this leads to a vivid innovation environment for these technologies. In this book, tech-savvy people can easily read and understand the working principles of 34 different emerging technologies. And then, they can see in what areas these technologies are used and how they can create value. Moreover, the book starts with an "Innovation Journey" chapter. This chapter focuses on innovation and how ideas are converted into value and business. By value, we mean monetary, environmental and social value. In addition, for entrepreneurs and startups, we also show the funding and fnancing mechanisms for innovative ideas.

### **Keywords**

Value creation · Impact assessment · Business model · Innovation

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Emre Çağatay Gümüş, Abdullah Talip Akgün, Ali Kağan Önver, Nisa Erdem, Mert Yavaşca and Mehmet Climate change and sustainability are alarming subjects in the world. On the other hand, mitigating the adverse effects of climate change, protecting the economies and supporting green business growth are other concerns as well. "Emerging Technologies: Value Creation for Sustainable Development" compiles 34 emerging technologies and investigates their use cases in 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals felds. After reviewing thousands of companies worldwide, we explore the business models of 650 noteworthy and innovative companies from 51 countries. These models demonstrate how technologies are converted to value to support sustainable development. The technologies are the ones with market diffusion. Thus, we deliberately omitted the research and development stage ones that are not commercially available. The book focuses on the use of emerging technologies to support sustainable development. Authorities and policymakers will investigate how technology is utilised to foster any of the 17 goals by seeing the novel and innovative business models all around the world.

One purpose is to attract the attention of the technological world. Emerging technologies can be defned as a set of technologies whose development and application areas are still expanding rapidly, and their technical and value potential is still largely unrealised. Naturally, this leads to a vivid innovation environment for these technologies. In this book, tech-savvy people can easily

<sup>©</sup> The Author(s) 2022

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_1

read and understand the working principles of 34 different emerging technologies. And then, they can see in what areas these technologies are used and how they can create value. Moreover, the book starts with an "Innovation Journey" chapter. This chapter focuses on innovation and how ideas are converted into value and business. By value, we mean monetary, environmental and social value. In addition, for entrepreneurs and startups, we also show the funding and fnancing mechanisms for innovative ideas. On the other hand, the companies and investors will be able to see what sort of skills and competencies are used in various felds. They can follow bright and successful use cases and see how they can expand their businesses in other sectors. The 650 companies include international corporations as well as numerous bright and promising start-ups. This will give corporations an opportunity for acquisition and investment opportunities.

This book aims to present that emerging technologies can create economic, environmental and social value to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The book is organised as follows: Chap. 1 investigates the innovation journey by focusing on the innovation process, supporting mechanisms for innovation, funding and fnancing mechanisms, business model theory and value creation and, fnally, impact assessment. Chapter 2 presents 34 emerging technologies, including 3D Printing, 5G, Advanced Materials, Artifcial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles, Big Data, Biometrics, Bioplastics, Biotech and Biomanufacturing, Blockchain, Carbon Capture and Storage, Cellular Agriculture, Cloud Computing, Crowdfunding, Cybersecurity, Datahubs, Digital Twins, Distributed Computing, Drones, Edge Computing, Energy Storage, Flexible Electronics and Wearables, Healthcare Analytics, Hydrogen, Internet of Behaviours, Internet of Things, Natural Language Processing, Quantum Computing, Recycling, Robotic Process Automation, Robotics, Soilless Farming, Spatial Computing and Wireless Power Transfer. The following chapters briefy provide information about 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and present the business models of 650 use cases from 51 countries worldwide. The 17 SDGs with their respected UN SDG numbers are: (1) No Poverty; (2) Zero Hunger; (3) Good Health and Well-being; (4) Quality Education; (5) Gender Equality; (6) Clean Water and Sanitation; (7) Affordable and Clean Energy; (8) Decent Work and Economic Growth; (9) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; (10) Reduced Inequality; (11) Sustainable Cities and Communities; (12) Responsible Consumption and Production; (13) Climate Action; (14) Life Below Water; (15) Life On Land; (16) Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; and (17) Partnerships for the Goals. Finally, we conclude the book with a conclusion and a brief discussion.

## **1.1 Innovation**

Innovation means creative destruction or a process of industrial evolution (Schumpeter 1942). Innovation can be achieved by new products or processes, manufacturing methods, markets and supply chains and new organisational structures and more (Joseph Schumpeter 1934). From the built environment perspective, social innovation has come forth as a tool to address challenges faced by the environment and societies and foster sustainable development (Horgan and Dimitrijević 2018). Moreover, social innovation is necessary to respond to "an unmet social need" (Murray et al. 2010). Procurement of innovation can be done by purchasing the process of innovation or its outcomes. On the other hand, public procurement is a term used to represent the purchase of goods, services and works by government units and state-owned institutions (Crisan 2020). The public acquisition enables public institutions to perform their functions. The procurement of innovation can be used to achieve social outcomes (Crisan 2020). As a result of those benefts, public institutions are in favour of innovation and public procurement. To take advantage of those benefts, fostering innovation is a reasonable strategy for public management.

Demand-side policies to trigger innovation, including public procurement, can be applied through the whole life cycle of innovation. Innovation life cycle follows the pattern of identifying problems, generating ideas, developing proposals, implementing projects, evaluating projects and fnally diffusing lessons (OECD and Statistical Offce of the European Communities 2005). Public procurement can be used as an innovation fostering tool in two ways: public procurement of innovation (PPI) and pre-commercial procurement (PCP). PPI refers to buying an innovation that is new to the market or is not commercialised, whereas PCP means buying an innovation that does not exist in the market and is looking for help in its R&D (Rolfstam 2012). PPI is realised when products are ready to enter the market or already in the market in small sizes (European Commission 2020). The innovation process of goods or services does not end. Publicly procured goods or services may have a chance to gain scale in time, such as production in high volumes, acquisition of new customers and procurement overseas. Corporate growth can be determined by the market's available resources and consumption rates (Bettencourt et al. 2007). When the solution posed by the project has other buyers both from public and private institutions, production and consumption will increase by nature. The next question that should be examined is why growth in PPI projects is benefcial for governments? The answer is that the scaling of PPI projects leads to a more stable and stronger market (European Commission 2020). Public procurement of innovation will endorse innovation through (Lember et al. 2011):


In addition to the increase in production and innovation, companies with public sector support for innovative solutions can become more successful in exportation. It means that growth from globalisation in those small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is more likely to happen (Love and Roper 2015). Scaling and growth are crucial in terms of sustainable innovation. A successful local start-up with an innovative solution should extend its products and/or services overseas for growth.

A broader defnition of PPI refers to a policy instrument that supports innovation and includes small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the public procurement process (Radoslav Delina 2021). Public procurement of innovation is a powerful tool for regional authorities since it encourages innovation in small frms, which is easier than PPI at large frms and is helpful for economic growth in those frms (Crisan 2020). Based on earlier research, several conditions to achieve an effective public procurement are identifed as (1) expertise in PPI laws and procedures, (2) strategic management of PPI, (3) market interaction, (4) risk management, (5) coordination and communication and (6) capacity building (Radoslav Delina 2021).

On the other hand, as catalysers of the innovation ecosystem, cities can serve as testbeds to trial innovative and novel ideas, services and solutions. As we will see in section Innovation Districts, various innovative solutions need city infrastructure to test their ideas, services or products. Therefore, cities often step forth as an ideal place to provide this support and see the innovation's performance in the whole phases of the innovation journey.

When it comes to the effcient use of resources, we must underline technology diffusion. By diffusion, we mean one technological solution to a problem that might answer fully or partially other problems as well. This tells us that one particular technological application may diffuse to other areas where it was not intended at the beginning of the design phase. We reviewed numerous approaches and wished to highlight the outcomebased approach which is adopted by the London Offce for Technology & Innovation (LOTI). Figure 1.1 shows the LOTI outcome-based approach ideology.

The LOTI approach starts with looking for real-life outcomes that the local authorities wish to achieve. Then they go back to discovering the problems preventing these outcomes. After defning and developing phases, the process is

**Fig. 1.1** The outcome-based approach of the London Offce for Technology & Innovation. (LOTI 2021)

achieved by delivering a prototype that performs the best. We reviewed widely adopted mechanisms globally and briefed some of the prominent ones in the following section.

# **1.1.1 Mechanisms for Supporting Innovation**

### **1.1.1.1 Innovation Districts**

These districts are characterised as places where cutting-edge anchor organisations and companies cluster and interact with start-ups, business incubators and accelerators. They are also functionally compact, usable for transport and technically wired and offer lodging, offce and retail for mixed use (Brookings 2014). Figure 1.2 illustrates the components of an innovation district.

### **1.1.1.2 Regulatory Sandboxes**

Regulatory sandboxes allow a targeted testing atmosphere under a particular testing strategy for new products, facilities or business models, which typically entail a degree of regulatory leniency along with some protections (PARENTI 2020). Table 1.1 summarises the potential benefts of regulatory sandboxes.

### **1.1.1.3 Living Labs**

With the collaboration and co-creation of customers, collaborators and other parties, living labs bring innovation from the R&D teams of businesses to real-life environments. Utiliser-driven, enabler-driven, provider-driven and user-driven living labs are four different types of networks characterised by open innovation. The typology is based on interviews with participants in Finland, Sweden, Spain and South Africa from 26 living laboratories. Companies will beneft from learning the features of each type of living laboratory; this information can help them recognise which actor drives creativity, predict future consequences and determine what kind of function they can play in a "living laboratory". Living labs are networks that can help us build technologies that are superior to consumer requirements that can be easily upgraded to the global market. Table 1.2 represents the details of these living labs (Leminen et al. 2012).

In some countries or in different contexts, the concept of living labs and innovation districts might be used in similar fashions. For example, in Finland, Forum Virium Helsinki is a typical living lab and innovation ecosystem usually held for the innovation districts. One of the prominent characteristic differences between living labs and

**Fig. 1.2** Components of an innovation district. (Brookings 2014)

**Table 1.1** Potential benefts of regulatory sandboxes (PARENTI 2020)


innovation districts is that the former is more product-focused, while the latter is more focused on market creation. Innovation districts step forth in transforming products that come out of the living lab into marketable, feasible and useful assets for the residents of the cities (Cosgrave et al. 2013).

# **1.2 How to Finance and Fund Innovation**

The approval of an innovative idea in the eyes of the public is somewhat refected in the market's reaction to the idea. For this reason, a test almost all entrepreneurs face when formulating an innovation is the task of fnding essential funding. Depending on the business model, an innovation may require and take advantage of different funding options, each with its advantages and disadvantages. An innovation with a focus on improving a problem the public faces, despite a lower proftability prediction, might be more eligible in obtaining grants provided by governments, intergovernmental organisations, universities, non-governmental organisations and entities or a hybrid of these mentioned bodies. Yet, a new business with a clearer high-growth business plan that would potentially provide a high return to investors on their investment could attract different kinds of funds, such as those made by venture capitalists or angel investors. Alternatively, a small company formed with smaller short-term goals or ones that require smaller amounts of initial investment might beneft by taking out a small bank loan or asking



family and friends for funds. All the mentioned funding options each have their advantages and disadvantages, and we will try to mention some of them independently.

# **1.2.1 Loans as a Means of Financing Innovation**

One of the main tools of fnancing used throughout many sectors of the business world is loans. A loan is described as "an amount of money that is borrowed… and has to be paid back" (Cambridge Dictionary 2021). Most scenarios under these loans take place either by obtaining a loan from a personal relative or getting credit from a bank. With smaller amounts required to fnance innovation, this method would be highly effective, as it does not have any implication on the business itself, and there is a defnite method of paying back. Furthermore, different forms of fnancing have been present in the start-up ecosystem. The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) is an organisation that promotes innovation. Out of several different fnancing options Nesta provides, project-specifc loans and convertible loans to equity options are two we fnd important to mention. Although details vary with each project and each agreement, a "repayable grant" option used with projectspecifc loans states that a loan is only required to be paid back if the innovation is successful. Some agreements also include a zero-interest loan structure (Nesta 2018).

# **1.2.2 Grants as an Incentive to Fuel Innovation**

A widely used form of fnancing that is generally benefcial to new innovative ideas is the obtaining of grants. The State of Queensland states that "…grants have specifc application requirements and usually relate to… certain stages of the business cycle…" (Queensland Government 2021). This is the case with many models of grant funding systems. For example, the European Commission's Innovation Fund states that projects that will be awarded will be selected on the following criteria: "effectiveness of greenhouse gas emissions avoidance, degree of innovation, project maturity, scalability, and cost-effciency" (European Commission 2021). Similarly, the European Investment Bank InnovFin Energy Demonstration Projects (EDP), which is a product produced by the European Investment Bank that supports innovations, points out several different eligibility criteria (European Investment Bank 2021). InnovFin EDP's funding eligibility requirements, among others, include the innovativeness of the project, readiness for demonstration at scale and prospects of bankability.

# **1.2.2.1 Example Case Study for Eligibility and Procedures for Grant Approval**

In November 2018, the Government of Canada launched the Sustainable Development Goals Funding Program to further the world's goal of achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, advancement of research and increasing partnerships (Government of Canada 2020). All members of the United Nations had committed to the same goals and had mobilised similar fnancial incentives for the advancement of the 17 SDGs. This specifc Canadian funding program was open for application to nonproft organisations, networks or committees, research organisations and institutes, for-proft organisations and many more. If you could describe how your project proposal would advance 2 of the 17 SDGs, require less than \$100,000 and last no longer than 12 months, you would be eligible to apply for this funding program.

While the contents of the project are of utmost importance, similar to the eligibility requirements, the application assessments are clear. Firstly, the fund requires your project to explicitly identify what problem your project will solve and procure reasoning for your methodology. Secondly, the project application should provide clear and specifc timelines and descriptions for every aspect of activities. Later on, the application then requires expected and desired outcomes of the project that link to the SDGs. Furthermore, and more importantly, the application requires you to include result measurement indicators. Lastly, a detailed report indicating required funds and how they correspond to different costs is required.

Grants from such fnanciers have many similar properties to this case. While it is extremely important to straighten out bureaucratic and procedural details, many funds intend to incentivise innovations without deterring bright and entrepreneurial minds.

# **1.2.3 Role of Venture Capitals and Business Angels in Innovation Financing**

Startup Genome's Global Startup Ecosystem Report from 2019 indicates that 11 in 12 new businesses fail (Startup Genome 2019). These new businesses with high risks might not be able to take out huge amounts of loans from banks without any collateral. In such cases, taking out loans would not be a feasible and sensible option to fnance your innovation. Venture capital meets the needs that not many institutions can, "…as traditional fnancing such as bank loans became more complex to attract, the development of alternative investments, like seed and start-up capital investments, crowdfunding, venture capital, and business angels, became a bold topic" (Dibrova 2015). Although, for VCs to fll in this void of high-risk investments, VCs expect a high enough return to "…attract private equity funds, attractive returns for its participants, and suffcient upside potential to entrepreneurs to attract high-quality ideas that will generate high returns" (Zider 1998). Robinson's (1987) study indicates that personal motivation, organisation skills and executive experience were the most critical criteria of VC's choice of investment in an investee company/person. Moreover, in a growth industry, substantial growth objectives by a complete management team with enough expertise had a very important role in the decision. Albeit these criteria, it is accepted that VC investments tend to be risky investments (Schilit 1993). Thus, informational asymmetries, a high amount of required capital and very important business risk in venture capital led to the requirement of a higher overall return by venture capital companies (Manigart et al. 2002). From the perspective of an innovative business idea leader, the pressure caused by the expectation of a lucrative exit option may be a disadvantage. Along with giving up some equity and voting power to the venture capitalist, independence in setting a course for your company may be curtailed. Furthermore, reports indicate that the agency problem associated with venture capital frms means that each venture capital professional may only spend less than 2 hours per week on a specifed investment (Zider 1998). On the other hand, business angels provide extensive mentoring services as they invest their own money into the business; they see a potential of proft. "Business angels are individuals who offer risk capital to unlisted frms…" (Politis 2008). A comparison with venture capital is that business angels give more importance to the entrepreneur and "investor ft" issue (Mason and Stark 2004).

### **1.2.4 Venture Capitals**

Venture capital (VC) is an important source of capital for small businesses that has steadily grown into a major part of funders' portfolios (Javed et al. 2019). Fresh and creative businesses that cannot obtain conventional fnancing (such as bank loans) can fnd VC investments a valuable option (Bellucci et al. 2021). VCs can invest in innovation and frms at several stages of the innovation journey. VC investment certainly helps in scaling and growth of the innovative ideas as they come into the picture in these late phases. Lerner and Nanda (2020) list three concerning matters regarding the role of VCs in the fnancing of innovation:


3. The relaxation in recent years of the intense emphasis on corporate governance by venture capital frms

The European VC funds, with an average of €56 million, are much smaller than the US VC funds, which are €156 million on average (VentureEU 2020). Furthermore, venture capitalists invested about €6.5 billion in the EU compared to €39.4 billion in the USA in 2016 (VentureEU 2020). We may conclude that Europe needs bigger VC funds to support R&D and innovation.

# **1.2.5 Crowdfunding as a Modern Alternative to Financing Innovation**

Crowdfunding had emerged and developed within the Internet community, mostly within the creative industries such as the arts and media; thus, it was mostly unnoticed by the outside world (Hemer 2011). Accordingly, data shows that the interest revolving around the concept of crowdfunding has emerged largely post-2010 and peaked around 2015, as can be seen in Fig. 1.3 (Google Trends 2021). Consequently, today, crowdfunding has become a prevalent mode of fnancing and has a very wide usage across several sectors. Today, crowdfunding is a method for funding new ventures that allows founders to request funding from many people in exchange for future products or equity (Mollick 2014). There are two major forms of crowdfunding: entrepreneurs soliciting individuals either to pre-order the product or an advancement of a fxed amount of money in exchange for equity (Bellefamme et al. 2014). While some innovators use crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and GoFundMe to utilise early adopter fnancing for their needs, some tend to rely on this method as a continuous fnancing tool similar to a subscription model. In this regard, the dynamic nature of this form of fnancing creates new uses constantly.

### **1.2.6 Public-Private Partnerships**

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a collaboration between a governmental agency and a private sector corporation that can be used to fund, develop and run projects such as public transit networks, parks and conference centres. Financing a project in a public-private collaboration will help it get done faster or even get it started in the frst place. Tax or other operating income compromises, liability insurance and partial ownership interests to nominally public services and land are all standard features of public-private partnerships (Brock 2021). The smart city is a holistic concept for dealing with urbanisation problems in modern cities. Publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) are a blueprint for the public and private sectors to cooperate on designing and implementing smart city infrastructure projects (Liu et al. 2020).

Apart from the mechanisms we list here, there might be other useful approaches in the procurement and support of innovation. Further tools and mechanisms for the funding and fnancing of innovation will be explained in the following sections.

# **1.3 The Business Model Theory**

### **1.3.1 What Is a Business Model?**

A business model has no universally accepted defnition. The origin of the business model defnition goes back to Drucker's (1994) defnition of this model with four fundamental questions:


Figure 1.4 summarises the business model core components.

These components are developed to solve these core concerns for every company.

**Fig. 1.3** Global search interest over time – "crowdfunding". (Google Trends 2021)

**Fig. 1.4** Components of a business model. (Hamel 2000)

Companies use business models to describe how they create income by referring to the value chain structure and its relationship with the industry value system (Fisken and Rutherford 2002). Rambow et al. state that businesses striving for long-term commercial success are being pushed by digitisation to adapt business models to new market scenarios or build new business models when the old ones become outdated due to technological progress (2019). To take advantage of new technology and develop an innovation (as in Apple's case), a new model is frequently required. Apple revolutionised portable entertainment, created a new industry and transformed the frm when it debuted the iPod and the iTunes store in 2003. In just 3 years, the iPod/iTunes combo became a roughly \$10 billion product, accounting for over half of Apple's sales. Apple's market value soared from less than a billion dollars in early 2003 to more than \$150 billion by late 2007 (Johnson et al. 2008).

Companies sometimes fnd themselves in a predicament that appears insurmountable. The core reason for all of these catastrophes is not that things are not done well. The seeming paradox arises from the fact that the assumptions upon which the organisation was founded and is still operating no longer hold. These are marketrelated assumptions. It's all about fguring out who your consumers and rivals are, as well as their beliefs and behaviours (Drucker 1994). All of these crisis processes may be managed by creating a proper business strategy. According to Masanell and Ricart, the success or failure of a company's business model, on the other hand, is mostly defned by how it interacts with the models of other industry participants (2011). For instance, one frm model may appear to be superior to others when analysed in isolation, but when interactions are taken into consideration, it provides less value than the others. Isolating models lead to inaccurate assessments of their strengths and faults, as well as bad decision-making. This is a big reason why so many innovative business concepts fail.

# **1.3.2 How to Create a Business Model?**

The notion of a business model has grown signifcantly more popular as a result of digital developments. New applications, services, platforms, data and gadgets have created a crowded playground for all types of businesses looking to capitalise on new opportunities. New businesses have sprung on the scene, with varying degrees of success and exponential expansion. Both experienced and new players have the need to overcome similar obstacles in common. They need to generate value for connected consumers by developing new business models that function in the digital environment (Zott and Amit 2017).

The business model is a system of interrelated and interdependent activities that governs how a frm interacts with its stakeholders. How can a corporation improve its chances of establishing the best business model for its circumstances (Zott and Amit 2017)? Answers to questions seen in Fig. 1.5 and their repercussions make up a business strategy.

A business model consists of four interrelated components that work together to create and provide value. Every component of the model should be compatible with the rest of the model:


# **1.3.3 Value Proposition (What Are They Ofering?)**

Developing a business model entails more than just fnishing your business strategy and deciding which goods to pursue. It is also about fguring out how you'll provide your clients with continuous value. At the start of their business, every frm seeks to fgure out if their business model will meet demand and be accepted by the market. It is not enough to know how to produce, create or supply anything; the product or service offered also has to be valuable to potential clients. It is a misconception to believe that "They will come" if you build it. Figure 1.6 depicts a value proposition canvas, which is useful for determining a new product or service's business model. The value proposition that will be built with the components on the canvas will aid in determining the point of junction of the frms' products and the customer. Offering value propositions and marketing approaches feed customer awareness of frms (Myler 2013). Customers must fnd an advantage at least as much as the extra value they receive from the product they are now using to move from another to yours (Golub et al. 2000).

**Fig. 1.5** Business model creation diagram. (HBS 2019)

The purpose of the value proposition is to provide answers to the following questions:


Firms make strategic decisions about how to position their innovations to disrupt rival frms. Disruptive innovations should be assessed in the context of a company's business strategy (Christensen et al. 2018, p. 1050). Accordingly, enterprises must propose and regularly renew new value propositions as part of their innovation operations and business strategy for a business model to disrupt other companies. In this way, companies can attract mainstream customers from their competitors (Schmidt and Scaringella 2020).

Companies create completely new consumer value propositions by solving a challenge that has never been solved before. One of these new propositions may be Apple's iPod and iTunes electronic entertainment distribution system (Johnson et al. 2008). As another example, when GE Aircraft Engines changed from selling airlines jet engines to selling them fying hours, they created a unique value proposition. This transferred the risk of downtime from the airline to GE, allowing the company to build a very successful service operation (Chesbrough 2007).

# **1.3.4 Targeted Customers (Who Are They Targeting?)**

It is all about establishing your target market for marketing your company. A conceptual model for measuring the impact of marketing tactics on both targeted and untargeted clients is shown in Fig. 1.7. The individual you believe is most likely to buy your items is your targeted customer. The target customer base includes a certain age rather than a variety of ages, a specifc income level rather than a wide range of income kinds and the possibility that these people will buy your items (Belcher 2019). This phase in the business model development process aids in the development of marketing strategies as well as the estimation of income and costs, taking into consideration the various types of business models and clients.

Recent techniques to engage with your consumer base faster and more accurately for targeting are available in the digital world. By utilising digital technologies to broaden conventional marketing channels, a wide range of channels may be supplied, going beyond the usual usage of established tools such as newsletters or email marketing (Schrock et al. 2016). In addition, digital technologies enable companies to collect new information about customers. In industrial marketing contexts, digital technologies enable communication between frms and their consumers in B2C environments and allow for the use of various channels to identify and target customers (Spieth et al. 2019).

Companies may appeal to various customer groups while retaining their current fnancial ratios by using a new value network. Nestlé, for example, created Nespresso, a coffee shop that has been compared to an upscale Starbucks, to appeal to young urban professionals. Nestlé's coffee company, which had historically offered instant coffee to the mass market through department and grocery shops, gained a new value network and a different customer base with Nespresso (Koen et al. 2011).

# **1.3.5 Value Creation/Value Delivery (How Are They Planning to Create and Deliver Their Service?)**

After frms have decided on a value proposition, you need to ensure that it "echoes" across the business system, ensuring that every corporate activity reinforces the chosen value. A relevant framework for examining this echoing process is the value delivery system (Golub et al. 2000). Golub et al. state that customers base their purchase decisions on two factors: the advantages and pricing of a product or service. Generally, customers choose the item or service that provides the highest value among competing options. There is a signifcant point that the winning approach is usually the one that best executes the value proposition, not the one with the most appealing value. Figure 1.8 depicts the purchase decisions of customers and its relation to value creation and delivery.

In more conventional elections, managers split frms' systems of production into three segments: create value, develop a product and sell it. This method could be more useful for production-side issues like cost reduction. However, when developing a complex value offer, it is more benefcial to make the business system customer-centric:

**Fig. 1.7** Differential perceptions of marketing tactic. (Belcher 2019)

**Fig. 1.8** Purchase decisions of customers. (Golub et al. 2000)

choosing the value, delivering the value and communicating the value to the customer. A value distribution system is a business system created in this manner. According to Daeyoup and Jaeyoung (2015), businesses plan how to distribute their value proposition to the value network and deliver to value users to have an effective business. The process of creating and delivering value has some advantages for businesses. Firms aim to enhance their methods for boosting customer satisfaction, understanding consumer preferences, lowering inventory, increasing inventory turnover, reducing stock-out situations and improving time to market as part of this process, which might lead to fnancial gains. Furthermore, the creation and delivery planning process provides insight into which values are more widely accepted by consumers, market participants and suppliers (2015).

# **1.3.6 Value Capture/Revenue Model (What Are the Sources of Their Expected Revenue, and How Are They Planning to Create This?)**

The main goal of a business model is to produce money by extracting value from what it creates. According to Richardson (2008), it does not follow that a company that develops a compelling value proposition and effectively generates and distributes that value would earn higher returns or even be sustainable. It must also have a revenue-generating mechanism with a proft margin over its costs. The revenue model is made up of this part of the business model. It's important to distinguish between the income model and the economic model. The income model identifes the many sources of income or income that the company gets. On the other hand, the economic model is concerned with the frm's expenses, margins and different fnancial elements.

The business model should have well-defned strategies for monetising corporate value through value generation and capture (Daeyoup and Jaeyoung 2015). The revenue model consists of all strategy research to achieve this proft potential. Pricing the offer, service delivery and infrastructure improvements should all offer attractive proft potential for growth and innovation under a viable revenue model (Advantage 2021).

Different methods can be used when creating a revenue model – advertising models, subscription models and sales tactics, to name a few. As an example of a revenue model, Spotify introduced its product to US audiences in 2011. Spotify's revenue model was noticeably different from other music streaming services. Unlike Pandora, which relied on advertising revenue, and Apple Music, which went with a premium approach, Spotify went with a freemium strategy. That is, it provided a free basic service and a paid premium service with additional material, functionality and a superior user experience (Tidhar and Eisenhardt 2020).

## **1.4 What Is Value?**

# **1.4.1 What Do We Mean When We Say "Value"?**

The word "value" is used in a variety of ways in today's commercial and economic environment. It often refers to the monetary worth that a person, company or the market assigns to a commodity, goods or service. In truth, in today's economy, most goods and services such as commodities, tangible properties, intangible properties, services and labour, lands and businesses are priced according to their monetary value. However, the term value has gained a different dimension in economy and business, especially with the emergence of the "triple bottom line" approach, frst coined by John Elkington in 1994 as mentioned in "Enter the Triple Bottom Line" (Elkington 2004). In the following section, we will frst analyse economic, monetary and business value, discuss the distinctions between them, examine the concepts of environmental and social value for businesses and analyse the triple bottom line.

# **1.4.2 Economic Value, Monetary Value and Business Value**

### **1.4.2.1 Economic Value**

A product or service's economic value is a metric used in economics to assess its beneft to a particular economic agent. It is often calculated using the people's willingness to pay for the product, which is usually expressed in monetary units. A person's preferences infuence the economic value of an item or service, as well as the trade-offs they are prepared to make to get it. Suppose a person owns an apple, for example. In that case, the economic value of that fruit is the advantage that they obtain from using it. If they plan to eat the apple, the economic value is the pleasure they expect to gain from doing so. Economic value cannot be directly assessed since it is subjective and reliant on a person's preferences. However, several approaches for quantifying or estimating economic worth have been created, such as "willingness to pay (WTP)" or "hedonic pricing".

### **1.4.2.2 Monetary Value**

The monetary worth of an item or service is the price that would be paid for it if it were transferred to a foreign party. The monetary worth of physical, intangible, labour and commodity assets, for example, is used to determine their prices. The fnancial effect of risk is estimated using the expected monetary value.

### **1.4.2.3 Business Value**

In management, the phrase "business value" refers to all types of value that have a long-term impact on the health and viability of a company. The idea of a company's "business value" extends beyond its "economic worth" to encompass a variety of other types of value, such as the value of its employees, customers, suppliers, channel partners, alliance partners, managers and society at large. In many cases, various types of value can't be explicitly monetised. There is no agreedupon defnition of business value, yet there are some economists who argue that focusing just on fnancial metrics, such as proft and shareholder value, is not enough to help businesses make decisions.

### **1.4.3 Environmental Value**

Environmental values and valuation of nature are diffcult to understand in part because these terms are used in so many contexts and so many ways. Human and ecological values may be quantifed as assistance to decision-making in certain cases. Some people are against environmental value because they believe it equates to "putting a price label on nature" or "lowering ethics to statistics and numbers". Yet environmental value remains a hot topic today that every company, organisation or community strives to integrate into their operations, plans and activities.

Economists who study the relationship between the economy and the environment confront an ever-increasing need for environmental values to be calculated now. There are several instances of how people proft from the use of natural resources, such as forests, rivers and other ecosystem services, which may be used as examples of how essential nature is to the economy. Because of this, environmental concerns are becoming a more prominent part of our daily lives and, as a direct result of this, in political and policymaking circles. Cost-beneft analyses (CBAs) commonly include environmental values as a consideration. This kind of research is used to examine and evaluate current and prospective programs and policies and to evaluate their impact on society.

The use of economic values to influence environmental decision-making has been embraced and implemented by many institutions and organisations that have developed environmental processes and standards for public sector projects that emphasise the need for environmental valuation and cost-benefit analysis. Environmental value is becoming more significant in policymaking, considering the stronger ties between natural capital and economies in emerging nations. Multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank, have begun incorporating environmental valuation methodologies and norms into their planning processes in response to the UN Sustainable Development Goals inception and adoption.

As stated above, there are many views and debates on environmental values, whether it can be evaluated through monetary evaluation techniques or whether it is ethical to value the environment within economic terms. As an expected result of these discussions, there are many views or criteria on valuation techniques of the environment. In this subsection, fve basic categories for environmental valuation that are proposed by Harris and Roach (2017) are discussed (Harris and Roach 2017).

### A. Market Valuation

Harris and Roach suggest that forests, fsh populations, minerals and groundwater are just a few examples of environmental assets that are already being traded on the open market. They say that economists can assess the direct-use value of these resources by calculating the consumer and producer surplus (Harris and Roach 2017).

### B. Cost of Illness Method

The cost-of-illness analysis is a method for estimating the fnancial toll that a particular sickness or condition has on a person. Harris and Roach defne the cost-of-illness method as pollution's negative effects may be valued using the cost-of-illness method, which estimates the costs of treating illnesses caused by the pollutant (Harris and Roach 2017). Environmental impacts and operations of businesses often affect human life directly or indirectly.

### C. Replacement Cost Methods

The cost of restoring or replacing a resource, such as fertilising the soil to restore fertility, is estimated using the replacement cost method. Harris and Roach state that these techniques consider the costs of acts that offer human-made replacements for lost ecological services. For instance, if a forest ecosystem were to disappear, a town may build a water treatment facility to compensate for the loss of water purifying advantages. To some degree, the pollination of plants by bees might be done manually or mechanically by some automatic system. They say that we can approximate society's willingness to pay for these environmental services by estimating the construction and labour costs of these alternative activities (Harris and Roach 2017).

### D. Revealed Preference Method (RPM)

RPM indirectly infers market participants' values of environmental products and services. For instance, individuals' value on clean drinking water may be deduced from their expenditure on bottled water. This way, the environmental value of clean water can be estimated (Harris and Roach 2017).

### E. Stated Preference Method

Surveys are used to understand market agents' preferences on environmental values. The main advantage of this method is that people can be surveyed on every type of environmental value such as carbon storage, nuclear energy, forest area for future generations, etc. But as a disadvantage, the validity of the results can be dubious (Harris and Roach 2017).

# **1.4.3.1 Planning and Creating Environmental Value**

The key to effective planning is turning it from an intellectual exercise that culminates in another report on the shelf into a dynamic business integration process. Environmental specialists must enter the business, get a grasp of the larger organisation, listen to the requirements and objectives of other departments and fnd strategic options for resolving corporate diffculties. It entails transcending typical job descriptions to assume roles as strategists, entrepreneurs, sales agents and instructors. Therefore, successful planning may uncover value-creating possibilities while also providing essential insight into the most effective communication methods with important persons and groups.

A well-thought-out strategy has four key components: (1) knowing your business, (2) taking inventory of potential environmental impacts, (3) identifying value-creating opportunities and (4) prioritising activities (Global Environmental Management Initiative 2014).

### A. Know Your Business

Evaluate the environmental actions' business perspective. Corporate environmental specialists are often uninformed of other divisions and employees' unique aims, priorities and requirements. Three things are required to provide value-added solutions. To begin, determine who the present and prospective environmental services clients are. Second, understand the business problems that your clients are attempting to address. Finally, be familiar with your company's long-term business strategies (Environment: Value to Business, Global Environmental Management Initiative 2014).

### B. Evaluate Inventory Potential

Check the environmental impacts of the business. An environmental impact may be caused by the use of resources and production of wastes, the production and use of goods and the disposal or recycling of items. To begin compiling an inventory of environmental effects, identify the organisation's principal business operations and activities, including production and operational procedures. Finally, inquire about the environmental implications of each department's activities and products. How are the company's actions controlled in terms of their environmental impact? Whose earnings, development and public image are in danger due to environmental impacts (Environment: Value to Business, Global Environmental Management Initiative 2014)?

### C. Identify Value-Creating Opportunities

Identifying value-creating possibilities at various levels of frm operations may be done after an inventory study on environmental effects has been completed. It is possible to cut expenses and increase profts by implementing environmental efforts beyond the minimum compliance standards. Search your organisation for areas and branches where value might be produced. According to corporate and government requirements, various environmental criteria and actions must be met. Even while these actions may be seen as a corporate expense, they have a basic environmental beneft. These may include things like obtaining a permit, avoiding environmental damage fnes and so forth.

Finding creative methods to achieve more with fewer resources should be the objective of operations. Focusing on resources is essential. The costs of manufacturing, compliance and waste disposal and management may be reduced by lowering overall resource inputs, hazardous inputs or unwanted by-products. In addition, lowering environmental risk may avert major environmental damage as well. Among other things, ARCO recently obtained a new hazardous waste authorisation. In the future, an oil tank might be built on land once used to dispose of hazardous garbage. The tank's permit and construction were expedited. The approach was supported by longterm environmental data and a sturdy working connection with the local authorities. One million dollars in monitoring expenses were saved because of the company's innovations. In addition, they were able to recover the refnery-related landscape. Long-term monitoring costs have been reduced because of this project's successful repurposing of unused land and the subsequent savings (Environment: Value to Business, Global Environmental Management Initiative 2014).

Long-term costs connected with capital investment and design decisions cost businesses millions of dollars. Purchase of land, construction of facilities, start-up or redesign of manufacturing lines and new products may have signifcant fnancial repercussions. Environmental managers may provide value when it comes to capital budgeting and decision-making. For example, it is crucial for Duracell to have a supplier development program. To improve performance, Duracell engages with its providers continuously. There have been environmental measures included in supplier rankings for some time. A decrease in Duracell's greenhouse gas emissions and considerable cost reductions prompted the business to incorporate its energy management approach into its global supplier development program. During a meeting of major suppliers, Duracell invited them to join a cooperation agreement. Each business agreed to establish energy effciency objectives, initiate actions to achieve those goals and adopt best practices throughout the group. Duracell vendors, in the majority, have agreed to participate in the project. Recognition will be given to the best performers. New cost-cutting initiatives for Duracell, new supplier contacts and assistance for suppliers in their cost-cutting efforts are some of the benefts of this arrangement (Environment: Value to Business, Global Environmental Management Initiative 2014).

### D. Prioritising

There isn't enough time, personnel or money for corporate environmental professionals to explore all of the possible value-creating possibilities in the business. Environmental managers must prioritise environmental tasks and concentrate their efforts to effciently use limited resources. Typical decision-making factors include the relevance of the project to the company's objectives, the project's magnitude in terms of money and resources needed and the project's level of complexity. Just because a job is simple and inexpensive, it is not implied that it should be done frst. There is always a plan that considers the benefts that might be gained while also considering the fnancial and political resources needed (Environment: Value to Business, Global Environmental Management Initiative 2014).

## **1.4.3.2 Assessment and Measurement of Value Added**

An essential yet diffcult duty for environmental experts is determining the worth of environmental projects. The preceding Impact Assessment section presents an in-depth analysis of the environmental value discussion. Let us provide a quick overview of how to calculate the environmental value added. In this case, the right tools and methods are dependent on the questions being answered:


It is possible to utilise impact assessment and value measurement to check the results of environmental initiatives, giving useful input for future program adjustments as well as results that can be communicated to key stakeholders to keep their support. In addition to planning and prioritising environmental initiatives, impact assessment and value measurement are also really important. According to P&G's cost ratio analysis, health, safety and environmental (HSE) initiatives pay more than twice for themselves in terms of cost savings. Salary, employment, healthcare and facility activities such as dumping waste are included in the ratio as costs. Pollution prevention and eliminating the materials thrown away during manufacturing are included as utilities of the HSE initiative.

### **1.4.4 Social Value**

### **1.4.4.1 What Is It?**

A rising number of organisations look at their operations from a holistic perspective, including their activities' broader social, economic and environmental consequences. It's hard to defne what exactly constitutes "social value", but companies that make a determined effort to guarantee that their outcomes are good might be considered to be benefting the long-term well-being and resilience of individuals, organisations and humanity as a whole. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals are, in essence, a global social, moral charter. Including social value in the policy and spending decisions may help public sector organisations better serve their communities. Both what a company does and how it does it may positively impact society. By reporting on social value, corporations may externalise their programs by connecting them with precise, quantifable results and doing so in an easy-to-understand manner for the beneft of consumers and other stakeholders.

Numerous entrepreneurs' principal objective is to establish a proftable frm. Apart from serving as a means of earning money, a business can also help to promote social ideas that beneft others. Social values can be incorporated into daily company plans or serve as the impetus for beginning a new frm.

Environmental stewardship is a value that can simply be included in your company procedures. Try to purchase recycled items, such as paper and printer ink cartridges, and correctly dispose of hazardous waste materials. Conserve energy by shutting off computers and lights when not in use and maintain proper operation of business vehicles to minimise hazardous emissions.

Additionally, businesses may utilise the company to assist humanitarian issues relevant to the corresponding industry. For instance, a foodrelated company, such as a restaurant or bakery, might consider donating a percentage of their profts to help feed the poor. Figure 1.9 summarises the benefts of social value.

Businesses may also express social ideals via their operations. Charging a fair price for products and services while putting a high emphasis on customer service is one possibility. Provide an equitable work environment and recruit workers that share the same values as the company or business. As can be seen from Fig. 1.9, there are so many easy ways to create social value, and the benefts of this approach are not limited to society. It comes back to the businesses themselves too. The main strategy for generating this type of social value is to balance the desire to operate a proftable business and the desire to manage it ethically and bring benefts to society.

## **1.4.4.2 How Social Value Is Measured and Reported?**

Although there are many ideas about what social value is, it is diffcult to defne and draw the boundaries of the concept of social value. For this reason, reconciling on a measurement criterion for social value is another complicated task. Geoff Mulgan (2010) argues that social value measurement was a hot topic among funders, NGO leaders and lawmakers. Unfortunately, they could not even agree on what it was, much less how to evaluate it. Geoff Mulgan suggests that the corresponding main problem was thinking that social value was absolute, set and stable. Yet it's easier to measure social worth when it's seen as a subjective, changeable and variable concept. Despite this, the assessment of social value is already becoming increasingly standardised. The National Social Value Measurement Framework, abbreviated National TOMs (TOMs stands for "Themes, Outcomes and Measures"), was created and released in 2017 by the Social Value


**Fig. 1.9** Creating social value and its benefts. (UKGBC 2018)

Portal. It is a strategy for documenting and quantifying social value using a consistent metric. It serves as the "golden thread" connecting an organisation's broad strategy and vision to its execution. The TOMs serve as a "golden thread" connecting strategy and delivery of social impact in the following ways (Social Value Portal 2017):


In addition to these three "golden threads", TOM provides more themes that can be counted as goals to accomplish social value. To achieve these goals, we need to encourage the development of responsible regional businesses and the creation of healthier, safer and more resilient communities (Social Value Portal 2017).

### **1.4.4.3 Seven Principles of Social Value**

Social Value UK proposes seven principles for accountability and maximising the social value created by businesses. These principles serve as the foundation for anybody seeking to make decisions with a broader social impact (Social Value UK 2021b):


that enables stakeholders to make reasonable judgments about the effect.


Finally, Social Value UK states that the implementation of these principles will assist organisations in being more responsible for the outcomes of their work, which includes being accountable for more than whether the organisation met its goals (Social Value UK 2021b).

## **1.4.4.4 Creating Social Value: Business Approach**

To grasp the idea of "social impact", it is a must to grasp the meaning of the term "social value". For example, efforts made by businesses and individuals to address social issues are referred to as "positive social effects". Business leaders must frst establish the fundamental principles that drive their actions to effect social change. These values are often centred on critical social and environmental concerns affecting society, such as global warming, poverty, unemployment and other serious social and environmental diffculties. Purpose-driven executives might gain confdence to make a signifcant difference when their beliefs guide their decision-making and strategy. Matt Gavin (2019) from Harvard Business School Online suggests four business strategies to guide business leaders for their attempt at social change.

A. Conduct Business in an Ethical Manner and Encourage Ethical Business Operations

Gavin (2019) suggests that it is essential that frms examine their own practices to make sure that social responsibility is an integral part of what they do. It can be understood that businesses wishing to have social impact and create social value should explore how their procurement and production procedures may be more ethical and how they may be able to use social responsibility to modify their business practices.

B. Establish Strategic Alliances with Charity Organisations

Being a pioneer for systemic transformation is not an easy process. It demands a thorough awareness of society's issues and the tenacity necessary to overcome them. For this, Gavin (2019) thinks that increasing a company's social impact may be as simple as forming strategic alliances with nonprofts that focus on the world's most critical issues. An example he gives is the partnership between Peet's Coffee and TechnoServe. Thanks to this partnership, farmers from Ethiopia, Guatemala and Rwanda have been educated about farming, business skills, sustainability practices and improving their quality of living.

C. Encourage Employees to Participate in Volunteer Activities

Being a purpose-driven organisation takes a commitment that transcends the corporate level. Employees must be convinced of the importance of their work and the organisation's transformational goals. Creating a work environment that encourages employees to give back may help companies solve important issues and foster a sense of belonging.

D. Motivate Action with Corporate Platforms

Gavin (2019) also believes that, in addition to creating programs and activities to address global issues, corporations may use platforms like blogs and other online channels as activism tools.

## **1.4.4.5 Ten Impact Questions to Maximise Social Impact**

Considering effect entails making choices, such as between two strategies, one product or two attempts to enhance one product. Choices are made to have a greater infuence than before. Constantly investigating new choices and altering your behaviour increases the likelihood of having the greatest infuence possible. To make these decisions, businesses have to address several questions. "Social Value UK" proposes ten impact questions that are fundamental to maximising impact. These questions can function as a guide for businesses to evaluate and maximise their impact on social concerns and social value (Social Value UK 2021a):


### **1.4.5 Triple Bottom Line**

Companies need to assess their social and environmental impact and fnancial performance as part of the "triple bottom line" concept. Financial, social and environmental accounting are all included in the three-part accounting paradigm of the triple bottom line. As Lim Mei said, using the term "triple bottom line" refers to reporting on the degree to which a company has helped society accomplish the three interrelated objectives of economic success, environmental preservation and social equality (Lim 2004).

Both governmental and commercial organisations are increasingly disclosing the environmental and social impacts of their actions, and environmental performance monitoring is becoming more and more commonplace around the globe. E. S. Woolard said in 1994 that industrial businesses are the only ones who can implement the green economy and culture of the **Fig. 1.10** Triple bottom line. (Lim 2004)

twenty-frst century. Next-century environmental performance is the goal of the industry. A lot of companies are attempting to get there, but not everyone has yet. Because they won't be there in the long run, those who aren't trying aren't a long-term concern (Woolard and Global Environmental Management Initiative 1994). Companies are required to report environmental and social performance information, although there is a general lack of oversight. As a result of this lack of measurement, a business assessment method known as the triple bottom line (TBL) has grown in prominence, which incorporates economic, environmental and social factors. Figure 1.10 provides an overview of the TBL.

Three critical elements in triple bottom line, as can be seen in Fig. 1.10, are used as criteria to measure organisational performance. These are economic value (prosperity), social value (social justice) and environmental value (Lim 2004). As "what gets measured, gets managed", accurate measurement is critical for demonstrating how sustainable business practices may be utilised to improve a company's performance and analyse the organisation's progress. What can be derived from the triple bottom line is that for an organisation to be sustainable, it must be fnancially secure (i), behave in a way that minimises the negative environmental effect (ii) and act in harmony and convenience with societal expectations (iii) (Lim 2004).

### **1.4.5.1 Economic Bottom Line**

The economic bottom line encompasses proft and the ideas that underpin a company's strategy or behaviour and the business' long-term sustainability. The following measures should be included while conducting an economic bottom line report (Lim 2004):


The economic bottom line part of TBL provides a guide to organisations or businesses to make more with what they have. Suppose an organisation wants to develop and grow within TBL. In that case, they need to determine the economic activity they want and examine how well other organisations are performing concerning sustainability criteria.

### **1.4.5.2 Environmental Bottom Line**

The environmental value refers to the environmental effect of a company's goods or activities and the type of its emissions and waste and how the environment manages them. The following measures should be included to determine how much negative impact an organisation's processes and products have on the environment (Lim 2004):


It is vital to comply with the environmental bottom line criteria because organisations build demand by specifying ecologically sustainable processes and goods. The need for environmentally friendly processes and goods will motivate and reward businesses, encouraging them to engage in research and development to enhance their processes and production that is less harmful to the environment. Furthermore, shareholders, investors and clients also get benefts from these new ecology-friendly processes and products (Lim 2004).

### **1.4.5.3 Social Bottom Line**

The term "social bottom line" relates to an organisation's attitude towards gender and cultural diversity, work hours and compensation, employee safety and participation and social assistance or facilities. There is no consensus on whether an organisation meets its social responsibilities. However, these are some measures that could be used while analysing an organisation (Lim 2004):


# **1.4.6 Conclusion of Value Discussion**

In today's world, especially in the business world, people think of the monetary value of a product or goods when we say value. In a world where the success of companies and businesses is measured in terms of realised proft, this is normal. However, especially with the emergence of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, the success criteria of companies have started to change in the business world along with the rest of the world. Nowadays, importance is given to various defnitions and metrics to measure the success of companies, and their contribution to social life and the environment is increasing. For this reason, it is imperative to establish and set a basis for the environmental value and social value concepts after installing the defnitions of economic value and monetary value. This section explained how environmental and social value could be planned, measured and applied briefy for companies and businesses. Finally, the role of the triple bottom line concept in this process of paradigm shift has been introduced.

In the following section, we explain in detail how the impact of companies and organisations on the environment and social life can be measured over the defnitions made in this section.

## **1.5 Impact Assessment**

When enterprises and institutions desire to evaluate their effects on the stakeholders and the system, they eventually need techniques for impact assessment (IA onwards). In scholarly discussions, the measurement and evaluation of the actors' impact are becoming increasingly infuential (Simsa et al. 2014). This section will provide fndings from academic literature and the business environment on IA to guide involved actors such as businesses and institutions. First, IA will be defned regarding different points of view. Second, the question of why actors desire to conduct IA will be investigated. Third, there will be a brief examination of the actors involved in IA. Fourth, we will inspect several methodologies for conducting IA. Then, we will share examples of IA use from both institution and business sides.

### **1.5.1 Defnition**

To assess impact accurately, a distinction between impact and outcome must be made. However, there is no unanimity on this subject (Simsa et al. 2014). Defnitions differ signifcantly since distinct sectors and stakeholders require diverse viewpoints to assess the unique dynamics of their activities. To provide a general perspective, Stern examines the literature and divides IA defnitions into two categories: content and methodological defnitions. Content defnitions seek to explore any effect, acknowledge that there can be constructive or adverse effects and address the long term (Stern 2015). OECD, for example, describes the impact as "the positive and negative, primary and secondary, long-term effects produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended" (2010, p. 24). On the other hand, methodological defnitions are more tightly concentrated and employ experimental data, resulting in a shorter-term focal point (Stern 2015). For instance, according to Roche, the impact is the methodical investigation of a major change in people's lives that is caused by an activity or series of activities (1999, as cited by Stern 2015).

### **1.5.2 Reasons for Conducting IA**

Although defnitions vary substantially, reasons for desiring to conduct IA share commonalities. The frst common reason is that actors put such a remarkable effort into receiving funds that they cannot risk losing credibility and being eliminated from further funding. IA is an immense way to demonstrate success and be accountable. Second, when they receive further funding, the need for improvements emerges, again, to show their accomplishments. To attain advancements, involved actors can also utilise the fndings from IA to comprehend the effects of their efforts. Third, since public voice is an important part of the business process, actors should fnd advocates to continue their journey. They can build this support by exhibiting the results from IA. In a nutshell, O'Flynn lists the motivations for assessing impact as follows: (1) demonstrating success both to explain received funds and to obtain additional funding, (2) learning to understand the implications of initiatives to enhance effectiveness, (3) being accountable and (4) using IA results to advocate for changes (2010).

As indicated earlier, monetary, environmental and social values are assessed while managing a business. When we link the process with the outcome, we see that these values should also be looked at during the IA. First, the monetary value of the impact is mainly regarded for fnancing reasons. So, we can say that the actors in the funding mechanism, such as institutions, venture capitalists, banks, etc., play a signifcant role in the IA process. Second, businesses disclose their environmental value, to exemplify, showing their environmental dignity to the actors in the ecology, such as environmental non-governmental organisations, besides animals and plants. Lastly, there is a necessity to demonstrate social value. Social actors such as individuals and states can be said to be affected by the actions of the companies or institutions. Therefore, IA should be designed to cover those monetary, environmental and social stakeholders as well as the businesses and institutions as the main actors of the process.

### **1.5.4 How to Conduct IA**

IA is studied in various contexts as an interdisciplinary topic. However, empirical and methodological literature is scarce on quantifying the impact at the macro-level (Simsa et al. 2014). The key, argued by Stern, is that evaluators should begin by imagining what they want to know about programs rather than focusing on a certain toolkit. Designing IAs necessitates making informed decisions on various issues, including the objective, required resources and skills, ethical requirements, data collection and analysis and methods for encouraging assessment adoption (Stern 2015). We will investigate some of the existing techniques for conducting IA in this subsection.

### **1.5.4.1 Approaches to IA**

Simsa et al. emphasise the importance of the felds of evaluation research, social accounting, ecological and social IA, nonproft organisation (NPO) research, social entrepreneurship, proftoriented entrepreneurship, business ethics or corporate social responsibility (CSR) (2014). First, in evaluation research, three categories of appraisals can be recognised: (1) analysing program theory, (2) assessing program process and (3) computing program impacts (Schober et al. 2013, as cited by Simsa et al.). Second, in the realm of accounting and accountability, IA incorporates non-monetary impacts in accounting, balancing and proft calculation. Third, in ecological IA, the natural environment was the focus initially, where social components were included later. Fourth, in NPO research, it is important to note that impact is not always synonymous with success. Countable and measurable outputs can be used as success criteria. Fifth, in entrepreneurship, social impact investors consider not only the fnancial but also the societal implications of their investments. As a result, indicator systems comparable to those used by traditional for-proft businesses are established. Lastly, the impact has been taken up by frms primarily in the context of CSR within the issue of business ethics. Initially, the emphasis was mostly on environmental sustainability; later, the social dimension gained prominence as in the case of ecological and social IA (Simsa et al. 2014).

In terms of technique, according to O'Flynn, there are three general approaches for impact assessment: (1) retrospective, (2) process-driven and (3) ex-post studies as described in Fig. 1.11 (2010).

### **1.5.4.2 Methodologies**

IAs come in a variety of shapes and sizes. It is vital to understand and build the underlying assessment architecture to measure the impact of a project, an organisation or a sector (Simsa et al. 2014). The impact value chain or logic model is shown by Simsa et al. (2014). Arising from evaluation research, the logic model is a representation of the theoretical functioning of a program, an organisation or a sector that is used to appraise the intended goals. The model recognises and differentiates the input, activity, output, outcome and impact components. Let us defne what those listed indicators mean. First, all resources invested in an organisation's activities are called input. Second, activities refer to specifc acts, tasks and the organisation's achievements to fulfl its goals. Third, the term output refers to physical items and services that can be quantifed directly as a result of an organ-

**Fig. 1.11** Approaches to IA. (O'Flynn 2010)

isation's activity. Fourth, particular alterations in attitudes, behaviours, knowledge, abilities, etc. that occur due to an organisation's operations are hinted at as outcomes. Fifth, deadweight is the amount to which the outcomes would have happened anyhow and must be deducted from the outcome to spot the impact. Sixth, above and beyond the outcome that would have happened anyhow is named impact. Here, assessors should differentiate between performance measurement and IA. When it comes to performance evaluation, the activities or outcomes are the focus of attention. However, in the case of IA, identifying, measuring and valuing outcomes, including deadweight, is pivotal. The associated indicators, items and scales build the basis to measure impact empirically (Simsa et al. 2014).

Furthermore, Stern provides focal points to consider before starting to create an IA model. While there is no one-size-fts-all approach to making these decisions, some logical stages to follow might help guide decision-making. These steps are depicted as (1) evaluation questions, (2) program attributes and (3) available designs (2015). Various assessment commissioners will ask different types of impact questions, or even a different combination of such questions, such as how much of an effect can be attributed to the interference. When considering the program attributes, evaluators must generate a control group or comparator. There are designs and procedures such as instrumental variables that can help evaluators to discover specifc impacts when an investigation is not possible. Furthermore, insisting on a precise measurement under all situations in many complicated program contexts is futile. Assessment commissioners frequently regard the advantages of combining approaches. Therefore, combined methods research that incorporates quantitative and qualitative techniques will increase the confdence of the results as they are formed on numerous different sources of information acquired in various ways. Few evaluations focus on a single subject; instead, they aim to measure impacts and explain what works where and when (Stern 2015).

Briefy, Stern argues that there are colossal differences in the shape, form, location, purpose, interrelationships and life cycle of programs. Then, it is not surprising that these attributes affect IA design. Determining the unit of analysis, creating theories of change and accounting for unpredictability are all the possible requirements of program features (Stern 2015).

Alternatively, according to Hailey and Sorgenfrei, the key is not the framework itself but how it is utilised – making the process as vital as the output is critical. It is also crucial to build breathing frameworks that demonstrate what actors attempt to assess the dynamic and multidimensional nature. Moreover, concerns such as power and authority, culture and context, as well as complexity and change, must be considered (Hailey and Sorgenfrei 2004).

### **1.5.4.3 Possible Failures and Solutions**

Like all techniques, IA techniques also might come up with failures. According to O'Flynn (2010), eight possible reasons behind these failures are listed in Fig. 1.12.

O'Flynn (2010) also provides solutions to beat those challenges. Actors can overcome the frst obstacle by devoting more time to fguring out how various processes are linked and complementing one another. To surpass the second one, it is suggested that assessors comprehend and explain the organisational zone of infuence. The third challenge can be overcome by comprehending that measuring, evaluating and correlating facts have their own validity. Also, measurements should be done within their sphere of infuence. To beat the fourth one, organisations should establish assessments for their purposes and then alter them regarding the demands of other stakeholders. To surmount the ffth one, evaluators can build rolling baselines and employ more quantitative data. The sixth possible reason for failure can be beaten through employing a small number of userfriendly tools. For the seventh one, assessors should devote effort to assuring that partners and stakeholders understand the assessment's purpose. For the last challenge, fndings can be utilised to facilitate consensus and planning workshops, generate case studies and so on (O'Flynn 2010).

**Fig. 1.12** Possible reasons behind failures. (O'Flynn 2010)

### **1.5.5 Examples of IA Methods**

Now, it would be convenient to illustrate IA systems and principles through examples. First, the Anticipated Impact Measurement and Monitoring (AIMM) system of International Finance Corporation (IFC) will be investigated. Second, we will review the principles of EBRD for its IAs. The third example coming from the World Bank presents possible IA techniques and their comparison. Fourth, we will share our fndings on IA by a business by examining Intel's corporate responsibility report.

## **1.5.5.1 International Finance Corporation (IFC)**

IFC developed its own IA method, named the AIMM, to measure project-level and systemic outcomes of its actions. It is also an emerging model for impact investors and a tool to incentivise impact. Project and market outcomes are the two dimensions of this system. Project dimension looks into the infuence in three different effect categories: (1) stakeholder effects, (2) economywide effects and (3) environmental effects. Second, the market outcomes dimension evaluates how well an intervention enhances market structure and function by encouraging competitiveness, resilience, integration, inclusivity and sustainability goals. IFC has created sector frameworks to evaluate projects in each of the IFC businesses. Sector frameworks assign ratings in four areas, as described in Fig. 1.13, to assist in IA (IFC 2021).

In the project outcomes dimension, the gap analysis evaluates the respective scale of the development problem that each intended effect is addressing. The intensity analysis assesses a project's contribution to reducing divergence in development. Evaluating intensity is based on normalised sector-specifc criteria. When a gap evaluation and an intensity assessment are com-

**Fig. 1.13** Areas to be rated. (IFC 2021)

bined, as shown in Fig. 1.14, an overall potential impact rating is appointed. The potential for an effect to have an infuence is determined by both the size of the problem (the size of the gap) and the effectiveness of the intervention (its intensity). This method prioritises projects that address larger development gaps and/or unique or constructed programs to generate results quickly (IFC 2021).

The market creation dimension appoints market stages to market development for each of the fve market features. On the other hand, market movement is used to analyse a project's efforts to change markets' structure and functioning. As shown in Fig. 1.15, an overall potential impact rating is authorised after the market stage is combined with the market movement. The market's capacity for systemic change is determined by the market stage of development and the catalytic change that IFC anticipates its project to engender (IFC 2021).

The AIMM approach incorporates the uncertainty of realising and maintaining the desired impacts over time for both the project- and market-level dimensions. As shown in Fig. 1.16, the likelihood assessment is used to distinguish the potential results that a project could produce and the risks that could prevent them from being realised (IFC 2021).

The IFC uses AIMM evaluations to choose and compose interventions with the most signifcant impact possible. IFC administers its pipeline of interferences and develops plans to remedy inadequacies by aggregating AIMM ratings for different business areas. Portfolio ratings will also assist IFC in balancing strategic goals to pursue the portfolio strategy. They aim to maximise the development effect while making sustainable and risk-adjusted fnancial returns. Furthermore, IFC monitors and reports on ex-ante expectations, develops information feedback loops and compiles a lesson inventory (IFC 2021).

**Fig. 1.14** Assessing project outcome. (IFC 2021)

# **1.5.5.2 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)**

The EBRD has published a brochure to share its principles while assessing the impacts of its projects. There are nine principles, as listed in Fig. 1.17 (EBRD 2021).

Following the frst principle, the manager must develop strategic impact goals for the portfolio or fund to create positive and measurable social or environmental impacts consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN or other broadly accepted objectives. The manager shall also ensure that the investment strategy has a plausible foundation for reaching the impact goals (EBRD 2021).

For the second principle, the manager must have a procedure in place to administrate IA on a portfolio basis. The principle's goal is to construct and track impact performance throughout the entire portfolio while considering that impact might differ between individual investments. The manager shall also acknowledge connecting staff incentive schemes with impact achievement besides fnancial performance (EBRD 2021).

For the third principle, the manager must attempt to build and record a believable story on its input to each investment's impact. Contributions can be made in various ways, including fnancial and non-fnancial. The story should be told and backed up by proof whenever available (EBRD 2021).

The fourth principle requires that the manager examine and measure the concrete, constructive effect potential resulting from each investment beforehand. The evaluation should be conducted using a proper results framework that strives to address the following key questions: (1) What is the destined effect? (2) Who is infuenced by this effect? (3) What is the magnitude of this effect's signifcance? The manager should also try to assess how likely the investment will have the

**Fig. 1.15** Assessing market outcome. (IFC 2021)

desired effect. Moreover, substantial risk factors that could cause the impact to differ from ex-ante estimates should be identifed. Furthermore, the evidence should be gathered to estimate the relative size of the diffculty addressed within the chosen geographical context. The manager must also discover ways to boost the investment's effect. Lastly, indicators must be adjusted with industry standards and best practices (EBRD 2021).

Within the ffth principle, the manager shall recognise and prevent. If avoidance is not practicable, alleviate and administer environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks for each investment as part of a systematic and documented approach. The manager must engage with the investor to obtain its promise to address gaps in current systems, procedures and standards, utilising best international industry practices. In addition, investees' ESG risk and performance should be audited. The manager should engage with them, if needed, to avoid gaps and unforeseen events (EBRD 2021).

The sixth principle necessitates that the manager utilises the results framework in principle four to track the process to achieve positive impacts for each investment. A predetermined method to communicate performance data with the investee should be used to track progress. This should specify how frequently data will be gathered, the design for gathering data, data sources, data collection duties and how the data will be reported. Besides, the manager must strive to take necessary steps if monitoring reveals that the investment is no longer believed to reach its desired effects (EBRD 2021).

To comply with the seventh principle, when undertaking an exit, the manager must examine the effect of timing, design and exit procedure on the sustainability of infuence (EBRD 2021).

For the eighth principle, the manager is responsible for revising and recording each

**Fig. 1.16** Likelihood assessment. (IFC 2021)

investment's impact achievement and comparing the projected and actual impact as well as other consequences. Moreover, these conclusions should be used to enhance operational and strategic investment decisions and administrative procedures (EBRD 2021).

In the last principle, the manager must publicly report the consistency of its IA methods with the principles annually and arrange for separate proof of this alignment regularly. Furthermore, the fndings of this verifcation report should be made public (EBRD 2021).

### **1.5.5.3 The World Bank**

The World Bank desires to discover by using IA whether the changes in consumption and health could be linked to the program itself rather than to some separate aspect. It has issued a guidebook that explains the most common quantitative approaches used in ex-post IAs of programs and policies. The guidebook also goes through ways to quantify distributional impacts and ex-ante approaches for predicting program consequences and methods (Khandker et al. 2010).

To assure that IA is functional, various measures should be followed, as stated by the guidebook. The importance and objectives of the evaluation, for example, must be explicitly stated throughout project identifcation and preparation. The nature and timeliness of evaluations are also a source of concern. To isolate the infuence of the program on consequences, IAs should be planned ahead of time to assist program administrators in assessing and updating targeting throughout the intervention. The availability and quality of data are also valuable factors in dictating the capability of a program. Hiring and training feldwork staff and establishing a consistent data management and access strategy are critical. From an administrative standpoint, the evaluation team should be carefully constituted during project implementation to include enough technical

**Fig. 1.17** Principles of EBRD for IA. (EBRD 2021)

and managerial knowledge to assure precise data and result reporting and transparency in execution to interpret the data properly (Khandker et al. 2010).

As the frst approach in the book, randomised evaluations attempt to determine the effectiveness of a program by fnding a group of participants with similar observed features and randomly assigning the treatment to a subset of this group. This strategy overcomes the problem of unobserved characteristics causing selection bias (Khandker et al. 2010).

The double-difference method is another method that allows the World Bank to see if consequences are traced for both participants and nonparticipants over a long enough period to capture any intervention effects. This strategy indicates that tracking results for both participants and nonparticipants over time will offer a solid foundation for determining the program's infuence by utilising the double-difference method; nonparticipants' observed changes over time yield the counterfactuals for participants (Khandker et al. 2010).

In addition, adding a third variable that affects just the treatment but not unobserved factors, an instrumental variable method reveals exogenous variation in treatment. These methods can be used with cross section or panel data. Instruments can be created via program design as well as other exogenous shocks that are unrelated to the desired consequences. Furthermore, regression discontinuity and pipeline techniques are the extensions of instrumental variable and experimental methods that use exogenous program rules to compare participants and nonparticipants in a narrow area (Khandker et al. 2010).

Although experimental methods are ideal for IA in theory, nonexperimental methods are commonly used practically, either because program managers are hesitant to exclude certain segments of the population from an intervention randomly or because a randomised approach is inappropriate for a rapid-action project with little time to experiment. The quality of IA, even with an experimental design, is determined by how the development and implementation are done. Compliance issues, spillovers and unobserved sample bias frequently obstruct the clean recognition of program impacts from randomisation. However, nonexperimental procedures, such as propensity score matching, double difference and the use of instrumental variables, have their own strengths and shortcomings. Thus, they are susceptible to bias for several reasons, including inaccurate evaluation framework design (Khandker et al. 2010).

According to the World Bank, no single assignment or evaluation method is fawless. Thus it is a good idea to double-check the results using other approaches. Ex-ante and ex-post evaluation methodologies, as well as quantitative and qualitative approaches, can all be integrated. It is important to utilise specifc approaches. Understanding the planning and execution of an intervention, the aims and processes by which program goals can be met and the precise features of targeted and nontargeted areas are all key components in IA. One may also decide whether certain components of the program can be changed to make it better by directing pleasant IAs throughout the program and beginning early in the plan and execution stages of the project (Khandker et al. 2010).

### **1.5.5.4 Intel Corp.**

To take a look at IA examples from the business side, let us investigate Intel's corporate responsibility report of 2020. Intel claims in this report that incorporating and expanding ethical business practices into their worldwide operations and supply chain reduces risks and promotes human rights respect. Intel's 2030 goals include taking steps to preserve and enhance their focus on maintaining and establishing a strong safety culture as their business evolves and grows, as well as expanding the global reach of their wellness programs. The goals also include a large increase in the number of suppliers covered by their engagement initiatives to increase human rights accountability throughout their global supply chain. Intel, as it asserts, is also at the forefront of industrywide initiatives to enhance ethical mineral sourcing and responsible mobility (Intel 2021).

As we can see above, Intel seeks to demonstrate its respect for people, the environment and, generally, the future well-being of all living species. But how does Intel evaluate the real-world impacts of their actions? IA commissioners present their beliefs and how they have progressed over the past year in their corporate responsibility reports. They track a comparable approach in all of their values while doing so. Let us look at the employee safety and well-being value as an example. They begin by describing in their report in 2021 that they want to ensure that more than 90% of their employees believe Intel has a solid safety culture and that 50% of their employees participate in their worldwide corporate wellness program. They continue with establishing a baseline. First, 37% of Intel employees engaged in Intel's EHS Safety Culture Survey, with a baseline average of 79% on "safety is a value" metrics; and second, 22% of Intel employees participated in Intel wellness initiatives at the start of 2020. Following that, Intel summarises its progress for the previous year. During 2020, their health and wellness teams worked to enhance employee knowledge and engagement in Intel's programs, emphasising preventative and early intervention programs and participation in the newly expanded virtual offerings of the Intel Vitality Program. They fnish the assessment by looking ahead. Intel's safety culture aim will be to boost employee and management engagement in their safety programs, increase company-wide participation in their safety culture survey and expand the poll to 50% of employees by the end of 2021 (Intel 2021).

As a result, Intel, as a technology giant, uses these corporate responsibility reports to demonstrate its social and environmental dignity to the public. It uses several IA principles while doing so. First, it identifes the desired impact as ensuring more than 90% of their employees believe that Intel has a solid safety culture and that 50% of their employees participate in their worldwide corporate wellness program. Second, it creates baselines such as the Safety Culture Survey, with a baseline average of 79% on "safety is a value" metrics, etc., to compare improvements. Third, as we can see, it displays the progress using experimental data. Lastly, it learns lessons from its evaluation to set further goals, such as expanding the poll to 50% of employees by the end of 2021 (Intel 2021).

### **1.5.6 Summary of IA Discussion**

In this section, we have provided our fndings on IA from the academic literature and business environment. Since the defnition of impact differs among businesses and institutions, distinctions are also present across existing IA techniques. It is crucial to start conducting IA by remembering this fact. To sum up the IA debate, it is vital to comprehend the design and implementation, the aims and processes by which action goals can be reached and the precise attributes of targeted and nontargeted areas of a business or institution's action. While forming the IA, evaluators should (1) decide on what is being assessed, (2) ensure the implementation of programs with impact in mind, (3) address the normative and ethical issues that activities raise and (4) differentiate between actors' "program theory" and the "theories of change" of how the program works in practice (Stern 2015). Furthermore, as stated by Hailey and Sorgenfrei, it is crucial to make the process as vital as the output (2005). In addition, it is not only necessary to identify impacts in IAs, but it is also necessary to comprehend how the various initiatives, programs and organisations operate (Simsa et al. 2014). When the businesses or institutions design and implement an effective IA, they consequently demonstrate success for the received fundings, making them eligible for further fundings, and understand the implications of initiatives to enhance effectiveness, be accountable and attain public advocacy for their actions.

# **1.6 The Innovation Journey**

From the literature review and discussion above, Fig. 1.18 can summarise the innovation journey how ideas translate and transform into products and/or services as follows.

Before we explain the journey, we should stress that this is not a linear process; instead, it is a combination of interrelated complex processes. As the outcome-based approach or the LOTI approach suggests, Phase 0, envisaging, begins with looking for real-world outcomes and setting a vision. Then we proceed to the discover phase. This phase discovers and defnes problems preventing the desired outcomes. After completing this, one should enable the necessary skills and competencies to solve the listed problems. The company can proceed to the develop phase when the skills are suffcient. In this phase, a product or service prototype is developed and tested. If the results are successful, we continue with the appraise phase. Assessing the impact and value of the innovation is essential in deciding whether the product/service will be scaled up for a more extensive commercial use or will stay as a prototype. If market conditions suggest scaling up, the innovation will penetrate into the market and reach a broader range of consumers and customers. Supporting mechanisms are vital to foster product/service development during this whole process.

Innovation districts and living labs are ideal testbeds for innovation development and trials. Regulatory sandboxes will alleviate the regulatory burden and pave the way to a vivid market environment, especially for start-ups. Funding and fnancing are other key issue for the innovation journey. Grants and loans could be a starting point for the process. As the journey proceeds to the develop and appraise phases, the public sector and private investors will see the opportunity and come into the picture as public-private partnerships or venture capitalists. The journey will also shape the business models of the innovations as innovators might change, adapt or update their value proposals, value creation and value capture as the product/service evolves. When the value is mentioned, we should highlight that revenue or the monetary value is not the only value. There is growing pressure on tackling climate change and achieving sustainability in the industry and businesses. Hence, the innovations should also provide environmental and social value to increase their overall impact, receive more funding and achieve better market diffusion.

**Fig. 1.18** The innovation journey

The remainder of the book is organised as follows. Chapter 2 presents brief descriptions and working principles of 34 emerging technologies. We solely focused on those in the "market diffusion and commercialisation of products/services" phase when deciding on which technologies should be included in this book. After this, we continue with 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and 650 companies. We chose the companies and use cases with a comprehensive market scanning and by reviewing numerous sources that list start-up competitions and "best start-up" or "most innovative company" awards.1 The use cases are presented in the "business model" approach by briefy mentioning value proposition (what?), value creation (how?) and value capture (revenue). When mentioning value capture, instead of the revenue model of the companies or how companies make money, we deliberately focused on how technologies capture economic and business, environmental and social and ethical value. Finally, we complete the book with a brief conclusion.

<sup>1</sup>See (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

https://www.forbes.com/innovative-companies/ list/#tab:rank; https://edisonawards.com/nomineegallery. php; https://www.bonnchallenge.org/; https://solarimpulse.com/topics; https://www.valuer.ai/; https://tech2impact.com/startups/; http://www.businessfor2030.org/; https://www.startus-insights.com/; https://builtin.com/ edtech/edtech-companies; https://tracxn.com/explore/

Top-AR-VR-in-Education-Startups; https://www.forbes. com/americas-best-startup-employers/#7d81a1556527; https://www.cloudways.com/blog/best-startups-watchout/#iot; https://www.unwto.org/sdgs-global-startupcompetition; https://www.foundersbeta.com/ tech-companies/20-tech-companies-to-watch-forin-2021/; https://www.businessinsider.com/recruitmentstartup-technology-investment-workforce-covid-growthtalent-business-international-2021-7; https://www.crn. com/slide-shows/storage/the-10-hottest-tech-startups-of-2021-so-far-

# **References**


vices/funding/sustainable-development-goals.html. Accessed 6 Nov 2021


2011. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5437/089536 08X5403009. Accessed 23 Nov 2021


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **2 Emerging Technologies**

### **Abstract**

This chapter presents brief descriptions and working principles of 34 emerging technologies which have market diffusion and are commercially available. Emerging technologies are the ones whose development and application areas are still expanding fast, and their technical and value potential is still largely unrealised. In alphabetical order, the emerging technologies that we list in this chapter are 3D printing, 5G, advanced materials, artifcial intelligence, autonomous things, big data, biometrics, bioplastics, biotech and biomanufacturing, blockchain, carbon capture and storage, cellular agriculture, cloud computing, crowdfunding, cybersecurity, datahubs, digital twins, distributed computing, drones, edge computing, energy storage, fexible electronics and wearables, healthcare analytics, hydrogen, Internet of Behaviours, Internet of Things, natural language processing, quantum computing, recycling, robotic process automation, robotics, soilless farming, spatial computing and wireless power transfer.

### **Keywords**

Emerging technologies · Use cases · Innovation · Sustainable development

## **2.1 3D Printing**

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), creates a three-dimensional product of any shape from a three-dimensional model or other electronic data sources by layering material under computer control (Dongkeon et al. 2006). In additive manufacturing, objects are built from the bottom up in layers. The layers are created in slicing software from a three-dimensional computational model of the object to be printed. These computational models are typically developed in computer-aided design (CAD) software and exported as .stl or .obj fles for 3D printing. The description of the 3D printing process is shown in Fig. 2.1.

Like many other contemporary technologies, 3D printing has both positive and negative consequences. 3D printing is a widely accessible technology that allows consumers to create products in their own homes, using their own devices while also removing logistical and energy-related responsibilities from manufacturers. However, individual use of 3D printing technology may lead to unemployment among workers in the subproduction stages of manufacturing. Despite this, 3D printing technology offers overwhelming possibilities for innovation and effcient manufacturing.

3D printing technology has evolved since the frst 3D printer was established in 1984, and

**Fig. 2.1** Process of 3D printing. (Campbell et al. 2011)

printers have gotten more functional as their price points have decreased. Rapid prototyping is used in a variety of industries, including research, engineering, the medical industry, the military, construction, architecture, fashion, education and the computer industry, among many others. The plastic extrusion technology most widely associated with the term "3D printing" was invented by the name "fused deposition modelling" (FDM) in 1990. The sale of 3D printing machines has increased signifcantly in the twenty-frst century, and their cost has steadily decreased. By the early 2010s, 3D printing and additive manufacturing had evolved into alternate umbrella terms for AM technologies, one being used in popular vernacular by consumer-maker communities and the media and the other one being used offcially by industrial AM end-use part producers, AM machine manufacturers and global technical standards organizations.

There are several 3D printing technologies, including stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP), fused deposition modelling (FDM) and selective laser sintering (SLS). However, the most commonly used techniques are FDM and SLA (Kamran and Saxena 2016). Scott Crump developed FDM in the late 1980s. Its wide use is due to its ease of manufacturing, relatively low cost and variety of applications. The FDM process has been applied in many areas such as biomedical, aerospace, automobile, pharmaceutical, textile and energy felds (Singh et al. 2020). FDM uses a stock material fed into a liquefer to shape the material in a liquid form easily. The material is heated to its melting temperature through various temperature treatment methods within the liquefer.

The melted material is then pushed through a nozzle to be extruded onto a Cartesian space (Campbell et al. 2011). While some printers allow the nozzle to move around in the Cartesian space, other printers build layers by moving the print bed under a stationary nozzle. The print bed spans the x and y axes, and the layers of the object which are to be printed are added towards the z-axis. Other 3D manufacturing processes use fundamentally different methods to create the different layers which are needed to give form to the fnal object. One such process is stereolithography, where the object is "printed" by hardening layers in a pool of photosensitive polymer using an ultraviolet laser (Campbell et al. 2011). In this method, the energy of the laser is transferred to certain regions of the liquid polymer to harden it. When all the desired regions are hardened, the printed object can be taken out of the pool of polymer. A type of stereolithography is DLP invented by Larry Hornbeck in 1987. The difference between SLA and DLP is that DLP uses UV light to harden the shape of the object at once rather than hardening different selective sections of the resin over time. Another method called selective laser sintering, also developed in the late 1980s, uses lasers to melt layers of polymeric powder to obtain the fnal shape. The melted section hardens in time, and it can be removed from the powder once the hardening is complete (Campbell et al. 2011). Many other methods are in use or the phases of development.

3D printing simplifes the process of transforming ideas into products. The technology allows rapid and accurate production from various materials. 3D printing also streamlines the prototyping process by providing faster production, allowing businesses to stay one step ahead of the competition. The technology uses a simple interface, allowing more equitable and widespread use. 3D printing also helps product developers to produce low-cost prototypes early in the development process, resulting in better goods and fewer dead-ends. Materials science as a feld is affected largely by the 3D printing applications, as the number of materials created by 3D printing has risen considerably in recent years. The possibility of 3D printing various materials has also allowed the technology to be used in different felds. Metals, polymers, ceramics, composites and smart materials have all been successfully used in 3D printing applications with varying costs. Different materials require customisations of the 3D printers due to different material properties such as melting temperature (Shahrubudin et al. 2019). An innovative material used in 3D printing applications is smart materials, which sense variations in their external environment and provide an effective reaction to fuctuations by modifying their material characteristics or geometries. In particular, energy connection or conversion between different physical felds, such as thermal energy conversion into mechanical work, is shown as a product of smart materials. Due to the potential of smart materials, 3D-printed components of such materials might change over time in a specifed way. This leads to a new phenomenon known as 4D printing. 4D printing innovations are primarily accessible by recent progress that has been achieved in multimaterial printing. 3D printing of multi-smart materials or a mix of smart materials and conventional materials requires understanding the design and manufacturing processes (Khoo et al. 2015).

Benefts of 3D Printing:


duction methods with traditional methods to make advantages offered by both.

• Optimum usage of materials can be provided, and it is possible to recycle any waste material through AM (Jiménez et al. 2019).

Studies attempt to predict the impacts of 3D printing on manufacturing, supply chains, business models, competition and intellectual property. A study by Jiang et al. makes economic and societal predictions for 2030 (2017). The study results predict a trend of decentralisation in supply chains across many felds since AM will allow cheaper and more accessible localised production capabilities. This is expected to decrease the environmental impact of manufacturing due to reduced transportation emissions. The study also predicts that more than 25% of applicable, fnal products will be sold digitally as fles to be 3D printed instead of physical products. A distinction is made between complex and less complex parts where complex parts are made centrally in specialised manufacturing locations, and fewer complex parts are distributed digitally and produced locally (Jiang et al. 2017). The study makes additional predictions about consumer markets and business models changes by 2030. Businesses' competitive advantage will no longer depend on the effciency of their production operations but their network of users and creators. Companies will seek employees with skills related to AM, and many jobs will be replaced in the manufacturing industry. This change is reportedly due to the expectation that more than 10% of all gains from manufactured products will be from 3D-printed products by 2030. These products are predicted to be made up of many materials and electronics since enhanced AM methods will allow for such products to be 3D printed at lower costs. The affordability of 3D printers will also induce a signifcant increase in 3D printer ownership of individuals, especially in industrialised countries. Thus, websites that feature 3D designs will gain more popularity and will allow designs to be sold or downloaded as open-source projects. This is expected to make it harder to detect violations of intellectual property

rights (Jiang et al. 2017). It is expected that 3D printing will become more affordable, refned, purposeful and widespread in the future. The words "create it" may soon become as ubiquitous as "print it". Examples include raw commodities, satellite networks, machinery, ships and factories. When the cost of manufacturing is reduced, as it is with 3D printers, to the point that virtually anybody can purchase the "means of production", everyone will say "make it." So, the future of 3D printing technology is promising. As the applications of this technology, shown in Fig. 2.2, surge in various areas while potential future applications arise. It is expected that the 3D printing manufacturing industry will grow by 18% each year and reach 8.4 billion dollars by 2025. Especially in the automobile and aerospace industries, the usage of 3D-printed parts will increase signifcantly in the upcoming years (Mpofu et al. 2014).

# **2.2 5G**

5G is a contemporary technology that offers new interfaces to all end-user devices and network components. The quest for 5G stems from the rapidly developing desire to build a highly connected and globalised world in which information and data are easily and equitably accessible to everyone around the globe. Technologies that enhance access to information and data have gone through signifcant improvements, with new technologies constantly developing to address the shortcomings of previous iterations. 5G is expected to address the shortcomings of 4G technology and improve upon the promises of 4G. 5G technology promises higher capacity and data rate, lower latency, larger device connectivity, lower costs and more consistent quality compared to 4G (Gupta and Jha 2015). 5G can simultaneously connect more wireless technology users with smarter, faster predecessors. 5G technology allows for network connections using Internet technology that is specifed to power, battery life, size and cost in the Internet of Things (IoT) applications. 5G technology provides for a revised technological solution in terms of tonnes of wireless technologies, and it opens up new possibilities for mobile connectivity that go well beyond what is now possible, allowing new applications to be utilised in a variety of different situations (Painuly et al. 2020).

**Fig. 2.2** 3D Printing applications. (Mpofu et al. 2014, p. 2149)

From 1G to 5G, communication technology has evolved over time. Mobile connectivity technology began in 1979 with the frst generation of mobile networks, also known as 1G. 1G was a fully analogue technology. Analogue technology and frequency division multiple access (FDMA) were used in 1G, as well as Nordic mobile systems (NMT) and advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) switching. The average speed of a 1G connection was 2.4Kbps. 2G was introduced in 1991 with more services and features, including enhanced coverage and capacity and superior voice quality to 1G. The speed of the 2G network was enhanced to 64 kbps, and the frst digital protocols, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA) and global system of mobile (GSM), were used. 2G technology was used for voice and data packet switching. When 3G was introduced in 2003, it represented a new mobile technology and services age. Using 3G technology, the speed was upgraded to 2000 kbps, and the frst mobile broadband service was launched. A new age of mobile capabilities began with the rapid growth of smartphone Internet services after introducing 3G technology. Digital voice and web data are used separately in 3G, email and SMS. 4G was introduced in 2011 and is currently in use alongside 2G and 3G. 4G speed can reach 100,000 kbps. High-speed Internet and the next generation of transportation networks are required to meet this massive demand (Saqlain 2018). By the early 2000s, developers had realised that even the most advanced 4G networks would not be able to handle the demand. An academic team has begun work on 5G since 4G has a 40–60 ms latency, which is too high for real-time responses. NASA aided in developing the Machine-to-Machine Intelligence (M2Mi) Corp, which is tasked with developing M2M and IoT like the 5G infrastructure required to encourage it in 2008. In the same year, South Korea established a 5G Research and Development program, while New York University established the 5G-focused NYU WIRELESS in 2012 (ReinhardtHaverans 2021). Historical development of the 5G is represented in Fig. 2.3.

Like existing networks, 5G transmits encoded data between hotspots using a cell system that divides the territory into sectors and employs radio waves to do so. The spine of the network must be connected to each cell, either wirelessly or through a landline. With two different frequency bands below and above 6 GHz, 5G uses higher frequencies than 4G (Pisarov and Mester 2020). 5G's improved connection was expected to revolutionise everything from fnance to healthcare. 5G opens the door to lifesaving technologies like remote operations, education, medicine and more. Additionally, 5G technology creates opportunities for new capabilities and enterprises. Despite the power of 4G wireless network technology, fast speed, rapid response, high reliability and power effciency, mobile services are not enough to sustain growing demand. Thus, these qualities have become important criteria for 5G services (Yu et al. 2017).

The 5G technology consists of three main types, which are enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). eMBB enables improved customer experience in cell broadband. It requires high data rates across a large coverage region. URLLC's primary applications include industrial automation, automated driving and virtual surgery. Lastly, mMTC provides support for a variety of devices, such as remote controllers, actuators and system tracking within a small area (Noohani and Magsi 2020).

5G technology can also be divided into fve main categories. As shown in Fig. 2.4, these categories include immersive 5G services, such as massive contents streaming and virtual reality/ augmented reality; intelligent 5G services, such as crowded area services and user-centric computing; omnipresent 5G services, including Internet of Things; autonomous 5G services, including drones, robots and smart transportation; and public 5G services, such as emergency services, private security, disaster monitoring and public safety (Yu et al. 2017). Moreover, Fig. 2.5 represents the applications of 5G.

**Fig. 2.3** Historical development of network technology. (Pisarov and Mester 2020)

**Fig. 2.4** Types of 5G technology. (Yu et al. 2017)

The widespread application of 5G is seen by many as inevitable given IoT requirements. Devices will require 5G capabilities to maintain continuous wireless connection and improve their speed and security. 5G offers signifcantly faster data rates compared to 4G networks. Furthermore, 5G has ultra-low latency (latency refers to the amount of time it takes for one device to deliver a data packet to another device). The latency rate in 4G is approximately 50 ms,

**Fig. 2.5** Applications of 5G technology. (Juniper Networks 2021)

while in 5G, it will be under one millisecond. This is a critical rate for industrial usage and selfdriving automobiles. 5G uses signifcantly less energy than previous technologies. Lower energy use facilitates the construction of battery-free IoT nodes, allowing IoT to operate as battery-free and maintenance-free endpoints.

Moreover, 5G consumes nearly fve times less energy while being fve times more cost-effective (Painuly et al. 2020). Also, 5G will allow a more connected world. Over the next 10 years, IoT is anticipated to develop tremendously, necessitating a network capable of supporting billions of connected objects. The capacity and bandwidth of 5G will be tailored to the user's demands (Lopa and Vora 2015). The vast majority of household devices in use, from routers to televisions, are powered by a single chip. With the advent of 2G and 3G technology, the world changed dramatically, and after the arrival of 4G technology, the world has changed even more. 5G technology is a major step forward, not only for the technology industry but for the entire globe. 5G is expected to create \$12.3 trillion in world economic output and provide 22 million occupations by 2035. Moreover, it is estimated that 5G's overall contribution to the world's real gross domestic product (GDP) from 2020 to 2035 will reach the same size as India's economy (Campbell et al. 2017). As mentioned, 5G will be used mainly in three areas: eMBB, massive Internet of Things (MIoT) and mission critical services (MCS) (Campbell et al. 2017). eMBB indicates extending cellular service and increasing capacity to include more structures, such as offces, industrial areas, shopping malls and major venues, and accommodating a much larger number of devices with high data volumes (Kavanagh 2021). This will allow for more cost-effective data transmission. Secondly, the costs associated with MIoT will be signifcantly reduced by the energy effciency of 5G and its ability to function in both licensed and unlicensed spectrums and the potential to supply deeper and more fexible coverage. Lastly, the adoption of 5G will fulfl the application's high reliability and ultra-low latency connectivity needs. Thus, this technology will be frequently used in the operation of complex systems to eliminate the risk of failure. When all of 5G's components are fully deployed and functioning, no wire or cable will be required to supply communications. 5G has the potential to be the ultimate answer to the old "last mile" challenge of delivering a comprehensive digital connection from the carrier network's edge to the consumer without having to drill another hole through the wall.

## **2.3 Advanced Materials**

The materials that developed and continue to evolve recently can be defned as advanced materials. Also, these materials show high strength, hardness and thermal, electrical and optical properties and have promising chemical properties and strength density ratios against conventional materials. Energy consumption value decreases by using advanced materials. Besides, higher performance and lower cost value can be obtained (Randall Curlee and Das 1991). The subgroups of the advanced materials can be classifed as metallic materials, ceramics, polymers and composites, which are combined in terms of their nature. Besides, according to their properties and usage areas, advanced materials can be classifed as biomedical, electronic, magnetic, optical materials, etc. Also, whereas advanced materials have superior properties such as thermal, electrical, mechanical and a combination of these properties, they add value to the systems in which they are used (Randall Curlee and Das 1991). Also, there are a lot of advanced materials defnitions. One of them is that advanced materials have potential usage in high value-added products. The other defnition implies that enhanced processes improve the cost-performance effciency of functional materials. Besides, advanced materials positively affect economic growth, life quality and environmental issues under enhanced processes and products. All new materials or modifcations of existing materials with high properties have at least one aspect that can be classifed as advanced materials. Furthermore, they can have completely new features (Kennedy et al. 2019). Figure 2.6 summarises some of the major advanced materials available for industrial and commercial use.

**Fig. 2.6** List of advanced materials

### (i) *Advanced Ceramics*

High-performance ceramics are designated advanced ceramics. They have a crystalline structure, and refned raw materials are used for the utilisation of advanced ceramics. Advanced ceramics can be carbides, nitrides, oxides and silicides such as zirconia, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, aluminium oxide, etc. They exhibit high mechanical properties like hardness, strength, modulus, etc. Also, they have high thermal and electrical conductivity, chemical resistance and low toxicity (Ayode Otitoju et al. 2020).

### (ii) *Bioengineered Materials*

Bioengineered materials are mostly used for medical purposes. They are derived from natural structures, or they can be produced synthetically with different techniques. Materials such as collagen, gelatine and fbrin can be given as examples of naturally derived materials. Synthetic materials are not bioactive, unlike natural ones, and they need to undergo several processes to become compatible with biological environments (Sedlakova et al. 2019). Bioengineered materials can also be classifed as biomedical materials and biomimetic materials where biomedical materials derive from natural structures and use their properties, and biomimetic materials are synthetic materials that imitate natural processes to function (Tirrell et al. 2002).

### (iii) *High-Entropy Alloys*

The high mechanical, physical and chemical properties cannot be obtained by using pure metals. Because of this situation, other metals are inserted into the metal system to be used. Conventionally, alloy systems include at least one dominant metal atom and slightly alloying elements. However, the high-entropy alloys contain equiatomic or near equiatomic at least fve principal metallic elements which have approximately 5–25% atomic percentage (Gludovatz et al. 2015). High-entropy alloys (HEA) have advanced properties like superior thermal stability, corrosion and oxidation resistance, high strength, hardness and wear resistance and so on. Besides, these promising properties are situated in the system thanks to four key effects of highentropy alloys. These effects are named core effects, and one of these effects is the high-entropy effect that gives the name to the system. In addition to this, the others can be named as the cocktail effect, sluggish diffusion and severe lattice distortion effect (Tsai et al. 2013).

### (iv) *Metamaterials*

Metamaterials are artifcial materials with extraordinary properties. They are considered revolutionary as they can provide unusual optical and electromagnetic features (Adams and Barbante 2015). They apply in many different felds, from mechanics to acoustics. Several disciplines currently examine them since they promise a wide range of applications (Schürch and Philippe 2021). Recent work on metamaterials concentrates on the control of changing material properties (Adams and Barbante 2015).

### (v) *MXene*

The compounds consisting of transition metal and nitride, carbide or carbonitride can be designated as MXene. These materials have a 2D structure and Mn + 1XnTx (for n = 1 to 3) formulation. M stands for transition metals like Sc, Ti, Cr, V, Nb, Hf, Zr and the like. Besides, X refers to carbon or nitrogen atoms, and T refers to hydroxyl, oxygen or fuorine. N + 1 layers of transition metals cover the N layers of carbon or nitrogen in this structure. Ti3C3Tx is the frst synthesised MXene, and in addition to this, MXene, including more than one M element, can be in two different structures, such as solid solution and ordered structure. Whereas random dispersion of two different transition metals is obtained in the solid solution structure, the one or two layers of a transition metal are covered by the layers of other transition metals in the ordered structure (Anasori et al. 2017).

### (vi) *Nanocomposite Materials*

### **Polymer Nanocomposites**

Polymer nanocomposites include polymeric matrices and nanofller materials as additives (Abdulkadir et al. 2016). According to the types of polymer materials, the polymer nanocomposites are also divided into thermoset and thermoplastic nanocomposites (Zaferani 2018). Besides, reinforcement materials may be organic or inorganic fller. Thanks to a variety of polymer matrices and fllers, different kinds of properties can be obtained (Dhillon and Kumar 2018). Examples of the usage areas of polymer nanocomposites are drug delivery, energy storage, information storage, magnetic and electric applications and the like (Abdulkadir et al. 2016).

### **Metallic Nanocomposites**

The nanosized additive materials are used to manufacture metal matrix composites. The metal matrix composites are produced to obtain high mechanical properties such as high strength, ductility, toughness, dimensional stability, hardness, etc. The obtaining of the high mechanical properties depends on the homogeneous dispersion of the additive in the metal matrix. If the agglomeration takes place, the mechanical properties decrease. Furthermore, the production of the metal matrix composites is divided into two subgroups – in situ and ex situ. In an ex situ process, the additives are produced before adding the metal matrix, while the addition of the reinforcement is a part of the composite production (Ceschini et al. 2017). Besides, the production of metallic nanocomposites can be classifed as liquid-state, solid-state and semi-solid-state methods, respectively (Sajjadi et al. 2011).

### **Ceramic Nanocomposites**

The ceramic nanocomposites include glass or ceramic matrix material and different types of nano additives such as nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanoplatelets and hybrids of these materials and so on. These types of nanomaterials are added to the ceramic matrix to improve the mechanical properties of thermal shock, wear resistance, electrical and thermal conductivities and the like (Porwal and Saggar 2017). Also, there are types of ceramic composite materials that include nanocrystalline matrices. These ceramic nanocomposites are designated as nanoceramics, and the dimensions of the grain size of the matrix are smaller than 100 nm (Banerjee and Manna 2013).

(vii) *Nanocarbon Materials*

### **Graphene**

Graphene is a single-layer 2D nanomaterial having carbon atoms in a honeycomb atomic arrangement. However, there are also two- and three-layered graphene structures. The graphene exhibits different properties than fullerenes and carbon nanotubes (Rao et al. 2009). For example, the properties of the graphene are given like promising quantum hall effect, superior young modulus, high thermal conductivity, large surface area, optical transparency and so on. There are a lot of production routes to obtain graphene as single or multi-layer. The production of graphene is classifed in the two subgroups as bottom-up and top-down methods. Whereas the chemical vapour deposition, graphitisation, solvothermal and organic synthesis methods are bottom-up methods, liquid electrochemical and thermal exfoliation of graphite and liquid intercalation, reduction via chemical and photothermal ways graphene oxide are designated as a top-down method. In addition to the advantages of graphene, the graphene structures can be used as composite materials with polymers, organic and inorganic compounds, metal-organic frameworks and the like. These composite materials are utilised in distinct areas such as fuel cell and battery systems, photovoltaics, supercapacitors and sensing platforms (Huang et al. 2012).

### **Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs)**

CNTs are cylindrical structures of graphite and can be classifed into subgroups such as singlewalled, double-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Whereas single-walled includes a single graphene sheet, the other two groups have more than one graphene sheet. These materials exhibit high surface area, large fexibility, low weight, high aspect ratio and the like (Mallakpour and Rashidimoghadam 2019).

### **Fullerene**

The carbon atoms number can be 60, 70 and 80 in the structure of the fullerene. C60 has a canonical structure and exhibits icosahedral symmetry. Besides, the electronic structure of fullerenes and graphene is similar, and they can be soluble with toluene. Also, fullerene shows insulator properties like a diamond. The colours of the fullerenes are different. For example, while C60 has a violet colour, C70 has a reddish-brown. The carbon arc method is used for the production of fullerenes (Ramsden 2016).

### **Carbon Nanofbre**

Carbon nanofbres have high mechanical properties, surface area, thermal and electrical conductivity and nanoscale diameter. These excellent properties are utilised in different application areas such as energy storage, composites as reinforcement and the chemistry industry. Also, various synthesis techniques like chemical vapour deposition, templating, drawing and electrospinning can be used to obtain these materials (Mohamed 2019). Different production routes cause a variety of morphologies; these are classifed as herringbone, platelet and ribbon (Malandrino 2009).

### (viii) *Piezoelectric Materials*

Piezoelectric materials produce electrical energy when the mechanical forces are applied, and a change of shape occurs when the electrical energy is given to the material. Ceramics, ceramic-polymer composites, flms and crystals can be shown as subgroups of the piezoelectric materials. Most of these materials are ceramic, and the performance of the piezoceramic materials strongly depends on various properties such as elastic stiffness, thermal coeffcient, dielectric constant and so on (Moskowitz 2014). The common examples of piezoelectric materials are PZT, BaTiO3, PVDF (polyvinylidene fuoride), ZnO, ZnS, GaN and so on (*Electronic Textiles* 2015). The usage of lead-free piezoelectric materials has been increasing due to environmental issues. Therefore, the investigations focus on utilisation of the lead-free piezoelectric materials instead of PZT piezoelectric materials. For example, langasite, tungsten bronze structure, materials with perovskites can be shown as an example of these types of materials (Uchino 2010).

### (ix) *Semiconductors*

Semiconductors are an essential component for the electronics and energy industries. The reason for them to be important is their chemical properties. Unlike other materials that act as either a conductor or an insulator, semiconductors do not have a fxed value for conductivity. Thus, they can be manipulated by external stimuli to work as a conductor while they are insulators under natural circumstances. Also, their ability to carry electrical current by positively charged matter, called "holes", in addition to electrons, enables the production of electronic parts, such as transistors and solar cells (Neville 1995).

### (x) *Shape Memory Materials*

Shape memory materials (SMMs) can return to their original shape after their shape is changed by another subject or impact (Huang et al. 2010). They are primarily used in medical applications, but R&D studies are on using these materials in industries such as aerospace and automotive (Bogue 2009).

### (xi) *Superalloys*

The superalloys having surface stability and mechanical strength are materials that consist of VIIIA base elements. Thanks to these superior properties, these materials are utilised at high temperatures above 650 °C. The superalloys are divided into three subgroups depending on the base elements of superalloy, which are nickel, cobalt and iron-based alloys. Besides, powder microstructure, cast and wrought are other subdivisions of the superalloy. High mechanical properties come from precipitation hardening and solid solution strengthening mechanisms. Turbine blades and aero-engine discs are examples of usage areas of the superalloys (Liu et al. 2020).

### (xii) *Superconductors*

Superconductivity can be defned with an instant decrease of electrical resistance to zero at a transition temperature named critical temperature (Tc) (Bardeen et al. 1957). The superconductors can be divided into low-temperature and high-temperature superconductors. There are different types of novel superconductors. Some examples are lithium, boron or transition metals like uranium and transfer salts' complexes. For example, C60 fullerenes are promising candidates for novel superconductors because this material has advanced properties such as high critical current and magnetic feld. Magnesium diboride MgB2 is also given as another example of novel superconductors. The critical temperature of this material is 39 Kelvin, and it is thought of as a high-temperature superconductor. It also has dual-band superconductivity. The other examples of this type of advanced materials are alkali oxide fullerenes, RNi2B2C, RNi2B2C, CeMIn5 (M = Co, Rh, Ir), CePt3Si, CePt3Si, Sr2RuO4 and so on. Besides, boron-doped diamond, NaxCoO2H2O and CaC6 materials can be shown as the other types of new superconductor materials (Shi et al. 2015).

### (xiii) *Thin Films*

Thin flms have a thickness between nanometres and micrometres, and they have different properties from their thicker equivalents. They serve as surface coatings in several felds. Biomedical, mechanical, electric and thermal industries utilise thin flms as protective surface coatings (Mylvaganam et al. 2015). These advanced materials can be used in different application areas such as aerospace, energy storage, refrigeration, etc. With the increasing utilisation in new energy applications like electric vehicles and fuel cells, the advanced materials give high energy and power density and fexibility. The usage of nano-enhanced materials increases the life cycle and capacity of the components used in the energy storage devices (Liu et al. 2010). Also, nanomaterials provide mechanical and electrical advantages in the systems. Thus, it is thought that these materials will become next-generation materials (Shearer et al. 2014). New types of metallic materials such as high-entropy alloys and superalloys exhibit high promising mechanical properties such as ductility, high-temperature properties and fracture toughness (He et al. 2016; Liu et al. 2020). Thanks to these advantages, the usage of new metallic materials in the medical, turbine blades and other application areas have been increasing (Anupam et al. 2019; Ma et al. 2020).

# **2.4 Artifcial Intelligence**

Artifcial intelligence (AI) is defned as a system that can collect data, learn, decide and take rational actions using appropriate methods such as machine learning, deep learning and reinforcement learning. Alan Turing put forwards the frst question that led to the development of the term. In his article "Computing Machinery and Intelligence", he wondered if machines could think someday as humans do (Turing 2009). Thus, research in this feld started thanks to Alan Turing and then accelerated when John McCarthy coined the term "artifcial intelligence" for the frst time in 1955. However, many people previously thought of the term "intelligence" as a concept that only humans can have (McCarthy 1989). So, if machines could 1 day have intelligence, according to McCarthy, then the word "artifcial" intelligence is more appropriate for the description.

Nevertheless, artifcial intelligence as a term should be considered a system that can think and act logically, unlike human intelligence. It is necessary to model humans as rational beings instead of emotional ones (Guo 2015). So, human thinking needs to be modelled, and this can be reduced to four steps. First, the data needs to be collected, then learned and a decision will be made as a

**Fig. 2.7** Types of artifcial intelligence

result of this learning. And in the last step, the work will be done in line with the decision made (Küfeoğlu 2021). As artifcial intelligence is an emerging technology, its boundaries keep enlarging, and it continues to evolve. There are two types of artifcial intelligence that human beings can produce now and hope to have in the future. Types of artifcial intelligence can be seen in Fig. 2.7.

The frst type is generally called "weak AI", or, namely, narrow AI or artifcial narrow intelligence (ANI). This type of AI can be trained and then perform specifc objectives. Unfortunately, most of the "artifcial intelligence" products or services today are weak AI, and their ability is limited. Some of the good example products and services are digital assistants such as Alexa and autonomous vehicles.

The second one is called "strong AI" which consists of artifcial general intelligence (AGI) and artifcial super intelligence (ASI). AGI can learn from past experiences and solve problems. Also, it can plan any task. This type of artifcial intelligence is in use in some buildings. However, it is still a technology that needs to be developed, and its usage area is limited because it is not especially useful.

On the other hand, ASI, also called superintelligence, is a type of artifcial intelligence expected to exceed the intelligence and ability of the human brain. Also, it is the type of "artifcial intelligence" that people mostly come across as an idea in movies. This type of artifcial intelligence exists only theoretically, and no usage area can be given as examples from our daily lives. In addition, machine learning and deep learning come into play at this point in artifcial intelligence. Artifcial intelligence is achieved through machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL). The relationship between all these can be observed in Fig. 2.8.

Machine learning is a sub-branch of AI and is based on statistics. Hence, input is given in the system, and a permanent estimate determines the output. Not only is manual coding done, but also it is aimed to develop a system that re-codes itself according to the ever-increasing data and increases its accuracy (Mohammed et al. 2016). In addition, machine learning has constantly been changing until today and has evolved with steps such as supervised learning, unsupervised learning, reinforced learning, deep learning and deep reinforced learning. As stated in Fig. 2.1, deep learning is a sub-branch of machine learning and, therefore, artifcial intelligence. It is a system that simulates human speech and thinking with neural networks. It is used in many felds, such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and recurrent neural networks (RNNs) (Küfeoğlu 2021).

Artifcial intelligence (AI) is an important technology that facilitates, accelerates and even saves human life from time to time. It was invented to be useful in daily life. For example, AI devices doing housework are easier than doing it manually, and it takes more time. AI shortens the information processing process and increases effciency (Küfeoğlu 2021). For example, in the feld of medicine, early detection of diseases has become easier. As a result of the data provided by AI, which performs morphological evaluation, it reduces the workload of healthcare professionals and facilitates the diagnosis of the disease (Mintz and Brodie 2019). Furthermore, thanks to the use of AI, the patients' medical data are stored and analysed to improve the healthcare system (Hamet and Tremblay 2017). Thus, the workfow accelerates, and patients can get the necessary treatment faster and easier.

People use many examples from daily life and do not even know that they are using AI technology. Machine translations are vastly used on the Internet and social networks, improving day by day. The computer has learned to recognise both spoken and written speech. The other example is computer games. AI is used to create a game universe that controls

**Fig. 2.8** Relationship between AI, ML and DL

bots – characters that people do not play. AI is used to create game strategies. Also, AI technologies are used to create smart houses. A special program controls everything that happens in the house – electricity, heating, ventilation and household appliances. Robot vacuums scan their surroundings to determine if they need to get started. Another example of the usage of artifcial intelligence is in agriculture. It is imperative to use artifcial intelligence in agriculture because it is diffcult to achieve quality food in the modern world (Küfeoğlu 2021). With the use of AI, farmers can achieve a better harvest by providing their crops with more optimal conditions (Sharma 2021).

As can be seen from the examples given, nowadays, people are surrounded by AI technologies, and it is in every sphere. Thus, the main goal of these technologies is to make life easier and faster. The next thing related to the previous is that these technologies save time to spend on other things they want to do. Therefore, this is the marketing approach too. There can be an example of social media like Facebook and Instagram, where users tag their friends on the pictures, and now AI can do it automatically for them. So, the users save their time by using the media more in other ways.

There are some reasons for using AI technologies. Firstly, AI can store and process huge amounts of data. With deep learning, new data is added to the previous data, so people reach more accurate data every time artifcial intelligence is used. In addition, humans are constantly affected by their emotions when making decisions. A machine with AI is not infuenced by its emotions when making decisions, as it has no emotions. Therefore, the decisions taken are more objective and logical (Khanzode and Sarode 2020). As a result, AI makes the device to which it is added faster, smarter and more effcient. According to the research, artifcial intelligence technology has improved data science by 9.6%, health services by 6.3%, defence systems by 5.3% and natural language processing by 5.1% (Shabbir and Anwer 2018).

If emerging technologies are considered, predicting the future is essential too. AI has been a popular, prominent research and application area recently, but the question is, will artifcial intelligence evolve more in the future? AI technology can reach a wide number of applications because of the ability of machines to work with humans, collaborate digitally without any limits, make sensible decisions with the results it analyses from the data at critical points, bring various

ideas together and integrate them to produce physical or digital prototype properties. These abilities make AI a perfect technology that can continue to grow in the future. The most up-andcoming sectors that will use AI in the future are shown in Fig. 2.9.

In traditional systems, medical and biological systems do not work effciently due to the complexity, a large amount of data and human errors. However, effciency in new generation biological and medical systems has increased thanks to artifcial intelligence algorithms. As stated by Shabbir and Anwer (2018), future applications of AI for various sectors are provided below:


reliable forecasts due to data analysis, demand regulation, inventory accuracy and optimisation of programs. Therefore, the applications of AI are faster, smarter and environmentally effcient.


by analysing their working styles, working hours and learning styles. In addition, thanks to machine learning, analysing students' physical or psychological conditions and increasing their success rate are made possible.


# **2.5 Autonomous Vehicles**

Autonomous vehicles are vehicles that can perform their functions with artifcial intelligence algorithms defned in their content, sense their environment and operate without the need for human intervention. With the astounding growing speed of technological developments, signifcant improvements have been made in the development of autonomous vehicles. The automotive industry, especially, has achieved signifcant advances in the mechanical and electrical characteristics of vehicles since the 1920s. Autonomous vehicles have also been envisaged as the most popular objective in this respect. Various automotive frms and universities made numerous attempts to pioneer autonomous cars between 1920 and 1980. In the 1920s, a radio-controlled driverless automobile was one of the earliest demonstrations (Davidson and Spinoulas 2015). The fact that there was a lot of development in the feld of science and technology in this time period was the most important factor affecting the situation of autonomous vehicles from the 1980s to nowadays. Although the dream of autonomous vehicles dates back to old times, it took the 2010s to meet the technical requirements and take realistic steps.

In the working mechanism of autonomous vehicles, many components are widely used, such as complicated artifcial intelligence algorithms and devices with high processing power, sensors and actuators (Gowda et al. 2019). GPS (global positioning system), LIDAR (light detection and ranging), RADAR (radio detection and ranging) and video camera technologies are also integrated with these components (Ondruš et al. 2020). In the context of GPS, the users of vehicles, municipalities and technology-driven businesses get help in the feld of transportation planning from the mapping and power of data functions of GPS (Bayyou 2019). Therefore, the inclusion of GPS inside of autonomous vehicles can increase the effciency of vehicles by applying smart route optimisation plans and gathering information about the environment. Secondly, lidar is defned as a remote sensing technology that detects the distance between a target by making it visible with light particles and works by detecting the returning light (Ondruš et al. 2020). Radar and lidar have similar properties in terms of working principles, except for the transmission source used, such as light and what it is intended to measure. In radar, which works with the principle of signal give and take, a change in the frequency of the signal occurs during the return phase from the receiver while measuring and this change is used to determine the speed of the vehicle (Sarkan et al. 2017). Lastly, detecting randomised human factors and physical elements that cannot be identifed in the system but are present in the traffc is not easy with radio waves and light without the contribution of video cameras (Yun et al. 2019). All of these technologies and technical components are the factors that developed the performance level of autonomy in the vehicles to provide users with a well-prepared and safe experience while driving. In this direction, it has been claimed that AVs permit "drivers" to free up the time customarily spent checking the roadways, empowering them to utilise their time more successfully by resting, eating, unwinding or working during the time customarily spent driving (Haboucha et al. 2017). Figure 2.10 shows how AVs work briefy.

Considering the effects that autonomous vehicles can offer when integrated into human life, it is obvious that it is a very critical technological revolution. According to Beiker and Calo, by eliminating the driver from the equation and relying on cars to manoeuvre themselves through traffc, this technology has the potential to enhance safety signifcantly, effciency and mobility for humans (2010). Over the years, via the increase in connection speed with technologies such as 5G, advances in the Internet of Things and the strengthening of the interconnectivity of mobile devices, feasible and applicable solutions have emerged in autonomous technologies. These advancements have prepared the path for autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, which promises to minimise collisions, energy consumption, pollution and traffc congestion while also boosting transportation accessibility (Bagloee et al. 2016). Consequently, it can be

**Fig. 2.10** How automated vehicles work

said that the use of autonomous technologies on vehicles, such as collective, individual and scientifc research, has been helping the processes become more streamlined, adaptable and effcient for the user due to advancements in emerging technologies.

As has been stated earlier, autonomous vehicles have become signifcant for a large number of areas in life. Chan highlighted autonomous cars' benefcial contributions and impacts on several levels, including users, infrastructure and sustainable cities and societies (Chan 2017). Firstly, for individual users, crashes occurring with vehicles due to lack of attention can be prevented by providing a more reliable driving experience by software and hardware components included in autonomous vehicles. It would not be unfeasible to have more secure and quicker transportation in cities, which save time with the help of self-driving cars. Such junctions are expected to have an important impact on the road system of each city. The travel and waiting times will be considerably shorter (Zohdy et al. 2013). Additionally, it is thought to have an effect that can prevent 9 out of 10 accidents that occur under normal conditions (Chehri and Mouftah 2019). To sum the relationships between autonomous technology and citizens, it is possible to have a more comfortable transportation experience and fewer worries about the journeys with the integration of those vehicles into the daily life of humans.

On the other hand, in city road planning, the problems which are faced under normal circumstances can be decreased by autonomous technologies. More controllable vehicles provide a clear structure of roads, low cost of building parking lots and roads and more accessible public transportation services which can help urban planning, easier public and mobility services, an incentive for private investors on their business models. This emerging technology conserves resources for infrastructure in the city, such as parking and road development, while vehicle technology also decreases traffc and eliminates possible parking problems. The use of advanced and real-time GPS allows for a more effcient navigation experience, resulting in more accessible, dependable and adaptable routes. Besides, the sensors implanted nowadays within the autonomous vehicle are "intelligent" since they do not as it gave an information estimation but are sent with a coordinated computer program brick competent to perform, to begin with, a stage of preparing this data (Chehri and Mouftah 2019). Consequently, more effcient infrastructure due to improved vehicle control is provided by GPS and sensors.

The last promise of autonomous vehicles, sustainable cities and high-level comfort of societies can be achieved. Most governments used to develop additional roads and streets to address the rising urban environment demands. Due to a lack of public funding and physical space, the transportation network, which has a lower capacity than the population, has been overburdened, causing additional congestion, CO2 emissions and signifcant disruptions to people (Dameri 2014). The previously mentioned developments regarding autonomous vehicles offer impressive solutions for sustainable cities in response to these problems. Autonomous vehicles play an important role in reducing physical and environmental noise pollution, reaching the desired level of city traffc fow, eliminating the security concerns of the city's people, speeding up regional procurement processes and reducing procurement costs (Seuwou et al. 2020). As a result, it is not impossible to reach smart, sustainable, green and information cities with the integration of AVs into urban life. Figure 2.11 summarises potential use areas of AVs.

AVs are used in many different areas of industry according to the level of automation of the vehicle. To clarify the unique function of each vehicle, defning its capabilities and complexities with their autonomy level is a must. Building a classifcation analysis of AVs is signifcant in terms of their capability to make tasks autonomously (Ilková and Ilka 2017). According to the model created by SAE International, it presents a taxonomy with precise defnitions for six levels of driving automation, ranging from no driving automation (level 0) to complete driving automation (level 5), in the context of motor vehicles and their operation on routes (2018). The classifca-

**Fig. 2.11** Potential use areas of autonomous vehicles

tion system is based on how steering and braking are managed, how much human control is required when driving and whether the AV can operate without it in all scenarios (Alawadhi et al. 2020). For each level, elements represent the low processing capabilities. The difference between levels 2 and 3, where the human driver does part of the dynamic driving task and level 3 when the automated driving system performs the full dynamic driving work, is important (Ilková and Ilka 2017). Fig. 2.12 explains the automation levels in detail.

When everything is taken into consideration, it would not be an exaggeration to claim that autonomous vehicles will be very infuential for the future trends of the technology world and automotive industry. When the future situation is examined, it is obvious that minor and major developments in autonomous vehicles are in interaction with each other. For user-oriented improvements, research states that the adaptation of users into autonomous vehicles will be possible with the modifed after-sales mechanism, easy solutions to technical problems and fexible supply chain systems (Bertoncello and Wee 2015). Furthermore, the most used ways of transportation will be AVs by saving drivers more than half an hour per day, making quite a lot of parking space suitable for use and providing life and property safety by offering a lower error rate in driving experiences by 2050 (Bertoncello and Wee 2015). When considering the future state of autonomous vehicles, there is no signifcant obstacle to the increase in usage rates. Up to 15% of new automobiles produced in 2030 might be fully driverless after technology, and regulatory

**Fig. 2.12** Six levels of autonomy

concerns are overcome (Gao et al. 2016). There are serious studies of many research companies related to this subject. BCG predicted that worldwide sales would level at about 100 million per year by 2030 and that by 2035, 30% of the feet would be electric, and 25% would be autonomous (Jones and Bishop 2020). Additionally, according to KPMG, by 2030, linked cars will account for 75% of the UK motor-park (used vehicles), with about 40% being partially automated and fewer than 10% being totally autonomous (Jones and Bishop 2020). A great deal of work falls on manufacturers and technology decision-makers to make these predictions feasible and to truly feel the impact of autonomous vehicles in the future. Considering the cumulative progress of technology, it is obvious that the development of autonomous vehicles will gain momentum with the production of prototype projects. Millions of lines of code are already embedded in the latest vehicles rolling off European manufacturing foors; the next phase of autonomous driving plainly requires both engineering acumen and digital smarts to develop, build and distribute successful automobiles (Gupta 2021).

# **2.6 Big Data**

Big data research is at the forefront of modern business and science. It mainly includes data from online transactions, videos, images, audios, emails, logs, clickstreams, postings, social networking interactions, science data, health records, sensors, search queries, mobile phones and associated apps. These data are stored in databases, which became highly complicated to capture, store, form, distribute, manage, analyse and visualise using standard database software (Sagiroglu and Sinanc 2013). At the end of 2016, it was stated that 90% of the world's data had been produced in just 2 years, at a rate of 2.5 quintillion bytes per day. Furthermore, data is growing at an exponential pace, with estimates of more than 16 zettabytes (16 trillion GB) of useful data by 2020. The advent of the Internet of Things, as well as the global proliferation of mobile devices – technologies, not just humans, are producing data – and the growth of social media, which has transformed everyone into a broadcaster and hence a data producer, is also adding to the quickly growing volume of data. The vast bulk of the information is no longer numerical and poorly organised. As a result, the majority of data is in the form of unstructured data, such as text, video, audio and images, which are becoming increasingly widespread (Suoniemi et al. 2020).

To put it simply, big data refers to massive volumes of information. However, size is not the only factor to consider (Oliveira et al. 2019). Although there is no singular defnition for big data, there are some relevant defnitions in the literature. Big data comprises structured data found in organisational databases and unstructured data created by new communication technologies (e.g. Internet of Things), such as images, videos and audio (Sestino et al. 2020). Big data also refers to a collection of enormous, complicated datasets that are too vast for traditional data processing tools and other relational database management technologies to analyse, manage and record in the timescale required. Big data also implies the diversity and velocity of data and its volume. The three Vs of big data are shown in Fig. 2.13.

Volume refers to the amount of data generated from various sources. The structural variability of a dataset, which might be structured, semistructured, or unstructured, is referred to as variety. Data that has been arranged in a way that makes it easier to analyse is known as structured data. On the other hand, unstructured data is data that is diffcult to analyse and includes movies, photos and audio fles. Although semi-structured data is not subject to as stringent standards as tabular data, it can be saved in XML (extensible markup language) format. Finally, velocity refers to how quickly data is produced and processed from various sources such as social media and the Internet (Oliveira et al. 2019).

According to the TDWI (transforming data with intelligence) Big Data Analytics survey, the benefts of using big data include better-targeted marketing, more direct business insights, automated decision-making, client segmentation, sales and market potential recognition, risk quantifcation and market trends, more lucrative investments, understanding of company transformation, better planning and forecasting (Sagiroglu and Sinanc 2013). According to current research, big data facilitates corporate decision-making through technology, systems, techniques, practices and applications related to gathering, storage, analysis, integration and deployment of large amounts of structured and unstructured data. From \$3.2 billion in 2010 to \$16.9 billion in 2015, the vendor market for big data technology has grown over 40% annually (Suoniemi et al. 2020).

Non-expert staff, cost, the diffculty of designing analytical systems, poverty of database software, scalability issues, inability to make big data usable for end-users, incompetence in reaching enough data load speed in current database software and lack of compelling business case are some of the disadvantages of big data mentioned by TDWI (Sagiroglu and Sinanc 2013). According to McKinsey Global Institute's Report, the value potential of big data is mostly unexplored and underused by businesses today (McKinsey Global Institute 2011). Three key problems that are preventing businesses from getting larger benefts **Fig. 2.13** Three Vs of big data from big data are (1) organisational structure and procedures; (2) strategy, leadership and talent; and (3) information technology (IT) infrastructure. Many businesses are unclear on how to integrate big data and afraid to spend on new information technology, or they just consider big data analytics to be arduous.

We live in a big data era, defned by the rapid accumulation of omnipresent information. Big data contains an infnite amount of information. It is expanding in various industries, giving a method to enhance and simplify operations (Lv et al. 2017). By becoming a necessity of our age, big data is almost everywhere. Any industry that accumulates a large amount of data, such as e-commerce, geography and transportation, research and technology, health, manufacturing and agriculture, can beneft from big data analytics. According to Andreas Weigend, professor at Stanford University and Amazon's former chief scientist, "Big Data is when your datasets become so large that you have to start innovating how to collect, store, organize, analyse and share it" (Backaitis 2012, cited in Gobble 2013). This large amount of data collected by companies and institutions is processed, providing them with an opportunity to evaluate their performance and gain insights by creating "information", which has now become a valuable resource like money (Vassakis et al. 2018). Some of the key application areas of "big data" in different sectors are shown in Fig. 2.14, and those areas can be summarised as follows (Zellner et al. 2016; Memon et al. 2017)


**Fig. 2.14** Application areas of big data

mobile channels has resulted in fewer face-toface contacts between consumers and banks while boosting virtual interactions and the volume of client data. Banks now have far more data about their clients than ever before regarding both volume and variety. However, only a small part of them is used to achieve successful commercial outcomes. Like most e-commerce frms, big data technology can make effcient use of consumer data, assisting in the development of customised products and services. Main application areas of big data within the banking sector include credit scoring and risk management. Automated procedures based on big data technology, such as machine learning algorithms, make loan and credit decisions in seconds. Moreover, the need for better risk monitoring, risk coverage and increased predictive capability in risk models has never been greater. Big data technology, along with hundreds of risk indicators, can help banks, asset managers and insurance companies detect possible hazards earlier, respond more quickly and make more informed choices. Big data may be tailored to an organisation's specifc needs and used to improve several risk categories.


The increased production and availability of digital data in many areas, along with improved analytical skills due to improvements in computer sciences, has resulted in new fndings utilised to improve results in many felds. In parallel with these developments, organisations are also undergoing a systemic transformation in the knowledge-based economy. Information management and big data analysis are concerned with strategies for maintaining a shared foundation of corporate knowledge, allowing different organisational units and functions to coordinate their efforts, exchange knowledge to support decisions and generate competitive advantages. In this sense, businesses effectively leverage big data to streamline processes, create effciencies and improve services provided to customers, especially online shopping platforms such as Amazon (Madden 2012, cited in Gobble 2013). Through big data applications, corporate knowledge may spread globally and be kept in several formats, including skills and expertise in the minds of researchers and workers and organised information in databases and other big data corporate resources (de Vasconcelos and Rocha 2019), which offers opportunities for fostering innovation.

Economics, management and business data analytics are all changing in the age of big data. The emphasis on economic and management science has shifted to empirical studies and the systematic use of information technology and computer systems. The digital revolution and the global big data phenomenon are anticipated to have more impact in economic research. Researchers and corporate executives and consultants are increasingly relying on large-scale business data obtained through partnerships and corporate networking. Thanks to the Internet, corporate intranets have grown into sociability and knowledge sharing centres. There is a higher reliance on making sense of big data in today's highly connected organisational environment. This implies the need for software solutions that enable the effcient and methodical assessment of massive amounts of company data. This causeand-effect connection leads to predictive analysis in knowledge-intensive enterprises, such as data mining methods based on machine learning and artifcial intelligence. Making sense of often unstructured data may be a time-consuming effort. To successfully solve technological, skillbased and organisational diffculties, businesses must acquire a diverse assortment of big datarelated IT resources (Suoniemi et al. 2020).

Today, in parallel with the increase in the number of users and devices connected to the Internet, a large amount of data has been collected in the databases of companies and technologies that will enable this data to turn into commercial value have come to the fore. With the increasing importance of data, many companies have transferred a signifcant amount of workload to the departments of these companies. To survive and compete, businesses must integrate industry 4.0 techniques into their activities. They must modify their management, organisation and production practices to achieve that. The best way to achieve this aim is by "reengineering": Its origins in the realm of information technology have now broadened to include the wide process of revamping key business operations to improve organisational performance. Reengineering methods give conceptual references targeted at rethinking and rebuilding corporate processes through digitalisation. The industry 4.0 revolution has stressed a collaborative link between business process digitalisation and IT since it began to develop more fexible, coordinated, group-oriented and real-time communication capabilities (Sestino et al. 2020).

Nowadays, big data is at the frst stage of its evolution. Most of the businesses in different sectors still have not implemented the big data concept. However, many of them continue to work in this direction, as described before. Even in this early stage, the positive effects on the enterprises cannot be ignored. Many individuals envision big data as the planet's core nervous system, with individuals serving as its sensors. However, it is obvious that the concept of big data will lead to another revolution in the concept of business shortly, based on the competency it offers to interpret and analyse even the most variable and unrelated data (Chauhan and Sood 2021).

To put it shortly, current tools and approaches perform data processing ineffciently. The objective of all present analytical techniques and data

**Fig. 2.15** Biometric system. (National Biometric Security Project 2008)

processing technology is to process a small amount of data. Existing technologies for large data processing reduce effciency and generate a slew of complications. As a result, present technologies cannot entirely resolve large data challenges. Cloud computing, artifcial intelligence, parallel computing, grid computing, stream computing, bio-inspired computing, quantum computing, semantic web and software-defned storage are critical research issues that need to be studied for the big data concept to be understood and applied properly (Yaqoob et al. 2016).

## **2.7 Biometrics**

Globalisation has allowed humanity to become more interconnected, with communication between individuals increasingly mediated through technological platforms and transactions increasingly frequently conducted remotely (Fairhurst 2019). The term biometrics is derived from the Greek term *bio*, meaning "life", and *metric*, meaning "measurement" (Gillis 2020a, b). Biometrics refers to the authentication of a person's identity through chemical, physical and behavioural characteristics. Biometric technology offers a safe and convenient identifcation system; users do not have to remember complex passwords or carry identifcation documents, easily lost or stolen. Biometric identity verifcation systems compare an individual's live-captured unique characteristics to a biometric template stored in a database to determine their resemblance. The system authenticates the information acquired in real-time against the reference model of biometric data to verify an individual's identity. Biometric verifcation has a high industrial acceptance rate worldwide due to the introduction of digitalisation and computerised databases, which ensure security through fast personal identifcation. Figure 2.15 demonstrates the working structure of a biometric system.

Biometric technology, at its most basic level, consists of pattern recognition systems that collect biometric patterns or characteristics utilising either image acquisition devices or a combination of both. In the case of fngerprint and iris recognition systems, such as scanners or cameras, and voice and signature recognition systems, movement acquisition devices like microphones are used (National Biometric Security Project 2008). An individual must be enrolled in the system before a biometric system can be used to determine identity, as shown in Fig. 2.15. The registration process involves the collection of measurement of the individual's characteristic(s) and the storage of this data as a biometric template within the system. The template is matched to live-captured biometric data in subsequent usage. Biometric systems typically work in one of two modes after the enrolment process: biometric authentication or a one-tomany comparison. The technique of matching gathered biometric data to an individual's biometric template to confrm identifcation is known as biometric authentication. Rather, to identify an unknown individual using biometric identifcation. The individual is acknowledged if the system can match the biometric sample to a stored template within an acceptable threshold.

Biometrics have a long history, with the frst examples present in the ancient Mesopotamian civilisation of Babylon. The frst descriptions of biometrics are from the Babylonian civilisation around 500 BC, while the frst record of a biometric identifying system dates from the 1800s. Biometrics has been around as today's technology since the 1960s. Biometric technology has continued to evolve over the years and has developed into many forms by 2021. Contemporary biometric devices collect a variety of identifying information and use it for diverse purposes across sectors. Some devices can authenticate identity without any interference or direct contact with the person whose information is being collected; this includes voice recognition, walking gait and other specifc behaviours. These are considered behavioural biometrics, which detects unique distinguishing features depending on how individuals interact with their systems. Behavioural biometric systems are especially useful for cybersecurity and online fraud protection. Many behavioural biometrics applications, unlike physiological solutions, do not require an apparatus for data gathering.

Unlike behavioural biometrics, physical biometrics are based on an individual's unique and quantifable physical characteristics. Fingerprints, retinae and DNA sequences collected from blood, saliva and other bodily fuids are key in biometric technology widely used in forensics, medicine and criminal justice cases. These biometrics require a device that links these unique properties to an existing database. The objective is to match the individual's unique characteristics to an existing record or fle to identify them. Biometric travel documents are required to cross most international borders, and they provide an elevated level of security to the countries attempting to regulate who comes in and out and secure their borders. Biometric voting documents could also provide a new level of security in elections (DHS 2021). Detailed descriptions of common biometric technology are listed below, and the historical development of these two biometric types is shown in Figs. 2.16 and 2.17.


**Fig. 2.16** Historical development. (RecFaces 2020)

**Fig. 2.17** Types of biometrics. (RecFaces 2020)


tion (ASV) and the other is automatic speaker identifcation (ASI). The main data used in inperson identifcation using these methods is the person's voice. After this data is received, the system detects the voice of the person whose identity is desired to be determined by making comparisons with the templates registered in the database.

7. Signature: Identifcation with signature data is made with some criteria created by experts over the years. Computer systems developed for this identifcation method can now be as successful as an expert at detecting distinctive features in signatures. In addition, signature identifcation systems do not only focus on the shape of the signature but also can detect the "speed of using the pen" of the signer or the "pressure applied to the surface" while signing (Phadke 2013).

These different forms of biometrics have applications across a variety of sectors and applications which are rapidly increasing as the technology develops. As a result, biometric technology has progressed substantially in recent years, with increasing performance, faster transaction rates and lower costs (Xiao 2007). Some experts believe that new biometric technologies and applications, such as brainwave biometrics, vascular pattern recognition, body salinity identifcation, infrared fngertip imaging and pattern recognition, may emerge soon (Asha and Chellappan 2012). Because a biometric sensor will never capture the same data twice, comparing biometric characteristics is an inaccurate comparison; computational intelligence-based techniques may be able to solve this problem in the future. In recent years, various approaches, such as neural networks, fuzzy logic and the evolutionary algorithm, have increasingly addressed complicated biometric authentication and identifcation issues. Due to rising security demands, technological advancements and decreasing prices, we can expect the development of more biometric applications in the future (Xiao 2007). Although convenient and widely applicable, biometrics may also come with numerous challenges. Therefore, the following requirements should be fulflled to execute the technology on large scales: high levels of accuracy and performance under varied operating conditions and user composition; sensor compatibility; a fast collection of biometric data in diffcult operation settings; low failure-to-enrol rate, high degrees of privacy and template protection; and protecting and securing supporting information systems (Jain and Kumar 2010).

# **2.8 Bioplastics**

Plastics constitute a huge part of people's lives because they are used everywhere. Moreover, they are employed in a variety of industrial sectors, from chemical to car. Plastics' chemical structure may be altered to create a variety of strengths and forms to get a larger molecular weight, low reactivity and long-lasting material; hence, synthetic polymers are advantageous. Bioplastics are simply plastics that are created from plants or other biological sources rather than petroleum. These can be categorised into biobased plastics, which are created at least partly from biological stuff, and biodegradable plastics, which microbes can partially or totally break down in an acceptable time scale under particular conditions.

Properties of common types of plastics are explained in Table 2.1.

The properties of these plastics are explained in Table 2.1. While they are useful, they pose a threat to the environment. Unfortunately, 34 million tonnes of plastic waste were produced per year, and 93% of the material was dumped into oceans and landflls (Mekonnen et al. 2013). Plastics dissolve in nature extremely slowly. This causes the products to pollute the environment throughout the years. Biobased plastics, which is organic material from animals or plants, is a better alternative than petroleum-based plastics. Biobased plastics can dissolve in nature faster when suitable conditions are provided. Its process depends on environmental conditions such as temperature, materials and application. Biodegradation is when microorganisms found in nature convert materials into natural substances with a chemical reaction (Kerry and Butler 2008). These are important features for plastics to prevent negative environmental impacts. In Fig. 2.18, plastics are divided into four according to these characteristics:

The shaded part in Fig. 2.18 represents bioplastics. Bioplastic is described as a plastic substance that is either biobased or biodegradable or has both qualities (European Bioplastics 2020). Bioplastics can derive from biomass such as sugar cane or cellulose; this process is called biobased (Gill 2014). Renewable biomass resources derived from natural biopolymers (e.g. carbohydrates, proteins and recovered food waste) are used to manufacture bioplastics (Brodin et al. 2017; Yamada et al. 2020). Besides the biopolymers, microalgae is a strong biomass source to produce bioplastic. *Chlorella* and *Spirulina* were the most common algae species used in manufacturing biopolymers and plastic blends. Bioplastic can be made from by-products of high-value chemical manufacturing from microalgae, as per a biorefnery approach (Onen Cinar et al. 2020).

The increasing demand for plastic use day by day, and due to the degradation time of some plastics in nature being longer than 100 years


### **Table 2.1** Types of plastics

Di Bartolo et al. (2021)

(only an estimate due to lack of time), this emphasises the need to either reduce the use of plastics (which should be legally encouraged) or replace non-degradable plastics with plastics which are degradable and are produced in a sustainable way (Karan et al. 2019). According to 2019 data, bioplastics constitute approximately 1% of the 360 million tonnes of plastic produced annually. But as more complicated materials, applications and products emerge, the demand for bioplastics is increasing and the market is growing rapidly. The bioplastic industry has become a young and innovative sector, both economically and ecologically, in the name of a sustainable bio-economy, as it uses its existing resources more effciently and produces lower carbon emissions (European Bioplastics 2020). Biodegradable plastics have a bright future ahead of them. The following are some of the benefts of bioplastics (Bezirhan Arikan and Ozsoy 2015):


Today, bioplastic is used extensively in four industries. Figure 2.19 summarises the use areas as follows (Bezirhan Arikan and Ozsoy 2015):

Recent increases in crude oil costs and the potential market for agricultural resources in the area of bioplastics give a push to utilise ecologically acceptable alternatives to materials generated from fossil fuel sources. Thus, bioplastics have established a new study topic for scientists by providing a viable option for global sustainable development ("Bioplastics – are they truly better for the environment?" 2018). The environmental effects caused by normal plastics, which are not biodegradable for a long time, have pushed scientists to develop materials that are produced from natural sources such as plants, bacteria and biomass and can dissolve in nature in a short time. New developments may lead to increased productivity in production and new opportunities in the feld of bioplastics in the future. In addition, since microorganism biology can be applied and commercialised in different sectors such as agriculture, medicine and pharmacy, it also provides an opportunity for bioplastic production. Therefore, current guidelines for the manufacture, usage and disposal of bioplastics should be defned. Labelling regulations should be designed following the emission values of the items, the raw material used and the energy used. Recent advances in technology, global support and continuous innovation are important for promoting and commercialising bioplastics. Here, instead of competing with traditional materials, bioplastics should aim to increase their usage rates over time (Sidek et al. 2019). Bioplastics have some challenges which should be considered for future implementations:



**Fig. 2.19** Bioplastics industries

bioplastics is an industrial implementation (Warren 2011). Manufacturers are responsible for that misunderstanding because they try to make their products more attractive on the market (Bezirhan Arikan and Ozsoy 2015).

• Due to the lack of legislation, many countries produce bioplastics despite the absence of any law and legislation. The number of bioplastics produced is expected to increase from day to day; however, the lack of legislation makes it diffcult to accurately monitor (Bezirhan Arikan and Ozsoy 2015).

A variety of assays may be performed to evaluate how bioplastics degrade. It is critical to establish worldwide standard techniques that are comparable. Regrettably, existing standards have not been equated and are mostly applied in the nations where they were developed. All details must be standardised as soon as possible. For the manufacture, use and management of bioplastic waste, a new guide and standard should be developed specifcally for bioplastics. In addition, labelling laws might be modifed depending on a product's raw material usage, energy consumption, manufacturing and use emissions (Bezirhan Arikan and Ozsoy 2015).

# **2.9 Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing**

In the most general sense, biotechnology can be defned as the synthesis of modern technology and naturally existing biological processes. Biotechnology, or biotech, uses biological systems and/or living organisms to develop new technological instruments, products and machines across a wide range of felds and disciplines. There are three main branches of biotechnology: genetic engineering, protein engineering and metabolic engineering (Gavrilescu and Chisti 2005). Biomanufacturing is a type of manufacturing that uses biological systems (such as living microorganisms, resting cells, animal cells, plant cells, tissues, enzymes or in vitro synthetic – enzymatic – systems) to make commercially feasible biomolecules for use in the agricultural, food, material, energy and pharmaceutical industries (Zhang et al. 2017). Despite its connotation as some of the most advanced technology in the contemporary world, biotechnology has existed for centuries and even millennia, albeit in simpler forms than those we know today. Two often-cited examples of early biotechnology are bread bak-

**Fig. 2.20** Other milestones of biotechnology. (What is Biotechnology? Types and Applications – Iberdrola 2021)

ing and beer fermentation. Both of these processes combine the naturally occurring biological properties of wheat and yeast and use human intervention and technology to create the desired product. As scientifc knowledge expanded, so did humanity's ability to understand more complex biological processes and eventually intervene in them to create new technologies.

Modern biotechnology and biomanufacturing began with the discovery of proteins in 1830. In the twentieth century, revolutionary knowledge on the structure and process of DNA allowed for rapid advancement in biotechnology. The discovery of DNA's structure helped to understand human genetic code while contributing to the foundation of genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technology (Khan 2011). By 1976, scientists developed the frst working synthetic gene. This development was followed by recombinant human insulin and human growth hormone production in the late 1970s. By 1994, the susceptibility gene for breast cancer was discovered. The year 1997 marked another signifcant milestone when the frst clone of a mammal, a sheep named Dolly, was created. Additionally, a remarkable development was achieved in 2008 when a blue rose was developed through genetic modifcation. Over the past few decades, there have been several other discoveries in biotechnology that could be classifed as milestones, such as the invention of antibiotics and the application of selective breeding in plants and animals, which led to better crop and livestock production (Khan 2011). Other milestones of biotechnology are represented in Fig. 2.20.

As biotechnology developed and its applications increased, the feld was divided into seven branches coded by seven colours, shown in the list below (Iberdrola 2021).


The types of biotechnology can also be more simply classifed as animal, agricultural, medical, industrial and environmental biotechnology. Figure 2.21 represents the types of biotechnologies, and applications of biotechnology are shown in Fig. 2.22.

Biotechnology has allowed for unprecedented possibilities and potential for cures and treatments. For instance, preventative therapies are executed using medical biotechnology, which generally refers to harnessing living cells to develop pharmaceutical treatments and cures for a range of diseases and conditions. These types of technologies have been transformative in the prevention and treatment of several types of cancer (Pham 2018). Medical biotech has also played a significant role in reducing the impact of infectious diseases. The mRNA vaccines developed in 2020 to protect humans against the COVID-19 virus provide an excellent example of biotechnology developed in response to a threatening infectious disease (Jackson et al. 2020). Biotechnology has also allowed for earlier and more accurate diagnoses of diseases that are caused by genetic factors as technology now allows for genomics to analyse patients' genetic sequencing and look for risk factors and/or existing conditions based on DNA (Pham 2018).

Another revolutionising biotechnological development is genetically modifed crops. Many of these genetic interventions were developed to increase food production and profts for the companies developing them. Genetically modifed crops may quickly become a worldwide necessity as climate change transforms the farmland needed for agriculture and demands crops with the ability to survive droughts, increased heat, increased storms, etc.

There are numerous other products in the biotechnology area:


**Fig. 2.22** Fields working with biotechnology. (Khan 2011)

step, which reduces CO2 emissions and energy consumption by 33%.


• Synthetic rubber: Natural compounds are polymerised into synthetic rubber and elastomers, which are highly pure and costeffective (Saxena 2020).

Biotechnology has always played a signifcant role in human life for millennia, with its importance only becoming greater over time. Medical biotechnology is already serving more than 350 million patients around the world through the treatment and prevention of everyday and chronic ailments. New felds of study emerge as technology and knowledge develop, including nanobiotechnology, bioinformatics, pharmacogenomics, regenerative medicine and therapeutic proteins (Khan 2011). Additionally, the use of recombinant organisms will have a wide range of applications, including new vaccines, solvents and chemicals. Another area that will gain importance is biochips, which are relatively more energy effcient compared to silicon chips. These products could have an impact on hormone secretion and heart rate. Gene therapy is another feld that will have a rapidly increasing demand. With the help of this application, genetic diseases or

**Fig. 2.23** Future Applications of biotechnology

disorders can be prevented by implementing a healthy, mutated gene (Khan 2011). Furthermore, with their environmental enhancement impacts, biotechnology and biomanufacturing will have key roles in the adoption of sustainability on a long-term scale. In this context, biological production systems, as one of the applications of biomanufacturing, are appealing because they employ fundamental renewable resources to generate a wide range of compounds using lowenergy processes (Gavrilescu and Chisti 2005). Instead of fnite and volatile fossil fuels, industrial biotech can assist in the fght against climate change by providing an alternative and safer source of global energy. It has resulted in signifcant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and aims to reduce 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year by 2030 (*Report on Industrial Biotechnology and Climate Change: Opportunities and Challenges – OECD* 2011). Figure 2.23 shows numerous future biotechnology application areas.

Another promising area of biotechnology is synthetic food. The effective integration of food science and synthetic biology is a key technology for addressing current food safety and nutrition issues and a key approach for overcoming the sustainability concerns associated with traditional food technology. It may be possible to eliminate the disadvantages of traditional agriculture while boosting resource conversion effciency by incorporating synthetic biological technologies into future food. In general, the synthetic biology-driven food sector has the potential to address future food supply issues. A future food revolution powered by synthetic biology is possible in three stages. Firstly, synthetic biology can enhance traditional food production and processing. Secondly, synthetic biology can improve food nutrition or provide new functions. Thirdly, using created microbial communities in synthetic biology can change the conventional fermentation food production method (Lv et al. 2021). As a result, biotechnology is promising. We can imagine a society free of cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease, as well as a world with sustainable development that addresses the energy, food and environmental demands of an evergrowing population without jeopardising either Earth's resources or future.

## **2.10 Blockchain**

Blockchain can be defned as a technology protocol that enables data sharing with trust-based transactions such as identifcation and authorisation in a decentralised-distributed network environment without the need for approval or control of a central authority. In Fig. 2.24, the decentralised structure of the blockchain system is compared with other systems.

**Fig. 2.24** Comparison of the blockchain system with other systems

**Fig. 2.25** Blockchain technology working principle

Blockchain is also defned as a database system that provides decentralised and intermediary transactions, allowing the blocks in which data is stored to be processed, stored and arranged in temporal and linear order. Produced blockchains are traded on a decentralised network structure. Due to this dispersed network structure, it becomes impossible to make theoretical changes to the data. This also helps to build confdence in the data. The distributed network structure makes the system more secure. These scattered data can be open source or closed source.

Blockchain technology has exciting implications for the future potential of decentralised structures, which includes a trustworthy and transparent trading infrastructure for peer-to-peer energy trading (Küfeoğlu 2020). Figure 2.25 shows how blockchain technology works.

Blockchain does not offer editing on legacy data. Therefore, it works not like traditional databases but as a digital ledger where transactions are listed one after the other. In the blockchain, transactions are stored in blocks, and each newly created block refers to the previous block with a unique identifcation number called a "hash". Because each block is cryptically linked to the previous one, changing any of them changes all subsequent blocks.

Within the global and fast-paced system, it is seen that both companies and countries are trying to catch up with digital transformation with their efforts to expand their feld of activity. The most important feature that ensures its reliability is that a saved database cannot be changed or corrected again; with this aspect, it would not be wrong to say that blockchain is not a database but a data recording system. In this way, users can connect to the network, perform new transactions, verify transactions and create new blocks without intermediaries. Blockchain technology proposes several advantages such as increased security, transparency, high speed, low cost and decentralised nature.

### (i) *More Secure*

Blockchain technology provides a layer of security by using cryptography to the data saved on the network. The decentralised aspect of blockchain provides superior security because it is combined with encryption. Blockchain is a decentralised and cyberattack-resistant database. It is not possible to change the history of the ledger or send the same transaction twice (i.e. double-spend) as every transaction ever made on the network is recorded and stored permanently. This certainty creates mutual trust. Congestion management using electric vehicles in grid services; energy data registration in a secure medium as an open ledger; and billing, switching providers, swapping capacities and so on are just a few examples of how blockchain technology can be employed (Dena 2019).

### (ii) *Transparency*

Everyone, not just its users, has access to the blockchain database. As a result, the control is visible. A block's transactions, wallet addresses, transaction ID (shipping code) and quantities may all be viewed by anyone. Open blockchain networks are truly "open". For example, in the Bitcoin network, it is possible to see all the blocks created to date and the money transfers in them. All transaction information can be accessed via Blockchain.com.

### (iii) *High Speed and Low Cost*

Due to its fast and low cost in health, food, forensic cases and keeping records of international companies, blockchain technology leaves traditional methods behind one by one. The most important reason for this is the transfer of data directly from one user to another quickly and cost-effectively. Transactions, especially international transactions, take seconds rather than weeks to complete.

### (iv) *Decentralised*

The revolutionary feature behind blockchain is that transactions are completed not one by one but by many computers at the same time. All computers reside on the same network called a peer-to-peer network (P2P). This model is often referred to as the "distributed trust model". Figure 2.26 shows the advantages of blockchain in general.

Three features of blockchain technology come to the fore. They are a distributed architecture that ensures that a copy of each data is kept on thousands of nodes in the network. The transparency allows for the tracking of all transactions made on the network. Immutability that prevents processing of the data produced to the blockchain. With these features, blockchain is a candidate to be the backbone of the new Internet structure.

Blockchain offers groundbreaking technologies that have the potential to change the Internet and even the world for many reasons. Participants can share excess energy and purchase or sell carbon credits using blockchain's revolutionary P2P energy trading platforms (Küfeoğlu 2020). One thing is certain: blockchain technology is ushering in a new era of digital information sharing, as

well as a novel means of data storage and transaction representation. Blockchain technology offers alternative methods to solve the heavy paperwork process, delays, incorrect transactions, high costs, fraud and many more problems on the logistics side. It is possible to design functional systems by integrating international trade with blockchain technology. Over \$1 billion was invested by venture capitalists in 215 blockchainbased frm deals in 2017 (CBINSIGHTS 2018). The technology is highly promising in delivering a secure and trustless transaction and data storage medium. By 2027, it is predicted that blockchain would have stored roughly 10% of the global gross domestic product (World Economic Forum 2015). The technology can be utilised in a wide range of areas and businesses such as banking and payments, data security, voting and elections and energy and distribution networks.

### (i) *Banking and Payments*

There are still many obstacles to a perfect fnancial sector, whether it is identifcation or fraud diffculties in developed countries or security issues in areas where technology is not widely used. Blockchain has the ability to tackle these issues in a revolutionary way, benefting every element of the industry.

### (ii) *Data Security*

Messages and data are encrypted with a cryptocurrency that uses a public key infrastructure (PKI). Personal information is less likely to be revealed and replicated via this way.

### (iii) *Voting and Elections*

Blockchain has the potential to play a signifcant role in digital transformation, allowing citizens to vote from the comfort of their own homes or from anyplace else. Vote stealing may be prevented at every level with fast and precise verifcation and accurate vote counting. It will be impossible for a person to vote with personal identifcation numbers more than once. Systematic breaches will be detected quickly because of the distributed ledger.

### (iv) *Energy and Distribution Networks*

Blockchain enables people to share extra energy and buy or sell carbon credits through revolutionary peer-to-peer energy trading platforms. This paradigm shift towards decentralised local energy exchange via peer-to-peer (P2P) will drastically minimise transmission losses while also deferring costly network upgrades. Unlike centralised architectures, the blockchain distributed ledger does not require the intervention of third parties to preserve the system's integrity and security. Blockchain is a distributed ledger that employs automated technology to create smart contracts that improve cybersecurity and optimise energy operations, lowering transaction costs considerably (Küfeoğlu 2020). Individual customers may be able to swap electricity and make payments in a frictionless manner thanks to blockchain's decentralised transaction verifcation. Better network and congestion management and the challenge of renewable generation intermittency can all be aided by digitalisation, allowing for more effcient network operation and more effective network monitoring (Küfeoğlu et al. 2019).

Blockchain technology, as a unique technology that creates a new consensus process to eliminate a single central authority, could be very valuable in energy trade (Küfeoğlu et al. 2019). Some peer-to-peer energy marketplaces are built on the blockchain platform, which allows all transactions to be authenticated and stored permanently without the need for a central authority (Küfeoğlu et al. 2019).

# **2.11 Carbon Capture and Storage**

The concentration of uncontrolled dispersed CO2 may cause crucial climate change as an increase in average global temperatures. It is estimated that carbon dioxide emissions around the globe will be higher in 2050 than they were in 2018. Forecasts indicate that CO2 emissions will increase gradually every 5 years and will exceed 40 billion metric tonnes from 2045 (Statista 2019). Carbon capture and storage (CCS) tech-

**Fig. 2.27** Carbon capture and storage phases

nology has emerged to mitigate climate change by reducing CO2 emissions (Singh 2013). The frst large-scale project on CO2 capturing was planned to enhance produced oil by injecting CO2 and increasing the pressure on the oil reservoirs in the 1970s (IAE 2016). The increase in oil and gas production through injected captured CO2 has revolutionised the energy sector, and the importance of carbon storage has also expanded. Although CCS is used to increase production, it has become one of the agenda items of many countries since it is known that the long-term effects of CO2 released after this production on global climate change will be substantial. While CO2 emissions dropped dramatically by 5.8% in 2020, the demand for fossil fuels in 2021 seems to reverse this situation. A 4.8% increase in CO2 emissions is expected in 2021, with demand for coal, oil and gas recovering after the temporary impact of the pandemic (IAE 2016). Most of the CO2 emissions are caused by the use of fossil resources. The intensive use of coal, natural gas and oil in power plants, industrial facilities, vehicles, residences and workplaces to meet energy and heating needs are the biggest cause of the emission problem. The use of these resources releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Increasing livestock farming, cutting down trees, etc. are other causes of increased CO2 emissions. However, their impacts are not as notable as fossil fuels and applying CCS for these causes ensures emission reduction in the longer term. In this regard, CSS methods are mostly focused on fossil fuels. Figure 2.27 illustrates the CCS stages in detail.

Many research and development projects for CCS have been established among the presented cases in many countries. Lawmakers primarily aim to reduce carbon emissions for measures related to climate change. Governments and companies have adopted carbon-neutral methods to reduce this impact of fossil fuels, which have an equal balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks (European Parliament 2019). In this direction, incentives and orientations towards carbon-neutral technologies are increasing, together with regulatory methods such as carbon tax and carbon footprint monitoring. However, carbon-neutral methods are still not enough in line with climate targets. Countries that have committed to zero carbon emissions until 2050 at the Paris Climate Summit have started to use carbon-negative methods and carbon-neutral methods to achieve this goal. Carbon-negative methods aim to reabsorb more carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere than disseminated (IEA 2020). Although it is diffcult to withdraw more carbon than is emitted today, carbon-negative methods have a signifcant role in reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Among the most common carbon-negative methods are carbon capture and storage technology.

### (i) *Carbon-Capturing Methods*

The main CO2 capturing technologies are chemical and/or physical absorption, physical adsorption and membrane separation. Carbon capture is a technology with multiple methodologies, but its basic logic is based on the separation of free CO2 from the air. The capture of CO2 could be classifed into three types, i.e. postcombustion capture, pre-capture and direct capture (Kuckshinrichs and Hake 2015). The fuel is not directly burned in pre-combustion capture but transformed into synthesised gas at the appropriate temperature and pressure. Afterwards, CO2 is transformed into carbon dioxide and H2, and CO2 is collected for H2 as the fuel (Rackley 2017). CO2 is captured from the industrial process waste into a nearly pure CO2 stream in post-combustion. (e.g. cement plant fue gases). In direct capture, pure CO2 is captured directly from the air (e.g. mineralisation of steel slag) (Goel et al. 2015). The separated CO2 could be used for different purposes such as soda ash production, oil drilling and alternative energy sources production. Thus, the storage of captured carbons has great signifcance. Figure 2.28 articulates these carbon capture methods.

Geological storage is the most used method to store carbon. First of all, carbon is captured in different ways. Then it is injected into different geological forms like oil and gas reservoirs, saline forms, unmineable coal seams and basalt formations. CO2 is stored by impermeable caprock (Rackley 2017). By signifcant developments of technologies in the injection industry, geological storage is in oil and gas reservoirs preferred by companies to store carbon. Stored CO2 is also utilised for unmineable coal because its molecules could easily interact with the coal surface. The main problem for geological storage is transportation cost. Although it is not necessary to construct storage facilities, it is important to invest in transportation infrastructure to deliver CO2 to these facilities. Ocean storage is one of the greatest storage since oceans are major candidates to store captured CO2. However, storage must be in-depth not to release CO2 into the atmosphere. Direct dissolution is sent by ships with pipes to deep waters at supercritical fuid, and it creates CO2 lakes in the depth of the oceans. Creating CO2 lakes in the oceans is an effcient method for long-term storage (Rackley 2017). Mineral storage is suitable with the law of thermodynamics so it can occur in nature without any application by humans. CO2 reacts with metal oxides and produces stable carbonates. This process takes over a long timescale in nature. When this process operates at higher temperatures and pressure, it can be accelerated, creating energy costs (Rhodes 2012).

**Fig. 2.28** Carbon capture methods. (Creamer and Gao 2015)

**Fig. 2.29** Carbon storage methods

Although CCS is a useful technology, it has not received the necessary response in the industry due to its cost. The high unit and technology costs are among the main reasons why the private sector does not invest in this feld. Incentives from governments, reduction in technology costs and private sector investments in this feld play an important role in the future of CCS technology. In sectors where carbon capture is easy, and CO2 is heavily emitted, CCS technologies perform more effciently and more economically. Examples of these are the cement, iron and steel and refnery sectors. In addition, decomposed CO2 has great importance, and it needs to be used or stored without being released back. The most suitable areas for storage are oil reservoirs. In addition, this storage method is used to increase oil production by pumping it into the oil deposits stuck between the layers. Figure 2.29 illustrates the abovementioned storage methods.

The effciency of carbon-capturing technology may be as high as 90% when it comes to capturing the CO2 that is released from industrial processes. These industrial processes are in a broad spectrum, from the energy sector to manufacturing and construction. Among all, the energy sector is covering the highest percentage when it comes to carbon-emitting, by almost 40%, when examined globally (Leung et al. 2014). Steps of capturing, storing and utilising carbon are crucial to the environmental act against global warming by reducing and preventing the negative effects at some level. Overall carbon emissions may be negative with a combined strategy of capturing carbon and utilising biomass. In addition to the contribution of the global warming fght mentioned above, calculations indicate that CCS's contribution to emission reduction attempts may be needed to reach a percentile of 14 to keep the globe's temperature at a certain level of 2 °C or less by the year of 2050.

Renewable energy, which has become increasingly important, cannot meet the rising energy demand on its own, and it seems that fossil fuels will still play an important role. According to Jackson, although renewable energy is now considered the most cost-effective source of power generation worldwide, the growth in energy demand and the growth needs of governments indicates that fossil fuels will continue to play an active role (Jackson 2020). In the future, CCS technology appears to grow more and become crucial in terms of maintaining the environmental balance by absorbing CO2 while supplying energy demand from fossil fuels. Aiming to beneft from the ecological and economic advantages of CCS, the UK government will provide £1 billion in funding to support the development of four CCS centres and cluster projects across the UK by the end of the decade (Kelly 2020). Furthermore, the Norwegian climate solution will heavily rely on CCS with developed versions of the technology. Equinor, Shell and Total are investing in the Northern Lights project, which is Norway's frst CO2 storage licence and a key component of the Norwegian government's "Longship" strategy (Equinor 2020). Canada is another country investing in Direct Air Capturing (DAC) technology. *Carbon Engineering* states that DAC technology can be scaled up to remove up to 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year from the atmosphere in Canada (Jackson 2020). In addition to recent developments mentioned above, Climeworks, one of the CSS companies, expands its direct air capture and storage technology, making a permanent CO2 removal solution more readily available. It includes the infrastructure and foundation of the next generation of Climeworks CO2 collectors. Their solution includes the installation of plants and machinery in Iceland and is expected to be completed in spring 2021. What makes Climeworks' use of DAC so intriguing is that it can capture pollutants straight from the air, rather than merely eliminating emissions connected with electricity generation, and also this is the company's largest facility to date, with a CO2 collection capacity of about 4000 tonnes per year (Jackson 2020). As a result, CCS technology will gain even more importance and develop in the coming years. CCS seems like a viable solution to address the climate change problem.

# **2.12 Cellular Agriculture**

Throughout the years of extortion of natural resources, possible new solutions to neutralise the effects started to emerge. First, a decrease in consumption was suggested. Other suggestions included using less water to preserve the resources, less plastic and more biodegradable resources to prevent pollution and so on. Among many topics, the consumption of meat has always been on the agenda. Setting aside the ethical arguments, meat consumption is not sustainable in many ways and causes substantial global warming. At this point, cellular agriculture steps forth as a remedy. This technology focuses on the production of an animal product-like substance that does not harm the environment in the process of production or consumption. This substance is produced from cell structures rather than animals. Using advanced biotechnology, tissuebased products like meat (of fsh, cattle, sheep, goats, chicken, turkey, etc.) and proteincontaining foods like eggs and dairy products become available alternatives. Focusing on both sustainable food production and the safety of food, cellular agriculture uses many techniques to imitate and meet the standards of nutritional values while being almost carbon neutral.

### A. *Cell Cultivation*

Cell culture takes cells from a plant or animal and grows them in a controlled environment. The cells can be extracted directly from the tissue and crushed enzymatically or mechanically before being cultured, or they can be replicated from a cell line or cell strain. The primary culture phase begins after the cells have been separated from the tissue and multiplied under optimal circumstances until all substrates have been occupied. To provide more vacancies for growth, the cells must be subcultured by transferring them to a new case containing fresh growth. The primary culture is referred to as a cell line or subcloned after the frst subculture. Cell lines are reproduced from primary cultures which have a limited lifetime, and when they are crossed, cells with the highest growth capacity dominate. As a result, genotype and phenotype will be uniform (Invitrogen and Gibco 2021). This cell line becomes a cell strain when a subclone's subpopulation is positively selected from the culture through cloning. Following the commencement of the parent line, a cell strain frequently acquires further genetic changes. Culture conditions are variable for each cell type, but the environment generally contains essential nutrients, hormones, enzymes and gases that are necessary for substrate (Invitrogen and Gibco 2021). Figure 2.30 presents the stages of cellular agriculture with cell cultivation.

### B. *Precision Fermentation*

The second method in cellular agriculture is precision fermentation. This method uses microorganisms to obtain the proteins in animal products. This method can be explained in four steps:


process takes place properly and for its continuation. You need to feed the host cell nutrients in a controlled environment called a fermentation cultivator.


Figure 2.31 presents the stages of cellular agriculture with precision fermentation.

It is possible with cellular agriculture to beneft from animal meat without the need for animals. The current system can produce animal meat that is enough to cover the existing consumption rate, but it will be unable to do so in the future due to factors such as increasing population. Experts estimate that the human population will be 9–11 billion in 2050 (UN 2017). Increasing population means increasing food needs. Thus it seems that animals alone will not be enough for humans. Rather than encouraging consumers to choose plant-based diets more, the other ideal solution is the innovative improvements in meat production, which stands out as the task of cellular agriculture. There are three main benefts of cellular agriculture: benefts for the environment, benefts for the animals and benefts for human health. Figure 2.32 demonstrates some benefts of cellular agriculture.

The huge quantity of resources required by livestock farming has a wide environmental impact. It is astounding how much water, land and power livestock use. Khan states that in addition to the 1.6 kg of feed necessary to make a 0.23-kilogram steak, the manufacturing process necessitates 3515 litres of water and just as much energy is needed to charge a laptop as much as 60 times. Moreover, different greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere containing a total of 4.54 kg of CO2, which is equal to 2 litres of gasoline. This data represents what is needed to make an 8-ounce steak and not the entire animal. Roughly 25% of the surface of the world is dedicated to livestock. This is approximately 70% of all agricultural land (Khan 2017). Furthermore, animals consume around 30% of the world's freshwater. Livestock account for 14.5% of all emissions of greenhouse gases. Cellular agriculture promises to minimise global greenhouse gas emissions and to encourage more ethical usages of natural resources. Cellular farming is an ecofriendly and sustainable option in comparison with animal production. Fleece made from cellular farming requires less than 1/10 of the land and water (Khan 2017). The greenhouse gas emissions in this beef will also be considerably reduced. The number of animals required in the production process is reduced due to cellular agriculture, eliminating livestock. With the

increasing population, the demand for meat is increasing even more. On the other hand, meat production facilities quickly raise animals under unsanitary conditions to produce more meat without due concern given to animal welfare (Khan 2017). Cellular agriculture is among the most effective solutions to fulfl the increasing meat demand while ensuring animal welfare. About 80% of all antibiotics sold in the USA are used in animal agriculture. This situation increases antibiotic resistance in humans and causes various health problems. For instance, most bacterial contaminants, *Salmonella* and *E. coli*, that cause food-borne diseases commonly interact with contaminated animal excrement (Röös et al. 2017). Bacterial contaminants like *Salmonella* or *E. coli* will not be the case in cellular agriculture since no livestock will contaminate the meat or other goods.

Meat production has long been the subject of controversy. Animal rights activists think that obtaining meat from animals is a massacre, and they look for other ways to meet their protein needs without eating meat. For example, they turn to a vegan and vegetarian lifestyle. However, cultured meat, the most popular topic of cellular farming, could change this. Cultured meat comes as an alternative for its ecological and animal welfare benefts and to feed humanity's growing population. Besides all the environmental bene-

**Fig. 2.33** Motivation for cellular agriculture

fts, cultured meat is also healthier than normal meat because it is produced under laboratory conditions in a controlled manner. Cultured meat does not contain bacteria and other diseasecausing agents. While plastics/microplastics are seen in normal meats, they are not seen in cultured meats (Gasteratos 2019).

Humanity continues its search for life on another planet. People have long kept their eyes on the Moon and Mars. The long-term missions have been targeted, and there is a basic problem in meeting the protein needs of astronauts. Experts have invested in cultured meat for a long time to solve this problem. If colonies are established on the Moon and Mars in the possible future, keeping human beings alive is planned by using cultured meat. Israel-based company Aleph Farms aims to accelerate cell-based meat production in space. Aleph Farms says that "We want to make sure that when people live on Mars, we'll be there too" (Morrison 2020). In this respect, cellular agriculture is most likely to be on the main agenda in the future.

Gareth Sullivan, deputy director of the University of Oslo's Hybrid Technology Hub, is experimenting with technology to generate stem cells from endangered species such as the northern white rhino. According to Labiotech, working with Ian Wilmut, one of the scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996, the researcher obtained a fundamental grasp of stem cells. Stem cells from endangered animals are being stored for a future in which technology can bring extinct species back to life. The project received an investment of €220,000 from the Good Food Institute, which conducts vegan and cultured meat R&D (Smith 2021). Figure 2.33 demonstrates the present and future motivations for cellular agriculture.

# **2.13 Cloud Computing**

Cloud computing is a technology that provides elastic and scalable computing techniques to fulfl information technology capabilities delivered in varying service models through the Internet. Moreover, it is an easy way to share the folders with other people and work by collaborating with them via the Internet from the personal computer or network servers. This sharing can be private or public. Cloud computing technology generally includes many clouds, and these clouds communicate with each other through application programming interfaces and using web services (Mirashe and Kalyankar 2010). Cloud computing is quite popular among researchers, citizens and governments nowadays. One of the reasons for this is that when the memory of personal computers is full, it indirectly inhibits speed and performance. To prevent this, a personal account is created by transferring personal data to computers with a lot of memory via the Internet. Thus, both storage space and computer resources can be acquired without sacrifcing the personal computer's memory. Since the main consideration behind cloud computing is to minimise the burden on the terminals of the user, cloud storage, as one of the subdisciplines of cloud computing, comes forwards in line with this purpose. Cloud storage services can provide both data storage and business access. It consists of necessary stor-


**Fig. 2.34** Cloud providers and some example establishments. (Dillon et al. 2010)

age devices, and it huddles all of them together in the application software for usage. As a result, it can be thought of as one of the cloud computing systems responsible for large capacity storage (Liu and Dong 2012). Many companies, such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Rackspace and GoGrid, provide particular cloud computing services (Chopra 2017). Anyone can beneft from these services for a monthly subscription fee. In other words, this service can be thought of as renting a computer with very high memory and performance far away from the users themselves. It is especially useful because it does not require physical hardware to perform computation or storage. Since the data is stored and the other resources are available on the Internet, the data is always accessible anywhere and anytime as long as there is an Internet connection (Huth and Cebula 2011).

Although cloud computing provides ease of use to users, it is a modular technology with a very different operating system. Therefore, to understand what cloud computing is exactly, it is also important to understand how to choose the cloud providers. However, frst of all, it is necessary to talk about what cloud providers are. Each provider offers specifc functionality that gives users more or less control, depending on its type. Therefore, choosing the right provider becomes important. There are three service providers in total. These can be listed in Fig. 2.34 as software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

According to the user, there are different types of clouds present. The public cloud is accessible to any user that has an Internet connection. Private cloud is created for a group and/or organisation. Only that group and/or organisation can access this type of cloud. Community clouds can be shared between more than two organisations with requirements similar to one another. Lastly, hybrid clouds are formed when more than two clouds with various types or the same type are merged (Abualkibash and Elleithy 2012).

There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages to using cloud computing as all technologies which we use. The disadvantages of cloud computing are: it cannot work without the Internet or in low-speed Internet environments; sometimes the features may not be enough; the stored data may not be reliable because it is opened to the Internet if your password or cloud account is lost (Mirashe and Kalyankar 2010). On the other hand, cloud computing offers various advantages to its users. It makes the idea of connection via the Internet quite appealing over a connection through immovable physical hardware. According to Lewis (2010) and Hurwitz et al. (2012), listed below are some features of cloud computing that describe its prominence for organisations, companies and general users:


• *Quick entry to market:* In contrast to a traditional strategy that includes purchasing hardware and software, cloud infrastructure and services may be installed fast. As a result of the preceding argument, a business can bring new items to market faster than competitors who rely on their infrastructure.

Apart from the general advantages of cloud computing, it can also be seen as an auxiliary technology to other emerging technologies. The importance of cloud computing is seen in spheres like IoT, serverless computing and quantum computing technologies.

*IoT Technologies* Smartphones, televisions, smartwatches, household appliances, sensors for systems such as "smart home", "smart city" and more are among the gadgets ("things") connected to the Internet. All of these devices communicate with one another or with the control software, often without the need for human participation. The more IoT turns into an autonomous system, the Internet within the Internet, the more this will accumulate huge amounts of data in real-time.

*Serverless Computing* Platform as a service (PaaS) is becoming more common in the software development world. The customer does not need to worry about server hardware or operating system administration because computer resources are automatically scaled as the load increases or falls. AWS Lambda, for example, is a platform that works on the premise of eventdriven computing, in which the appropriate pool of resources is assigned in milliseconds in reaction to an event, such as the addition of a new code module.

*Quantum Computing* Quantum computers are the next step in the evolution of traditional supercomputers. Such computers are planned to be used primarily for working with large amounts of data. At the same time, both data and computing resources (qubits) can be placed in the cloud.

Since the cloud providers supply the cloud service, reliability is an issue in cloud computing. Providers should offer decent performance with reliability. One cloud service that provides reliability and resilience with decent performance is called "reliability as a service (RaaS)". Deep and machine learning is expected to be used in RaaS for failure prediction. Failure datasets will be used to characterise failures, leading to the development of a failure prediction model. This will be an opportunity to provide a failure-aware resource guaranteeing reliability and decent performance (Buyya et al. 2018). Another possible application of cloud computing will be based on SDN. It seems that the capability of SDN to shape and optimise network traffc will affect the studies on cloud computing (Vahdat et al. 2015). Due to workload/resource fuctuations or features, the renting fee of the cloud resource cannot be predicted by the user beforehand, which creates a necessity for tools to resolve this problem. With demand from the big data community, it is understood that the cloud environment requires new visualisation tools to be explored (Buyya et al. 2018). Other future research expectations and future-oriented cloud computing applications are summarised in Fig. 2.35.

# **2.14 Crowdfunding**

Crowdfunding has been around for a century, but a British rock band launched the frst successful crowdfunding campaign for a tour with the help of online donations from fans in 1997. Crowdfunding is the collaborative method to raise cash through friends, families, consumers and individual investors. This method uses people's collaborative efforts – mostly online through social and crowdfunding media – to leverage their networks to reach them more widely. It is initiated by developing the accurate product to be funded and providing a solid history of its development, producing a unique video for a crowdfunding platform and establishing a monetary objective. Figure 2.36 shows the successful execution of a typical crowdfunding campaign, and Fig. 2.37 illustrates the components and outline of the crowdfunding concept.

There are four main types of crowdfunding: frst, equity-based crowdfunding is the real capital exchange of private corporate shares. In this type, businesses are allowed to set investment ceilings, minimum pledge amounts, etc. and accept or reject investors interested in viewing their business paperwork. Second, reward-based crowdfunding is the most popular and useful kind of crowdfunding. This form of crowdsourcing requires the determination of several levels of awards that match the commitments. Third, peerto-peer lending-based crowdfunding allows businesses to collect cash in the form of loans to repay lenders on a predefned schedule with a specifed rate of interest. With crowdsourcing donations, campaigns accumulate donations without providing value in return. This kind of marketing is great for social reasons and charity. Lastly, donation-based crowdfunding is to raise money from other individuals for charitable causes. Campaigns are often 1–3 months in length and work well for amounts under \$10,000 (Hossain and Oparaocha 2017). Table 2.2 summarises the characteristics of equity crowdfunding, rewards-based crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending.

The investment of crowdfunding is an alternative money source for companies that ask numerous investors to invest for a small amount. Then, investors receive the company's equity shares (Chen 2021). The 2015 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (Jobs Act) declared that it is allowed for diverse types of investors to invest with crowdfunding when the investment infrastructure is better (Securities and Exchange Commission 2015). It has been said in the crowdfunding industry report for 2019 that the food and beverage, health and beauty categories are the fundraisers' leaders. Figure 2.38 demonstrates the share of industries where crowdfunding is applied.

Also, investments through crowdfunding may open an opportunity to avoid debt. A large group of backers invest in the company knowing the purpose of the loan and interest rate. A higher interest rate is received than the market rate by lenders (Chen 2021). Companies choose to crowdfund when the other debt instruments are too costly or cannot get credit from fnancial institutions because of credit default swaps.

**Fig. 2.35** Future directions of cloud computing. (Buyya et al. 2018)

**Fig. 2.36** How to run a successful crowdfunding campaign in six easy steps. (MindSea 2021)

**Table 2.2** User check table for determining whether it is suitable for her/him


European Commission (2021)

Equity and debt investments' funding are risky investments, but the investor can diversify their capital in a wide range of ways. Individuals can directly support the companies they feel connected to by crowdfunding investment infrastructure (Chen 2021). In the path of developing a project or launching a business, having access to capital is crucial even if the project has nothing to do with R&D. In emerging technologies' case, with the additional necessity to be possessed of enough material to research and develop truly, crowdfunding becomes even more than a way out. Funding by investors and VCs is not an easy method, especially when the project is not fnan-

**Fig. 2.39** Advantages and disadvantages of crowdfunding. (nibusinessinfo.co.uk 2021)

cially benefcial right away. Crowdfunding is a functional solution to this very problem. Surely, this does not mean crowdfunding does not have its criteria or standards to evaluate within but means that its broad spectrum of funders enlarges the criteria extent. Figure 2.39 summarises several prominent benefts and drawbacks of crowdfunding.

Started by a British rock band in 1997, crowdfunding has become a multibillion-dollar business in less than two decades for artists, flmmakers, organisations, people and now companies. The World Bank report predicts worldwide crowdfunding investments to reach 93 billion dollars by 2025 (Fridman 2016). Although the frst crowdfunding portal, ArtistShare, launched in 2000, it is expected that there will be a return to specialised platforms in future years (Fridman 2016). With so many crowdfunding choices, platforms will see value in narrowing their emphasis and attracting a specialised audience. Niches such as gaming, education, music, charities, researchers and local initiatives are creating their platforms to better serve supporters and make themselves noticeable. Rewards-based platforms such as Indiegogo and Kickstarter have garnered a lot of attention in the USA. Equity crowdfunding was the next great wave that began in 2016. Titles III and IV of the JOBS Act have made it feasible for unaccredited (i.e. not wealthy) investors to readily purchase ownership shares in new frms they care about (Fridman 2016). Investing in a start-up's shares was once restricted to rich people. Because of the new rules, businesses are trying to attract investors as well as people who wish to back a company's concept or a goal. Crowdfunding provides frms with a different option for obtaining cash than venture capital or angel investors. The new investment class, a bigger group, made up of Middle Americans, will be the driving force behind investing and hence decision-making (Fridman 2016).

# **2.15 Cybersecurity**

Humankind has been faced with crimes since its existence. The phenomenon of crime, which has developed and changed over the years, has been defned and posted in tonnes of different ways. When it is asked, most people defne crime as acts that break the law. The Declaration of Human Rights (1948, art.3) states that "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person". Therefore, in international laws, people have the right to defend their security. The twenty-frst century has brought an era with the digitalisation trend to the new danger that humankind requires to defend themselves against. This new threat, which is encountered in all areas of life and whose importance increases day by day, is cybercrime. Various governments and companies are taking many measures to prevent these cybercrimes. Aside from the variety of measures, cybersecurity is still a huge concern for many. Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks and programs from digital attacks. Cyber resilience, on the other hand, is the measure of an individual's or enterprise's ability to continue working as normal while it attempts to identify, protect, detect, respond and recover from threats against its data and information technology infrastructure.

This section mainly focuses on the challenges faced by cybersecurity on the latest technologies. It also focuses on the latest developments in cybersecurity techniques, ethics and the future of cybersecurity. For clarity, the cybersecurity concept will be examined in subsets. These subsets include types of attacks, types of cybersecurity threats and sectoral risk management. These will be examined as defence mechanisms against these cybercrime types that endanger individuals and organisations. Nowadays, with the increasing impact of technology in people's lives, the security of information is exceedingly important. Cybersecurity plays an important role in the feld of information technology. Information security has become one of the biggest challenges of our time. That is why one of the most valuable things is knowledge of cybersecurity. With the increasing use of technology, a large amount of digital information emerges individually and institutionally. The protection of digital information requires just as much importance. Multiple cyber methods compromise digital information. In the continuation of the chapter, these vulnerabilities and methods that endanger cybersecurity will be examined, and which systems are at risk and what this developing technology promises will be mentioned. Cyberspace can be defned as a worldwide territory in the data ecosystem, the interconnected IT infrastructures including the Internet, telecommunication systems, computer networks and embedded processors and controllers (Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) 2015).

It is seen in Fig. 2.40; various motivations lead the attackers, from personal gain to drawing attention to social problems. To receive social admiration, cybercrimes might cause many problems by taking large masses behind them. There are many attacks and types of attacks in cyberspace that will require cybersecurity experts to protect their computers. The most known attack types are backdoor, phishing, social engineering and malware.

### (i) *Backdoor*

In cybersecurity, a backdoor refers to any approach that enables authorised and unauthorised users to overcome ordinary safeguards and obtain access to high levels through a computer, a network or a software program. Backdoor attacks are a form of adversarial attacks on deep networks. The attacker provides poisoned data to the

victim to train the model and then activates the attack by showing a specifc small trigger pattern at the test time. Most state-of-the-art backdoor attacks either provide mislabelled poisoning data that is possible to identify by visual inspection, reveal the trigger in the poisoned data or use noise to hide the trigger (Saha et al. 2020). When cyber thieves are in the system, personal and fnancial information can be stolen; other software and hijack equipment can be installed.

### (ii) *Phishing*

Phishing is a scam to share confdential info, such as passwords and credit card details. Victims get a harmful email or text message that is like a workman, a bank or a government agency, imitating a person or institution they trust. If the user clicks the bait, a legally valid website counterfeit will be provided. Suppose people enter their username and password to log in. In that case, the attacker who uses it to steal identity sees this information and can thus trade their bank balances and black-market personal information. At this point, different methods are recommended to users and service providers to protect themselves from phishing attacks. The NCSC (National Cybersecurity Center) recommends an innovative layered method called the 4-layer approach for large institutions and cybersecurity professionals ("Small Business Guide" 2018; "Phishing attacks" 2018). According to the research, fnancial institutions are the target of phishing attacks, as seen in Fig. 2.41, in the frst quarter of 2021, followed by social media and SaaS/webmail. Due to increased digital banking transactions during the pandemic period, business e-mail compromise (BEC) is even more costly (APWG 2021).

### (iii) *Social Engineering*

In computer science, social engineering relates to the tactics used by thieves to get the victims to do a kind of dubious measure that usually involves security breaches, money sent out or private information. As it is colloquially known, social engineering hacks human behaviour and infuences the modelling of societies in a devious way. Social media has produced a culture where sharing everything about everyone is normal and even encouraged by some (Hadnagy 2018). If it is said that cyber thieves hack people's systems using malware and viruses, social engineering is just the same by doing it with people's thoughts. On the other hand, social engineering could be done with information shared online by users themselves. As the Cambridge Analytica case has demonstrated that standard privacy laws may not be enough to safeguard customer data, another branch of the privacy protection debate may be worth investigating (Sun 2020). Victims who solved the quizzes gave their personal data and information to the harmful social engineering companies. Emotions that can be utilised are love (in its various forms), hate or anger (us versus

**Fig. 2.41** Most targeted industries

them), pride (in themselves or their organisation) and futility (in themselves or their organisation) (there is no other option). Picking the correct emotion is simpler in person because we can read body language or via phone to assess the tone of voice and alter the approach based on the scenario. This approach aims to infuence the target's emotions so that they overcome their natural cognitive replies (Winterfeld and Andress 2013). Then by researching and analysing the fip side of this coin, US elections were affected in a roundabout way by this kind of harmful social engineering by social media companies.

### (iv) *Malware*

Malware is an inclusive word describing any malicious software or code damaging to computers. Malware has become a signifcant tool for unlawful economic activity, and its developers go to great lengths to avoid detection by antimalware programs (Rieck et al. 2008). Malicious software (malware), hostile, intruder and purposely bland seeks the use of computers, computer networks, tabling and mobile devices to enter, harm or disable, frequently gaining partial control of activities of a device. It interrupts regular operations, like copying, encrypting, destroying or modifying essential computer functions without knowledge or permission and monitors computer activities. Commonly encountered types of malware are viruses, keyloggers, worms/ trojans and ransomware. This type of malware is placed on your devices by attackers to threaten users. Except for the ransomware attacks, most types of cyberattacks aim to convey data/information to the attackers, but the ransomware attacks are more complicated. The attacker encrypts the data with his attack and demands a ransom from the victim. In such cases, the crucial point is that when the attacker gets what he wants, he can access and damage the information in the system again since he has encrypted software in the system. This type of malware is placed on your devices by attackers to threaten users by spying on users' personal data. Spyware, malicious software, regularly collects data from targeted victims' devices. Spyware, *Pegasus*, caused a major international scandal. As data from Forbidden Stories collaboration with Amnesty Security Laboratory states, approximately 180 journalists were affected by this spyware (Rueckert 2021).

Unlike companies, individual users could lose their data in unfortunate situations because of cybercriminals. On the other hand, this threat can cost the data of numerous users. Therefore, companies may lose their reputation and reliability. Companies should care about cybersecurity as a corporate culture to prevent these threats and attacks from outside. Creating a cybersecurity culture requires altering how everyone works, how leadership is involved, how processes are implemented and how challenges are addressed. At the core of a culture of cybersecurity, each employee can carry out their daily tasks in the most secure way imaginable. To create this culture, companies need to take some external and internal actions. There are some infuencing factors such as external regulations, national and social cybersecurity culture. Another factor affecting this culture in the company are activities such as managerial communication plans, training and performance measurements. In this way, values and beliefs will change in terms of both the individual and the group, and a cultural environment on cybersecurity will be created. As these beliefs become established, new behaviours will emerge that are both work-related and company-related.

A. *Systems at Risk*

### (a) *Utilities and Industrial Equipment*

Computerised systems provide many services such as opening-closing valves in electricity networks, nuclear power plants, water, gas and treatment plants. Even when devices are not connected to the Internet, they can be vulnerable and potentially under attack. Devices that are not connected to the Internet are threatened by a worm called Stuxnet. Great damage can be done by individuals and nations. National goals in cyberattacks might include harvesting information, reducing the target nation's war-making capabilities, threatening other nations by showing their capability making the target nation feel weak and demoralised and/or creating a national distraction in the target nation. Since no one is directly killed in a cyberattack on the power grid, nations have been willing to conduct them without a declaration of war (Ahern 2017).

### (b) *Aviation*

As in many sectors, the aviation sector works with complex systems. For this reason, everywhere, from airports to cockpits, is at the risk of cyberattacks. Interconnectivity of systems and dependency on technology created the optimum premises for new risks to emerge. The aviation industry uses a wide computer-based interconnected system, spanning from air navigation systems, onboard aircraft control and communication systems, airport ground systems, fight information systems, security screening and others used daily and for all aviation-related operations. The trend of the aviation industry is to become increasingly digitised. Digitalisation brings along new hazards as the interactions between people and systems make the risk harder to predict (Civil Aviation Cybersecurity 2021).

### (c) *Consumer Devices*

In the past decade, with technological developments, people started to frequently use everyday devices such as smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, e-readers, etc. in their daily lives. Although personal computers and laptops have existed in our lives for a long time, the number of devices that can connect to the Internet has increased with more recent technologies. These kinds of daily use devices are commonly vulnerable to the threat of cyberattacks.

### (d) *Large-Scale Corporations*

Large-scale corporations have always been the biggest targets of cybercrime. The crime incidents collect information such as fnancial, registered credit card, demographics, or address information, and then this information is sold in environments such as the deep web in exchange for money. In addition, attacks on large companies are not only aimed at fnancial gain but also to harm companies, damage or embarrass their brand image.

### (e) *Autonomous Vehicles*

Vehicles are increasingly computerised. For example, almost every part of a car, from the complex engine to the door handle, now contains electronic circuits. Door locks, cruise controls and many vehicles use mobile phone networks, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Recently, with the increase in driverless and electric vehicles, new cyber risks have emerged. There are many ways to initiate an AV cyberattack. An attack can target the software that manages visual information and road infrastructure, or it could be a physical attack on the vehicle's hardware (Alves de Lima and Correa Victorino 2016). There are many risks, such as brake-accelerator pedals, door locks and motors out of the driver's control. Even driverless vehicles receive software updates over the Internet and require many security policies.

### (f) *Governmental Institutions*

Activists attack the state system, military, police and intelligence systems. Public institutions have become potential targets as they are now digitised. Compliance with various safety certifcations and quality systems is required.

### (g) *Internet of Things and Physical Vulnerabilities*

The Internet of things, or IoT, is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction (Gillis 2020a, b). One of the biggest concerns in the spread of IoT devices and technologies is the security problem. People are worried about undesired control of technological devices in all areas of life, and even more, personal and unconventional devices such as IoT are afraid of being controlled by unwanted people. In the future, although IoT devices are an indispensable part of life, they will be exposed to more cyber threats.

### B. *Protection*

### (a) *Attacker Types, Motivations and Gains*

Cyberattacks are becoming more common day by day. The main reason for this is that cyberattacks provide a lot of benefts to attackers. Cyberattacks are categorised according to where the attack came from. Threats may occur in the internal or external sources. Internal attacks could be more harmful because the attacker has been directly accessing the users' information.

### (b) *Computer Protection (Countermeasures)*

Raban and Hauptman (2018) indicate that some measurements and protections enable threats to be absorbed and recovered and company activities restored to normality quickly. It involves several strategies, such as adaptive reaction, variety, redundancy, disappointment and proactive resistance. In recent decades, computer and network innovation have quickly developed and have been used rapidly in different areas, bringing enormous effects on human civilisation and promoting the economy, society, science and engineering of society as a whole considerably (Chunli and DongHui 2012). Computer technology and network technology are utilised in current civilisation and are still continually deepened in many aspects of culture. The article now suggests the suitable methods and technological solutions that may rapidly develop in computer networks to address the abovementioned security concerns:

(c) *Control Security of Password and Authentication and Authorisation*

The organisational leaders should regularly identify an information security weakness to help them identify all sorts of variables and diversity of safety security issues to detect and process any faws in a timely manner to rectify any security faws and verify the results immediately. The identifcation of weakness generally involves the scan of the network's security, data security scan and the scan of the database server.

### (d) *Applying Firewalls*

A frewall is a computer system application that enables people to flter attackers, viruses and malware which try to enter the Internet on the computer (Reddy and Reddy 2014). Any received data via the frewall must be tested to see if to accept, refuse or divert, verify and regulate all inbound and outbound network services and visitors, assure data protection and safeguard the computer networks as far as possible against malicious assaults. As a result, the growing complexity, openness of the network, complicates the issue of security. Also, it demands the development of advanced security technologies in the interface of between varieties of networks for security domains, for instance, Intranet, Internet and Extranet (Abie 2000).

### (e) *Data Authentication and Encryption*

The data security contained in the database can be assured by encoding some critical data. After encrypting, do not be concerned about the loss of data even when the existing network is destroyed. The fles received must be authentically verifed before download if they came from a trustworthy and dependable provider and are not modifed.

### (f) *Computer Users and Managerial Sensitivity Upgrading Training*

Individual Internet users select separate passwords, data to apply for legal operations, keep other users from illegal network connectivity and use cybersecurity sources for network security training following their duties and authority. At the same time, the usage of antivirus software updates, which are the front end of the network, should be considered when the virus strengthening is in use. Improve information security awareness management, employment morals, sense of commitment development, build, perfect safety management system, steadily strengthen computer system network security centralisation management, enhance information system safety build, security and provide a reliable guarantee.

The market growth of cybersecurity is quite vivid as there is a growing concern for security and cyber resilience in enterprises. Figure 2.42 shows the market share in cybersecurity applications in 2020 and 2021.

## **2.16 Data Hubs**

Data hubs are structures that store, analyse, classify and organise the data obtained from various sources as a central model while maintaining the hierarchical structure of the data and providing access to all partners to the content (Küfeoglu and Üçler 2021). Data hubs can also be defned as a solution that utilises different technologies. These technologies are data warehouses and data science (Christianlauer 2021). By integrating a system or component with a data centre over data hubs, all data related to this system or component is shared. Data can be easily transformed and distributed to various cloud data warehouses and various business intelligence (BI) tools thanks to data hubs (Choudhuri 2019).

Many businesses are looking at numerous options on the market to develop their data hubs to handle their core vital company data, and data hubs are becoming more popular. However, this technology is commonly misunderstood as a substitute for data warehouses or data lakes. Data hubs serve as hubs of intermediation and data interchange, whereas data warehouses (DWH) and data lakes are thought to be endpoints for data collecting that exist to assist an organisation's analytics. A summary of each solution's


**Fig. 2.42** Growth of market segments (in USD)

properties can be seen in Fig. 2.43 (Christianlauer 2021).

Data permanence is only one aspect of a modern data hub. The goal of previous data hub generations was to centralise data into a single location and store it for a limited number of sectoral use cases. Today's data hubs must fulfl a growing variety of operational and analytical use cases and centralise data. Some characteristics of a modern data hub are listed below.


business units and including all data domains and use cases.

5. A modernised data hub isn't the same thing as a silo. A hub cannot be a silo if it integrates data widely, provides physical and virtual viewpoints, refects all data regardless of physical location and is properly governed. A contemporary data hub with these capabilities is an antidote to silos (Russom 2019).

A data hub collects information from a variety of sources, including data warehouses, data lakes, operational datastores, SaaS applications and streaming data sources. One or more business apps can access the information in the hub. For years, data hubs have been used in applications like master data management which aggregates consumer data from several systems to detect missing data and correct inconsistencies and errors across all data sources (Ivanov 2020). The enterprise data hub (EDH) is a solution to big data challenges. EDH is a data management solution that includes storage, processing and analytics applications for both new and old use cases. New open-source technologies, machine learning (ML), artifcial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based


**Fig. 2.43** The properties of data hub, DWH and data lake. (Christianlauer 2021)

architectures all necessitate a fexible EDH that offers faster data access and cheaper costs than traditional data storage systems. The partnership between business and information technology (IT) to create an EDH will result in a faster time to market, more product variety and more profts (Mukherjee et al. 2021).

A data hub is a contemporary, data-centric storage infrastructure that enables enterprises to aggregate and exchange data to fuel analytics and AI applications (PURESTORAGE 2021). Although it is a technology, this is an approach to arbitrate more effectively, share, connect and/or determine where, when and for whom target data should be sustained. Endpoints, which might be programs, processes, people or algorithms, interact with the hub in real-time to send or receive data from it (Lauer 2021).

A data hub sets up a connection to each system or component that needs to be integrated and ensures that the connection is shared with all other systems that must interact. Data services can be exposed and posted consistently, allowing for better integration of system-wide data and the need for data replication to support business processes between systems. For example, any change made by anyone to their credentials takes place within this data hub, and all subscription applications can continue to use the connection. The data hub simplifes data governance requirements by keeping data in a central location. Data can be easily transformed and distributed to other endpoints such as cloud data warehouses and analytic BI engines (Choudhuri 2019).

A data hub provides an opportunity for data custodians and data users to collaborate on determining whether data is critical for distribution to the user community. This is a paradigm change from data warehousing systems where data custodians made all decisions about which data was made available to consumers. These beneft both parties in this equation: Data custodians may focus their resources on what is recognised as having the most demand/need while collecting input on datasets' quality and usefulness. Data consumers can thus obtain more data and spend less time negotiating access to datasets maintained within organisations. With these aims in mind, a data hub is for people as much as it is for data (Delaney and Pettit 2014).

Master data management (MDM) focuses on mastering collections of business data based on programmed (hard-coded) rules to enforce preset rules and synchronise (bi-directional) operational systems on one set of "golden rules" thanks to its well-documented defnition and purpose. This was a much-needed guideline for data management and governance activities. Many businesses, however, have failed to implement MDM initiatives due to their complexity and cost, as well as the hazardous and ambitious nature of attaining the objective of having a single, agreedupon set of data semantics provided across the organisation (Semarchy 2021). It is quite diffcult to form a clear idea with the available data from organisations running multiple and independent systems (Precisely Editor 2021). Simultaneously, data analytics require mastered data and lineage to establish a data hub with accurate data attributions. As a result, analytics-driven companies began to migrate away from operational system connections and towards smaller, localised data hubs with agreed-upon analytics and application semantics. This is not to suggest that MDM is no longer necessary; rather, it demonstrates how businesses understood they needed to be more capable, fexible and nimble. It is noted in this context that there are a variety of scenarios linked to the utilisation of data hubs (Semarchy 2021). Data hubs have been developed as a solution in the presence of complex and constantly updated data sources, in cases where they actively beneft from the data at hand, when real-time and operational data are desired to be used in contrast to past snapshots within the enterprise, and a reliable integration system is needed (Marklogic 2021). Figure 2.44 represents the type of communication between multiple peers and the data exchange structure of business before the data hub (Küfeoğlu and Üçler 2021).

The benefts of data hubs, both about the mentioned scenarios and in general scope, are listed below:

**Fig. 2.44** Peer-to-peer data exchange and market structure before data hub. (Küfeoğlu and Üçler 2021)


Due to the scenarios mentioned above and the various benefts it offers, data hub technology emerges as a solution that can help to easily overcome many diffculties that may arise in various operational processes and help the emergence of technology-supported business processes that users need (Choudhuri 2019). Figure 2.45 demonstrates the market communication system after the establishment of the data hub (Küfeoğlu and Üçler 2021).

A data hub is a digital environment that allows business and data teams to share data and access and deliver rich data services highly secure. It provides the fexibility and worldliness required for designing and developing unique use cases (Dawex 2021). Considering the future of data hubs, one of the most important issues in business life, "marketing", cannot be overlooked. Data hubs are the next step in the marketing stacks'

**Fig. 2.45** Peer-to-peer data exchange and market structure after data hub. (Küfeoglu and Üçler 2021)

development, and they're likely to become more popular in the future. The hub idea is essential because it can assist intelligently in organising campaigns across the digital and physical domains and because a data hub serves as an information aggregator rather than another marketing solution. The main distinction between a data hub and a marketing stack is that data hubs are completely back-end solutions that allow for cross-channel insights without being limited to a certain set of solutions. As a result, it is predicted that data hub utilisation would increase over time. More data involvement every day in marketing, such as crosschannel editing and real-time personalisation, may provide signifcant long-term effects. The data hub is a central location where consistent, tailored messages may be provided through a single interface via email, online domains, display advertisements and mobile applications and then tracked as part of the decision-making process. Companies that capture this future are likely to succeed where others falter (Zisk 2016). Marketing operations that work successfully create, sustain and expand demand for goods and services in society (Chand 2021). Considering the importance of marketing activities in economic development, data hub technology, which is one of the marketing strategies, contributes to the economy.

# **2.17 Digital Twins**

Digital twins have become more popular with the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies which enable monitoring physical twins in real-time at high spatial resolutions. The monitoring process takes place by using both miniature devices and remote sensing that produce ever-growing data streams (Pylianidis et al. 2021). The main goal of the digital twin is to create highly accurate virtual models of every physical entity of the original model to mimic their states and behaviours for further optimisation, evaluation and prediction (Semeraro et al. 2021). Before the industrial revolution, artisans primarily made physical artefacts, resulting in one-of-a-kind examples of a given template. However, when the notion of interchangeable components was introduced in the eighteenth century, the way things were designed and made changed dramatically as frms mass-produced products' replicas. The mass customisation paradigm has recently emerged, which attempts to combine these two wellestablished manufacturing techniques to attain low unit costs for personalised items. Even though such paradigms of manufacturing allow for the mass production of vast amounts of comparable, i.e. tailored components or products, the created instances are not duplicates that are related. On the other hand, building a twin is creating a duplicate of a component or a product and using the duplicate to consider various other conditions of the same component or product, therefore building a relationship between various copies. This concept is believed to have come from NASA's Apollo program, when "at least two identical space vehicles were created to allow mirroring of the space vehicle's circumstances during the trip" (Rosen et al. 2015). While the terminology has evolved since its beginning in 2002, the underlying principle of the digital twin model has stayed relatively constant. It is mainly linked to the idea that the creation of a digital informational construct of a physical system can be independent of that particular physical system. This digital information then could be a "twin" of the information that belongs to the initial physical system and would be connected to the original system itself during the system's lifespan. The basic working principle of digital twin technology is shown in Fig. 2.46.

The term digital twin dates back to 2002 when the University of Michigan held a presentation

**Fig. 2.46** Basic working principle of a digital twin

for the industry about the formation of a product life cycle management (PLM) centre. The presentation's slide in which the digital twin was introduced, shown in Fig. 2.47, was called "Conceptual Ideal for PLM". The slide included all the components of the digital twin, such as real space, virtual space, the link for information fow from virtual space, the link for data fow from real space to virtual space and virtual subspaces. The model's proposition was composed of two different systems. The frst system was about the physical system that has always existed. The second one was a new virtual system that held all the information and conditions about the physical system. This meant that the real spaces were mirrored to its virtual space model or vice versa. The term PLM, or product life cycle management, indicated that it was not a static representation but rather the two systems would be linked over the system's lifespan. As the system moves through the four phases of creation, production, operation and disposal, the virtual and the real systems are linked together to create a more effcient way of working (Grieves and Vickers 2017).

The rise of the Internet has permitted the creation of more complex virtual models of various physical objects and the integration of such models into systems engineering during the last few decades. These models are utilised as the master product model, which includes the model-based description of needed product features and design verifcation and validation. The advancement of "microchip, sensor and IT technologies" cleared the path for the creation of smart products that track and transmit their operational conditions, allowing them to contribute data regarding their status into their product models. Advanced sensing procedures, which go beyond mathematics and scanning, enable the collection of huge quantities of data from physical objects in a simple, fast and reliable manner. The signifcant advancements in simulation technology, along with the expanding capabilities for obtaining and transmitting data from goods, allowed virtual twins of actual products to be created. As a result, the current concept of the "digital twin" idea has emerged (Schleich et al. 2017). Some general questions and answers about the digital twin are listed in Table 2.3.

Digital twin technology helps us to see how effcient and effective the system is in the operations and support/sustainment phase. Moreover, by using digital twin technology, companies can prevent undesirable behaviours, both predicted and unpredicted, to avoid the costs of unanticipated "normal accidents". In addition, by using a digital twin, we can signifcantly reduce the cost of loss of life by testing more conditions that a system can face in a real-world environment (Grieves and Vickers 2017). As the manufacturing process steps become more digitised, new potential for increased productivity emerges. Additionally, as the number of applications for digital twins grows, the cost of storage and computing decreases (Parrott and Warshaw 2017). Today, the technology exists to construct the foundations of a digital twin to aid in the care and management of people with various chronic illnesses. The next step is for forward-thinking companies and institutions with high-quality technologies and high expertise in subject matter to begin feld testing such systems in real-world settings, to assess the impact of the constantly improving design on engagement, health outcomes and service utilisation (Schwartz et al. 2020).

**Fig. 2.47** Conceptual ideal for PLM. (Grieves and Vickers 2017)


**Table 2.3** Questions and answers on digital twins

The reasons for using "digital twins" to achieve business goals can be gathered around fve headings as (Arnautova 2020):

# 1. *Risk Evaluation and Manufacturing Time Are Both Accelerated*

Companies may test and evaluate a product through digital twin technology before the product comes into existence in the real world. It allows engineers to realise process-related problems before manufacturing through duplication of the intended production process. Engineers can disrupt the system to create unexpected circumstances, analyse the response of the system and come up with mitigation methods. This new capacity improves risk assessment, speeds up the creation of new goods and increases the dependability of the manufacturing line.

### 2. *Accurate Predictive Maintenances*

Businesses may examine their data to detect proactively any faults inside the system because a digital twin system's IoT sensors create large data in real time. This capability enables organisations to facilitate more precise predictive maintenance, which leads to an increase in production line effciency and a decrease in costs of maintenance.

### 3. *Synchronised Monitoring Remotely*

Getting a real-time, detailed perspective of a huge physical system is typically challenging, if not unachievable. On the other hand, a digital twin may be accessed from anywhere, allowing users to monitor and adjust the system's performance remotely.

### 4. *Enhanced Association*

The automation of processes and reach to system information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week enables technicians to get deeper into communication between teams, resulting in increased productivity and operational effciency.

### 5. *Making Proftable Financial Choices*

The cost of materials and labour, which are grouped and called fnancial data, can be integrated into a virtual depiction of a real-world object. Businesses may make more accurate and fast decisions on whether or not changes to a manufacturing value chain are fnancially viable, thanks to the availability of a vast amount of realtime data and powerful analytics.

A digital twin consists of a user interface, monitoring and analytics components. The components that are mentioned are the initial stage in enabling a digital twin to monitor, analyse and evaluate agricultural systems while also providing a continuous stream of operations. A more complex version of a digital twin could include actuator parts to control fans and windows in a greenhouse. If needed, the monitoring and control operations would be performed constantly and can report relevant information to different stakeholders. The more improved digital twin model needs simulation components to decide based on past and future predicted conditions of the physical twin (Pylianidis et al. 2021). It may utilise considerably less expensive resources in designing, producing and running systems because information replaces wasted physical resources. It can better comprehend systems' emergent forms and behaviours by modelling and simulating them in virtual space, reducing the accidental errors mainly made by humans (Grieves and Vickers 2017). Future advancements could be expected since computer technologies show no signs of slowing down. Finally, because the digital twin refects the physical system, we may be able to use the virtual system while the actual system is in use. Capturing and utilising in-use data, as well as system front running, are two possible applications. The digital twin idea has the potential to alter how we think about system design, production and operation as well as minimise the number of UUs (unpredictable and undesirable circumstances) in complex systems and supplement systems engineering (Grieves and Vickers 2017).

# **2.18 Distributed Computing**

Distributed computing is a feld of computer systems theory that investigates theoretical concerns relating to the organisation of distributed systems. In a more limited sense, distributed computing is described as the use of distributed systems to tackle time-consuming computational problems. In short, it is the simultaneous solution of various parts of one computational task by several imaging devices (Косяков 2014). DARPA established the frst distributed system in the 1960s under the name "ARPANET". Ethernet is the frst widespread distributed system that was invented in the 1970s. Although the goal is to program a single piece of hardware to run multiple computers, these computers work as a single system. The aim is to create a network connected with different computers. Figure 2.48 shows how distributed computing works.

Distributed computing is a technique for solving time-consuming computational problems by combining several computers into a parallel computing system (Косяков 2014). Multiple software runs on different computers as a single system affects a distributed computer system. It is possible for the components of the distributed computer system to be either close to each other, connected by a local network, or physically remote, connected by a wide area network. Personal computers and other components such as mainframes, workstations, minicomputers and so forth can be grouped to form a distributed system (IBM 2017).

There are many defnitions on this topic, but the most original one belongs to Leslie Lamport. According to him, distributed computing is the name given to the cooperation of two or more machines interacting with each other on the network for a purpose. By machine, it means a wide spectrum ranging from supercomputers or personal computers. By network means close areas such as the same campus or intercontinental, and it has a wide range of machine types. If it is needed to separate and analyse distributed computing in the literal sense, "distributed" means

**Fig. 2.48** Structure of the distributed computing

spread out in space (Lamport and Lynch 1990). However, well-known Russian professor Andrew S. Tanenbaum defnes this system as a set of *independent computers*, which presents the users of the system as a *single* united system. The independent computers by themselves cannot be a single united system. This is possible only if the special programs are used, which is the *middleware* (Косяков 2014). Thus, there is one single system to which connected nodes and all of them together solve a problem. To understand distributed systems and distributed computing, examples of application areas can be seen in Fig. 2.49.

Communication networks called *closely coupled,* and *loosely coupled* are a characterisation factor of the distributed system. The location of the processors relative to each other indicates the communication network; consequently, interprocessor communication's speed and reliability can be roughly defned considering the communication network. Components of the closely coupled network are spatially close to each other, and generally, communication is said to be fast and reliable. On the other hand, a system consisting of physically distant components is called a loosely coupled network where generally reliability and the speed of the communication are less than that of a closely coupled network (Bal et al. 1989).

Also, according to Gibb (2019), distributed computing systems have three characteristic features, the frst one works on all parts in the system simultaneously, the second the clock concept is not global and the last one does not affect the other parts in the system when one part fails. The main connecting link of distributed computing

**Fig. 2.49** Examples of distributed computing's application areas. (Jahejo 2020)

systems is software. A distributed computing system is a software and hardware system dedicated to solving a certain problem. On the one hand, each computing node is a self-contained unit. The software component of the DCS, on the other hand, should give users visibility into working with a unifed computing system. In this way, the DCS is distinguished by the following signifcant characteristics:


There are several classifcations of distributed control systems:


Many different technologies provide search and discovery of resources in the WAN (e.g. resource discovery services such as DNS, Jini Lookup and UDDI). An example of a centralised resource discovery method is DNS (domain name system). This service works on principles that are extremely like the principle of the phone book (Г.И. Радченко 2012). Also, there are four types of distributed systems (Gibb 2019). These are shown in Fig. 2.50.

We are living in a technology era, and research, explorations, inventions and the development of useful applications are usually done with the help of computers. Because of the abundance of information, the run time of the simulations and the required memory scale-up, we will eventually require computers with high performance and many computation resources to use time effciently. Therefore, distributed computing has become a trend for high-performance computation for complex applications (Lim et al. 2011). The fact that the organisations that use the programs are scattered is one of the main reasons

**Fig. 2.50** Types of distributed systems. (Gibb 2019)

why distributed programs are useful. A company, for example, is divided into multiple divisions. Each division has its own set of tasks and uses internal data to carry out operations. However, so the divisions supply services to one another, there must be some communication between them. Physically tight divisions or geographically distant divisions are also possible (Liskov 1979). In addition, distributed computing and distributed systems offer many other advantages and useful features for the users. Some of which are listed (Kshemkalyani and Singhal 2007) as follows:

• *Enhanced reliability:* Reliability can be said to be one of the critical features of the distributed system. This is because the corresponding application or simulation can be replicated and checked several times in a distributed structure. Besides, it is quite unlikely for the components of a distributed system to malfunction simultaneously, which ultimately increases reliability.


data to be copied in each branch of this company. Furthermore, the data kept in the supercomputers is accessible remotely, although supercomputers are in certain locations. Distributed protocols and middleware, therefore, have gained further emphasis with rapid developments in resource-constrained mobile devices as well as wireless communication technology.


Previously, economic concerns supported sharing a single computer among many users, and effort in operating systems was focused on supporting and controlling such sharing. However, there is no longer any need to share a single, costly resource. Processors and memory have become much more affordable thanks to advancements in hardware technology (Liskov 1979). With the rapid development of microprocessors, distributed computing systems have become economically attractive for many computer applications. The calculation is the most important thing in computer science. After this technology, there will be some contribution to other emerging technology areas. For example, datasets grow day by day in every feld, requiring more parallelism. So, machine learning algorithms will need more performance and drive skills. Deep learning models are among the highest computational applications available today, and they frequently work with large datasets or search multiple purpose spaces. The demand for more cost-effective, energy-effcient and profcient computing devices and systems will expand throughout science, engineering, business, government and entertainment, driven by society's achievable ideas of understanding extremely sophisticated phenomena in natural and humanconstructed structures (Stoller et al. 2019).

# **2.19 Drones**

The advancement of technological developments and the emergence of different requirements in various areas of life have caused drones to start to be mentioned more often. They are one of the most emerging technologies in the last years, actively used in many different areas including military, delivery, agriculture, etc. As a technological term, unmanned aircraft or unmanned aerial systems are called drones, which can be defned as remotely controlled or autonomous fying robots. A more detailed defnition from Valavanis and Vachtsevanos is that drones are unmanned aerial vehicles or fying machines that do not have a human pilot or passengers on board (2015). Drones, which were frst utilised in the military in the nineteenth century, have since become more widespread in all parts of daily life (Dalamagkidis et al. 2012). Drones are most signifcantly related to the military, although they are also utilised for rescue operations, surveillance, route planning and weather forecasting (Udeanu et al. 2016). Drones come in a variety of types due to their wide range of applications. The technical characteristics of drones should be discussed to have a better understanding of them. Vergouw et al. state that drones can be categorised according to their kind, fxed-wing or multirotor, autonomy, weight and shape and energy source. These dimensions are signifcant for the drone's cruise range, maximum fying time and payload capacity, among other factors. As stated previously, drones are an important technical feature of drones. Two of the most common drone types are "fxed-wing drones" and "rotary-wing drones". The vast majority of current drones belong to one of these two categories (2016). These two broad drone categories have their own


**Fig. 2.51** Technical characteristics of drones. (Jiménez López and Mulero-Pázmány 2019)

set of positive and negative attributes. Fixedwing drones, to give an example, have a higher maximum speed and a greater capacity, but they ought to sustain constant forwards mobility to stay above, making them unsuitable for applications that require stability, such as close inspection. On the other hand, rotary-wing drones can travel freely and stay fxed in the air, despite their mobility and payload limitations (Zeng et al. 2016). Hybrid drones are outside of these two categories. Hybrid drones are expected to become more common in the future as manufacturing and design improvements and expenses descend (Saeed et al. 2018). Figure 2.51 demonstrates the abovementioned characteristics of drones in better detail.

Drones, whose capabilities are improving, and their areas of application are expanding, are becoming more important and popular each day. Drone technology is on the rise because it has the potential to disrupt large industries. According to Giones and Brem, drones are anticipated to become as normal as smartphones are now. They have autonomous functionalities due to advances in artifcial intelligence, image processing and robotics, which have increased their revolutionary potential (2017). Another reason drones, whose capabilities have increased in parallel with technology advancements, are signifcant is that they may be used to tackle global issues. According to Kitonsa and Kruglikov, drones may be a big force for good since they have an immense opportunity for being utilised to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. Hunger, diseases, poverty and other issues plague developing countries; drone technology is important since it can help solve many of these issues (2018). The role of drones in resolving these issues is discussed in further detail in Fig. 2.52 with application areas.

The new era of drones promises the autonomous system of fying for robots. Drones can be associated generally with applications of defence. They can also greatly impact civilian duties such as agriculture, transportation, protection of the environment, communication and disaster affect minimisation (Floreano and Wood 2015). Drones can make a difference in distorted areas for light package supplies transportation which can be more important after a disaster occurs (United Nations 2021). A new vision with a wide range and perspective, locations that are hard to reach, static images, video records and detection of objects will come in with drone technology developments. Dronebased datasets will be used in different felds, such as visions of computers and related areas of them (Zhu et al. 2018). Also, passive or active

**Fig. 2.52** Applications of drone technology

sensors will become more important in drone development, and they will be designed specifcally. 3D modelling for landscapes will be easier with drone technology development. Drones will displace the kites, balloons and blimps, helicity, which are used for inexpensive lowlevel aerial photography. Increasing drone instrumentation, such as GPS, can have effects on cost, payload, range of fight and drone structure, and lower-cost platforms should be improved; drones can be more automated (Campana 2017). Additionally, in our day, drones are used in a large scale of civilian activities, such as photographing intense moments in extreme sports, construction surveillance, racing and agriculture, and their use is expected to expand in the upcoming years. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the USA estimates that the registered drone numbers in its database will reach 3.8 million by 2022 (Tezza and Andujar 2019).

### (a) *Military*

Drones have a vital role in the military sector, which is where they were frst utilised. Military forces use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), known as drones, to attack high-value stationary targets. Unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) can have explosives and supplies for forces on the ground, for example, heavy weapons or more ammunition, but also provide real-time video monitoring capabilities. Ground forces' combat power is increased by minimising their physical load (Fernández Gil-Delgado 2021). According to Pobkrut et al. a "survey drone" is a kind of drone designed for military purposes that use sensors such as an infrared camera and a motion detector to detect threatening targets. This means the drone is expected to possess the ability to visually detect the objectives. It is extremely diffcult for a visual survey drone to detect hidden or invisible targets, so installing a system that imitates a nose to a fxed-wing drone to sense and categorise chemical volatiles or odours is a very useful method for locating hidden targets containing threats such as bombs and chemical weapons. The rationale of this method is that usually, the explosive parts of mass destruction weapons leak some gases that can be identifed. Such technology will increase the survey drone's productivity and considerably beneft security services (2016).

### (b) *Scientifc Research*

Drone research was started for the military, and after that, it has developed in different felds of science. As electronic technology has become smaller and cheaper, camera and sensor costs have fallen, and the battery power has increased. Previously, scientists could only examine the globe from above using manned planes or satellites; nowadays, they can expand, enhance and refne their studies thanks to drones. Drones are also used to monitor rivers to predict foods. They can locate places in which trees are illegally cut down. They can detect the growth of algae as well as the trespassing of saltwater into water bodies. Plant species are determined, and diseases in forest trees are detected. In the feld of energy, drones are used to detect methane leaks in the production process of oil and gas and to monitor the effect of pipes and solar and wind installations (Cho 2021).

### (c) *Security*

Drones are quite popular for delivery services. UAVs which are used to transport packages, food, medical equipment and other commodities are known as "delivery drones". To accomplish a delivery, a drone has to specify the personal information of the customer and any data exchanged between the drone and the customer's site, such as a landing area, needs to be shielded from eavesdropping and drone capture. Available operating systems of drones, on the other hand, lack security support and depend solely on security measures at the link level (e.g. Wi-Fi protected access). As a result, they are subject to common malicious attacks such as impersonation, manipulation, interception and hacking. Drones are also vulnerable to physical capture attacks because they are mobile and may pass through hazardous places. Outside landing locations that are not protected are especially vulnerable to physical capture by attackers. The security-related concerns for delivery services, such as authentication, non-repudiation and secrecy, must be addressed. Security measures to combat physical capture assaults are also necessary for delivery drones or outdoor landing places. A fexible system design is necessary to meet these security concerns for a broad range of parties and applications (Seo et al. 2016).

### (d) *Entertainment*

In the entertainment industry, drones are frequently used. According to a survey, drones have a great potential for use in the entertainment industry with the help of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) technology and will become more popular in visual arts, interactive tourism and live entertainment (Kim et al. 2018). Drone hobbyists have a wonderful experience building their own drones and competing in drone contests. In addition, drones have made aerial photography, which is usually highly expensive, more affordable.

### (e) *Agriculture*

Drones are used extensively in agricultural operations. Drone technology offers signifcant benefts, such as precise monitoring of regions challenging to access by man, tracing illegal transactions, wildfre observations and crop yield surveillance on agriculture farms. Farmers may use drones to examine farm conditions at the beginning of any crop year. They also create 3D maps for soil testing. Drone-based soil and feld studies also offer irrigation and nitrogen management data in felds for improved crop development (Puri et al. 2017). Drones in agriculture and smart farming are more effective than satellite technology since they can provide farmers with an overview of their felds while keeping close to

the land and therefore delivering more exact evaluations (Tripicchio et al. 2015).

### (f) *Medicine*

Medicine is another feld where drones are actively used and where their application is becoming increasingly prevalent. Providing catastrophe assessments when access routes are heavily limited; delivering frst-aid packages, medicines, vaccines and blood to remote areas; and supplying safe transport of test samples and kits in areas with high contagion risk are commonly used applications of drones in the healthcare industry, and despite certain regulatory restrictions, drones have the potential to revolutionise medicine in the twenty-frst century (Balasingam 2017). Drones, which have shown to be effective in the feld of medical and health, appear to be promising for future advances in this sector.

### (g) *Transportation*

Drone delivery is being considered a potential answer to future last-mile delivery issues. Meantime, the autonomous mobility trend provides fexible transportation within a city, reducing future traffc congestion (Yoo and Chankov 2021).

The four main categories of drone communications are drone-to-drone (D2D), drone-toground station (D2GS), drone-to-network (D2N) and drone-to-satellite (D2S). The diagram of communication of drones is shown in Fig. 2.53 (Yaacoub et al. 2020). Figure 2.54, on the other hand, illustrates the future application areas of drones.

The future of drone applications is evolving in parallel with the development of emerging technologies and is also considered as the maturation of their current usage areas. In the military, this is the situation. Conducting short-range surveillance is already mature and used, yet long-range surveillance and image capture are not at the maturity level. They are expected to be in 2–5 years. It is predicted that offering multimedia bandwidth by emitting signal/video/sound will mature in 1–3 years. In addition, it is expected that human transportation and cargo delivery via drones will reach advanced levels (Cohn et al. 2017). Also, the advancement of artifcial intelligence for smartphones which are capable of recognising human users, understanding their behaviours and constructing representations of their surroundings, will continue to drive rapid advances in cognitive autonomy. Without the use of wearable devices, face recognition and gesturebased interaction will become largely available

**Fig. 2.54** Future of drone applications. (Cohn et al. 2017)

for hobby and toy drones over the next few years, to give an example, by attaching small drones with gaming-industry-developed human motiondetecting sensors (Floreano and Wood 2015).

## **2.20 Edge Computing**

Edge computing is one of the trending and promising technologies that attract the attention of many users and researchers. Computational services and needs are satisfed better when using edge computing. Edge computing services allow the collection of data or perform a specifc action in real time. Edge computing can be considered an alternative approach to the cloud environment, as real-time data processing takes place near the data source, which is considered the "edge" of the network. This is because applications that run with edge computing physically run on the site where the data was generated, rather than in the central cloud system or storage centre (Jevtic 2019). Until the development of edge computing, there were four waves in the history of computing, including edge computing: monolithic systems, the technology of the web, cloud computing and edge computing (Mannanuddin et al. 2020). Figure 2.55 illustrates the history of computing with these four main waves.

To begin with, it is needed to understand cloud computing to understand better what edge computing is. In brief, it is the storage where one's database is in. So, the idea of edge computing is to push the cloud services closer to the edge of the network. It gathers the data from the beginning, and the data processes at the very machines that gathered the data from the beginning. Thus, edge computing can be called a decentralised cloud. Also, edge computing is remarkably close to IoT technologies too. At this point, as IoT technologies gather the data, edge computing is the right service for it.

Cloud computing's centralised processing mode is insuffcient to manage the data generated by the edge. The centralised processing paradigm transfers all data across the network to the cloud data centre, which then uses its supercomputing capability to solve computing and storage issues, allowing cloud services to generate economic

**Fig. 2.55** History of computing

benefts. Traditional cloud computing, on the other hand, has signifcant drawbacks in the context of IoT, such as:


Edge computing is caused by the need for overloading, latency and inability to perform real-time analysis when using cloud computing. In edge computing, the data that comes from cloud servers is transmitted directly to a network edge. This brings users and services together. If the performance features of edge computing are considered, it can be seen that bandwidth is high, latency is extra-low and real-time access in the network is faster. As a result, it reduces the load of the cloud and offers low-latency processes. Cloud technology has a centralised structure, while edge computing has distributed servers and has a decentralised system (Khan et al. 2019).

There are two kinds of edge computing: edge server, which is a piece of IT equipment. The other one is edge devices, and this is a piece of equipment that was built for some purposes. For example, suppose a vehicle automatically calculates fuel consumption. In that case, sensors based on data received directly from the sensors, the computer performing that action is called an edge computing device or simply "edge device" (El-Sayed et al. 2017). Nowadays, all modern electronic devices can compute. Thus, this means that people can work everywhere, even where they did not consider before. To sum up, edge computing allows reaching the devices that we want and doing our job. So, these emerging or modern technologies are pieces of IT equipment, and they have servers. Figure 2.56 summarises the components of edge computing.

**Fig. 2.56** Infographic of edge computing. (CBINSIGHTS 2019)

**Fig. 2.57** Applications areas of edge computing. (Khan et al. 2019)

When a new technology emerges, it is quite essential to understand where it can be utilised. The best way to demonstrate the use of this method is through some key edge computing examples. Figure 2.57 compiles some application areas and examples of edge computing used for various scenarios to comprehend and internalise it better.

Edge computing aims to bring computing resources from a hyper-scale cloud data centre, which may be located a bit farther away (at the network's "core"), closer to the user or device at the network's "edge". This method lowers network latency and gathers computing power to process data close to its base. Mobile applications could leverage artifcial intelligence and machine learning techniques more effectively over the edge network since they are currently fully reliant on the computing capacity of mobile processors (Стельмах 2020). Edge computing is everywhere as we need vehicles, houses, planes, buildings, etc. Low latency, high bandwidth, device processing, data offoad and trustworthy computing and storage are the major advantages of edge technologies (Ekudden 2021). Edge computing offers some advantages to its users. The following are the advantages of edge computing listed by Mannanuddin et al. (2020):


The data that has been taken from cloud services are transmitted easily and fast; the transmitted data and the velocity increase. In IoT, pulling data from sensors and going to process will be yielding and safe because wireless communication modules spend a lot of energy. However, edge computing does not. Normally, data is produced and presented to the consumer, but nowadays, data must also be obtained from consumers thanks to social media. Therefore, the cloud network cannot be located in one place. Processing and storing data at the edge provides better protection than transferring that data to a cloud (Shi et al. 2016).

Edge computing, day by day, is affecting more and more areas. According to Techjury, the total data volume will be around 40 trillion gigabytes by the end of 2021, with a generation rate of 1.7 megabytes per person each second (Tadviser 2019). First and foremost, edge computing is in high demand in situations where judgments must be made quickly. Autonomous transportation systems must be able to react to changing traffc conditions quickly, changing speed, direction and even the entire route. It is believed that they will be connected to the central cloud in some way, but operational decisions will have to be made "on board". IoT systems are developing and attracting more data. A reliable source will be needed to process, store and optimise the accessed data. However, edge computing is not developed enough to do these yet. An effcient scheduling algorithm that manages and controls this edge computing is also developed for energy effciency (El-Sayed et al. 2017). One more example is the "intelligent" IoT sphere. When it is compared to the last generation of IoT, the new generation with edge computing will be more reliable. The effciency and reliability of such a system are improved by processing data at the border (in local data centres, micro-clouds and even on the devices themselves) (Орлов 2019). As mentioned in the smart home part, sometimes cloud computing is not safe, and data is accessible from everywhere, and space problems can happen, so, in the future, this technology will develop about cloud offoading. In this direction, navigation systems and real-time applications games, augmented reality will develop. After the latest developments in social media, with mobile phones' smartness, many video analytics technologies are insuffcient. Therefore, it will be used in the future, especially to increase security, for example, to catch a criminal, be quick and intervene immediately (El-Sayed et al. 2017).

# **2.21 Energy Storage**

Energy systems are critical for gathering energy from different sources and transforming it into the energy forms necessary for use in various industries, including utility, manufacturing, construction and transportation. Energy sources can be used to meet consumer demand since they are easily storable while not in use. Early societies used rocks and water to store thermal energy for later use. Flywheels have been employed in pottery manufacturing for thousands of years. With the industrial revolution, new energy storage systems began to be used by people in many areas. Thermal, mechanical, chemical, electrical and magnetic energy may now be stored, converted and used thanks to many different methods. Modern energy storage devices have a wide range of uses in everyday life, for example, batteryoperated portable devices such as computers, power banks, tablets, phones and smartwatches. Grid energy storage systems are necessary to maximise the introduction of energy effciency. The electrochemical energy storage system, known as a battery system, has huge potential for grid energy storage. Energy storage methods can be used in a variety of applications. The form of transformed energy mostly determines the categorisation of energy storage systems. As can be seen from Fig. 2.58, energy storage systems are grouped under fve main headings: mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrochemical and electrical energy storage. The following topics include energy storage systems and technologies, their use areas and potential future.

### (A) *Mechanical Energy Storage*

Five different storage systems for mechanical energy storage systems are examined in this section.

### (a) *Pumped Thermal Energy Storage (PTES)*

The heat pump system is utilised to transform the electrical energy and store it as thermal energy in this system. This technology is currently an emerging technology. This system consists of four different system elements. The system consists of two solid-flled storage tanks plus a thermal engine that can perform both the functions of a heat pump and a heat engine. While electricity is utilised, the machine in the system works as a heat pump and gas is produced at high pressure and temperature. While the hot gas produced here is transferred to the hot storage tank, cold gas is injected into the cold storage tank. In this way, the gases are pumped into hot and cold stores and diffused into the solids that fll the tanks. In the discharge cycle, the machine used in the system works as a heat engine. It uses two storage temperature differences to operate the electric generator here. While the gas in the high-temperature storage tank has high-pressure values, the pressure value in the tank is kept at ambient pressure in lowtemperature storage. The pressure difference between these two storage tanks is determined by the temperature difference, the solid material used and the working fuid (Barbour 2013). While these systems have a storage capacity from kilowatt to a megawatt, they can perform this storage process at 70–80% effciency values (Ruer et al. 2010).

### (b) *Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)*

Compressed air energy storage is an old technique to store energy as the frst CAES plant was built in 1978. Large CAES facilities utilise underground places such as salt mines and rock caverns as storage locations (Gallo et al. 2016). In CAES, electricity using compressors catches and compresses the air. Then, the electrical energy used by compressors converts into the potential energy of compressed air. When energy is demanded, stored air is released and goes through gas turbines, where turbines convert the energy into electrical energy. The air compression process generates heat. Different sub-methods of CAES, such as D-CAES (diabatic), A-CAES (adiabatic) and I-CAES (isothermal), are named based on their approach to waste heat (Budt et al. 2016).

**Fig. 2.58** Energy storage technologies

### (c) *Flywheel*

The stored energy is in the rotational kinetic energy form in fywheel systems. The motor is used to charge this system. This motor utilises electricity for the rotation of the fywheel rotor. While the discharge process is carried out in the system, the same engine performs as a generator and produces electricity by reducing the engine speed. In these systems, the power ratio is determined by the characteristics of the power electronics and the engine-generator set in the system. The storage capacity also depends on the rotor speed, material and shape (Chen et al. 2009). There are two different fywheel confgurations. These confgurations depend on the maximum rotor speed. High-velocity fywheels could get 100,000 rpm, and composite materials are preferred in these systems. In low-speed fywheel systems, they operate at less than 10,000 rpm. Steel is commonly preferred as the rotor material in these systems. Due to the engines and materials preferred in highspeed fywheel systems, system costs are higher than low-speed fywheel systems (Lund et al. 2015). When they are modularised, the storage value can reach MW levels. These systems are capable of operating with 75–85% effciency rates, and they are important storage alternative systems as they are fast-acting and long-lasting systems (Hadjipaschalis et al. 2009).

### (d) *Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES)*

Liquid air energy storage is an emerging technology that enables the storage of energy by storing liquifed air in tanks. Unlike PHS and CAES, LAES does not require broad land to build a storage facility, and there is no signifcant environmental issue caused by LAES (Gallo et al. 2016). Therefore, LAES can be considered geographically independent and environmentally safe. LAES takes thermal and electrical energy as inputs and outputs thermal and electrical energy. Air liquefaction and power generation are two different cycles that act as the opposite of the other. Gaseous air is captured by a compressor and liquifed by a condenser at the liquefaction cycle. This liquid air can be stored in a tank. When energy is demanded, the power generation cycle becomes active, and liquid air is released from the tank and pumped into a heater. Heated air moves through a turbine and spins it (O'Callaghan and Donnellan 2021).

### (e) *Pumped Hydro Storage (PHS)*

The PHS technique stores energy as water's potential energy by creating two water reservoirs where one is placed lower. Water is pumped from the lower reservoir to the upper one when stored energy is needed. Once power is required, blockings between the reservoirs are removed, and turbines produce energy while water travels to the lower reservoir (Rehman et al. 2015).

### (B) *Electrochemical Energy Storage Systems*

### (a) *Conventional Batteries*

### • *Lead-Acid*

This technology has been used for 150 years, especially in the automotive industry. The components of this technology are lead metal as well as oxide electrodes, also a solution of sulphuric acid (Chen et al. 2009). Whereas lead and lead oxide transform to lead sulphate, as the concentration of the electrolyte decreases in the discharge cycle, the deposition of the lead and increasing concentration of the electrolyte that take place on the anode occurs in the charge reaction. High effciency and low cost are advantages of lead-acid batteries; nevertheless, low cycle life, low specifc energy and the toxicity of the lead are disadvantages of this type of battery (Beaudin et al. 2010).

### • *Lithium-Ion*

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are a high energy density, rechargeable energy storage technique that employs lithium ions as the main component. Lithium atoms in the anode are ionised during a discharge cycle and recombined with their electrons in the charge cycle. The electrolyte provides a transfer medium between the anode and the cathode, but this electrolyte is highly fammable. High energy density, extremely low self-discharge rate and relatively low price make Li-ion batteries popular in various areas.

### • *Nickel-Cadmium*

Nickel hydroxide is the cathode, and cadmium hydroxide is the anode in this battery. The anode reaction is the conversion of the cadmium hydroxide to cadmium metal, whereas the cathode reaction is the transformation of nickel hydroxide to nickel oxyhydroxide (Gallo et al. 2016). The properties of this type of battery are long cycle life (1000–1500 cycles), elevated specifc energy (55–75 W h/kg) and so on. However, the toxic property of cadmium is the negative side of this technology. Also, nickel-metal hydride batteries can be obtained by removing the cadmium in the system. This battery is an environmental version of nickel-cadmium batteries. When the energy density increases, the selfdischarge and reduced durability occur in the nickel-metal hydride batteries (Gallo et al. 2016).

### (b) *High-Temperature Batteries*

### • *Sodium-Sulphur Batteries (NaS)*

Sodium sulphur (NaS) batteries started to commercialise in 1984. This battery technology contains molten sulphur and sodium ions at cathode and anode, respectively. A high temperature is required for this technology to keep sodium and sulphur in the liquid phase. Due to this situation, this technology can be designated as hightemperature batteries. Besides, the electrodes are made from alumina, which only gives sodium transportation in the electrolyte. To keep this battery at a high temperature, electrical heaters are used in this type of battery. Electrical heaters give rise to discharge capacity losses (Schlumberger Energy Institute (SBC 2013).

### • *Sodium-Nickel Chloride (Na-NiCl2)*

Sodium-nickel chloride batteries have molten materials at their electrodes. The frst investigation started in the 1970s, and General Electric has been searching for this battery since 2007. An Italian company FIAMM produces commercial sodium-nickel chloride battery systems (Gallo et al. 2016). NiCl2, or the mixture of NiCl2 and FeCl2, behaves as active material in the cathode. Also, sodium-nickel chloride batteries include beta-alumina electrolyte and molten sodium chloroaluminate (NaAlCl4). This type of battery system has high specifc energy, effciency and cycle life; however, the disadvantage of this system is that the heating up from the frozen state of the battery takes a long time, nearly 15 hours (Gallo et al. 2016). Na-NiCl is safer than Na-S batteries. Because when a failure occurs in the electrolyte, molten sodium initially gives the reaction of solid chloroaluminate. As a result of this reaction, non-dangerous products also inhibit any further reactions (Gallo et al. 2016).

### (c) *Flow Batteries*

To generate electricity, fow batteries use chemical reduction-oxidation processes. The anolyte and the catholyte, two chemical solutions, are held in tanks separated by a membrane. The differential charge levels on either side of the membrane that is used as potential are referred to as redox (Ferrari 2020). Ion exchange occurs when liquids are pumped over the membrane, causing an electric current to be generated, with the charge being supplied or withdrawn via two electrodes. The energy capacity is solely determined by tank size, while the power is determined by anode surface area. The most popular electrolytes are vanadium and iron solutions (Ferrari 2020).

### (d) *Metal-Air Batteries*

This type of technology can be designated as emerging technology due to promising concepts for the future. This technology utilises the oxygen from the atmosphere in the porous cathode and metal electrodes as an anode – for instance, sodium air, lithium-air, zinc-air and magnesium air. High specifc energy can be obtained with this technology. Although this technology has not reached its potential, sodium air batteries have great interest due to the abundance of sodium in the world and easiness of reaction (Hartmann et al. 2013). Two properties need to be developed: cost and life cycle. The EU determined the 3000 life cycles as an objective (Gallo et al. 2016).

### (C) *Electrical Energy Storage Technologies*

### (a) *Supercapacitors*

Capacitors store electric charges; however, they are different from batteries. Capacitors can be charged much faster than batteries and stabilise the circuit's electric supply. Supercapacitors are types of capacitors that have higher capacitance values than the other capacitors. But they have lower voltage limits. They are also called ultracapacitors in some resources. Electrochemical capacitors known as supercapacitors are used for fast power delivery and recharging (Simon et al. 2014).

### (b) *Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES)*

Energy storage via decreasing temperature below a critical temperature principle is utilised for this type of storage system. This technology can directly store electricity. These storage systems induce a dynamic electric feld or generate a magnetic feld by passing a current through a superconducting coil. Since the coil is made of a superconducting material, the current can fow through it almost without a loss (Luo et al. 2015).

### (D) *Chemical Energy Storage Technologies*

### (a) *Power-to-Gas (PtG)*

Power-to-gas technology depends on the conversion of energy. The working principle of this technology is that electricity is taken into the system and transferred to the electrolysis machine. The electrolysis process is carried out here, and two outputs, hydrogen and oxygen, are obtained. These products are then converted to methane by a process called mentation. After this process, the product that comes out is a kind of synthetic natural gas or substitute natural gas. This created product has the same properties as natural gas and can be transferred, used and stored just like natural gas. This system functions as an effcient energy storage system. In this system, if renewable energy sources are used as an energy source, and carbon capture technology is used in the mentation process, the resulting gas turns into a carbon-neutral gas (MAN 2021).

### (b) *Power-to-Liquids (PtL)*

As the name suggests, power-to-liquid technology is a technology that converts energy into various liquids. The main sources used in this technology are electricity which is produced by renewable energy sources, water and carbon dioxide. Here, electrolysis is carried out with the help of electricity and water, and hydrogen is produced. The hydrogen obtained as a result of this production and the ready-made carbon dioxide are used for the production of liquid hydrocarbons. It is refned according to the type of hydrocarbon produced. There are two main production routes to realise liquid production in this technology, the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) pathway and the methanol (MeOH) pathway. With these production methods, the desired liquid hydrocarbons are produced (Schmidt et al. 2016).

### (E) *Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Technologies*

One type of energy storage system is thermal storage of energy. In these systems, thermal energy is stored by heating or cooling the material or environment. The energy to be stored can come from waste cold, waste heat or thermal solar energy. In addition, electrical energy can be converted into a storage source for these systems after it is converted into heat energy (Gallo et al. 2016). The energy here can be stored daily, weekly or even seasonally, then stored energy could be utilised to heat, cool or generate power. Thermal energy storage systems are divided into three in themselves. This distinction is as follows.


The sensible heat thermal energy storage method is the most commonly utilised method for thermal energy storage systems. The liquid or solid used in such systems is heated, increasing its temperature. Then, the energy stored here is released when needed by lowering the temperature of the material. The heat capacity of the material used here is essential. In these systems, materials with high heat capacity are used, so the amount of material used is kept as low as possible. Material thermal properties, material storage capacity and operational temperature values are factors that affect material selection (Hauer 2012). Although these systems are less effcient (50–90%) than other thermal storage systems, they are preferred because of their simple structure and low cost (Connor 2019).

Latent heat thermal energy storage systems utilise the change of phase to store thermal energy. In these systems, phase-changing materials (PCM) are preferred as storage materials. These systems eliminate the two disadvantages of SH-TES systems. The frst of these is about specifc energy. The obtained specifc energy increases between fve and fourteen by using this system than the usage of SH-TES. Secondly, while the discharge temperature remains constant in LH-TES systems, the discharge temperature changes in SH-TES systems. The effciency of these systems is around 75–90%. The PCM used in these storage systems is incorporated into building walls. The temperature of this material decreases due to the decrease in air temperature at night, and it solidifes. With the increase in temperatures during the day, the temperature of the material also increases and the material melts and becomes liquid. During the phase change that takes place here, the wall temperature remains constant and reduces the heat input to the interior. In this way, it can reduce or eliminate the need for air conditioning to cool the environment. This cooling process using these systems is called passive cooling (Abele et al. 2011).

Thermochemical energy storage systems are energy storage systems that perform chemical reactions using thermal energy and convert thermal energy into chemical energy. The purpose of these systems is not to synthesise new products to be used later. In these systems, reversible processes such as hydration-dehydration, adsorptiondesorption and redox are used to store thermal energy to be utilised. These systems have a denser storage capacity than other thermal storage systems, and thus the material used for storage is much less. The effciency of thermochemical storage systems is 75–100%, and these systems are a good alternative for long-term storage. These systems lose almost no energy during the storage period, which makes these systems suitable for long-term storage needs. Storage in these systems is usually carried out at ambient temperature (Abedin 2011).

The energy storage enables the reduction of energy costs, increases energy system reliability and fexibility and integrates different energy systems into the system. In addition, storage systems also contain an environmentalist approach. Energy storage contributes to reducing energy costs both on the producer side and on the consumer side. While the operational costs of energy production companies in frequency regulation or providing spinning reserve services will decrease, the consumption costs of consumers will decrease thanks to the use from the warehouse, which they will make at peak times of energy consumption, especially thanks to storage. In addition, both producers and consumers will not be adversely affected by power cuts that may occur, and it will be possible to mitigate the economic losses due to interruptions to some degree (Energy Storage Association 2021).

The grid's fexibility and reliability increase by the development and integration of energy storage systems. The reliability of the grid is a very important issue for both producers and consumers. Thanks to the storage, in any negative situation that may occur in the grid, consumers are not adversely affected by power cuts because the energy in the warehouse is activated and can be given to the grid. In this way, the costs caused by the negativities will be prevented (Energy Storage Association 2021). In addition, energy storage facilitates the connection of renewable energy sources to the grid. Today, the biggest disadvantage of renewable energy sources is the instability of energy production, and this is one of the biggest obstacles to the choice of renewable energy sources. However, thanks to energy storage, the stored energy is transferred to the grid at the point where renewable energy sources are insuffcient to meet the grid needs. In addition, energy storage is important for existing energy production systems. Especially in cases where it becomes diffcult to meet the required production due to the sudden increase in demand in the network, these storage systems come into play and ensure that the demand is met. Thanks to the storage, fexibility is provided to the system (Energy Storage Association 2021). The extensive use of energy storage plays an important role in carbon emissions reduction through the common usage of renewable energy sources. In addition, since the networks can operate much more effciently thanks to storage, the consumed energy will be used more effciently. Accordingly, there will be a decrease in the amount of carbon released per unit of energy. Since storage systems contribute to decreasing carbon emissions, they also contribute positively to the environment (Energy Storage Association 2021).

There has been a sharp growth in the use of renewable energy sources in recent years, and this trend is projected to continue. Suppose nations maintain their current and previously declared policies. In that case, the worldwide capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) is expected to reach 3142 GW by 2040, surpassing coal and gas to become the world's greatest energy source. Similarly, wind's proportion in electricity generation will rise from 5% in 2018 to 13% in 2040, with a capacity of around 1856 GW. As a result, the total wind and solar capacity will be 4998 GW. In addition, when hydro and other renewable sources are considered, the overall percentage of energy generation will rise from 26% in 2018 to 41% in 2040 (Hossain et al. 2020). It has become a necessity to meet the energy needs from renewable energy sources since the negative changes in the climate. However, renewable energy production systems cause various problems in continuous energy production, and fuctuations may occur in the production. Storing the produced energy becomes important at this point. In this period of transformation in energy systems, one of the keys to facilitating the transition to renewable energy is the development of new storage systems and the increase in their number. The storage capacity available worldwide in 2014 was around 140 GW (Xylia et al. 2021). By 2020, this amount has increased to 170 GW, and this corresponds to approximately 3–4% of the energy produced today (Kamiya et al. 2021; Xylia et al. 2021). It is aimed to increase the storage level to 450 GW by 2050 (Xylia et al. 2021).

The use of electric vehicles is increasing day by day. This increase brings with it new opportunities. It is possible to use electric vehicle batteries in two different ways for energy storage. One of these is to utilise batteries that have completed their life for energy storage (Renault Group 2021). Batteries in electric vehicles need to be replaced when the capacity percentage drops to 60–70%, but they are still usable (Cagatay 2021). In this case, the batteries taken from the vehicles can be combined and converted into fxed energy storage systems. Another possible usage method is the vehicleto-grid (V2G) technology. In this technology, vehicles store the electricity they receive from the grid and transfer the stored energy back to the grid when there is a lack of energy in the grid. In this way, mobile energy storage can be provided (Renault Group 2021).

# **2.22 Flexible Electronics and Wearables**

Flexible electronics and wearables (FEAWs) are technologies that support each other and need to be looked at together. The development of one improves the other so that they will be covered together in this chapter. Conventional electronic systems have an inherently rigid and unalterable form. Re-developing these systems by adding features such as fexibility and stretchability allows electronics to be added to a broader range of applications and products where fexibility is required. New form factors and new products can be developed using technologies such as printed electronics. According to experts, the market share of fexible electronics will increase soon. For example, by 2024, the worldwide fexible electronics market is estimated to reach USD 87.21 billion (Grand View Research 2016).

Flexible electronics present many innovative technological developments in the electronics feld, such as the fex circuit board. A fex circuit board is a type of printed circuit board with at least one readable feature of the board. Flexible circuits are called FFC (fexible fat cable) and are used by replacing cable wires and connectors. In this case, the fex circuit is designed without electronic components. Another common use includes parts mounted on fexible circuitry such as LED strip and LCD panel interface. The electronic circuit is designed on a fexible plastic substrate, usually polyimide flm, which is resistant to high heat to make it suitable for soldering assembly components. Flexible electronics offer low-cost solutions to a wide range of applications such as foldable displays and TVs, e-paper, smart sensors and transparent RFIDs. The main advantages of fexible electronics over existing silicon technologies are low-cost manufacturing methods and inexpensive, fexible substrates. The fact that fexible electronics are light, bendable and portable and require low-cost electronics is also becoming a very interesting material for nextgeneration consumer products (Cheng and Huang 2009).

Wearable technology is a phrase for items that have acceptable electronic functions and aesthetic qualities, consisting of a simple interface to provide specifc activities to meet the demands of individuals. Since wearable technology provides many conveniences to individuals in terms of usage, portability and data utilisation, a considerable amount of attention has been paid to it in recent years, and the market share of wearable technology has increased like fexible electronics. In 2019, the worldwide wearable technology market was estimated at USD 32.63 billion, and it is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9% from 2020 to 2027 (IEA 2021). Flexible electronics and wearables have a mutualistic relationship with each other, as mentioned earlier. These emerging technologies show themselves in many different areas, various sectors such as ftness, fnance, entertainment, education, medical and textiles (Wright and Keith 2014). Figure 2.59 demonstrates various sectors where FEAW applications can be seen.


**Fig. 2.59** Flexible electronics and wearable technology sectors

tomers' time at payment points by integrating NFC, a wireless communication technology enabling data transfer at an approximate distance of 10 cm (Leong et al. 2013). They may also count as a bitcoin wallet, and it is claimed to be one of the most secure wallets out there with this feature.


viduals with wearable technologies. Sony designed a wearable air conditioner that can ft into a pocket and declares that the air conditioner can decrease body temperature by 13 °C (Byford 2020).

6. Textiles: The textile industry tries to adapt to many developments in fexible electronics. The companies insert the electronics that are sensors, communication modules into textiles. In recent designs, all the components of textiles are electronics which are smart textiles. With the integration of electronics in textiles, clothes transform into electronic devices. That integration inspires tech companies to produce various products (Paret and Crégo 2018).

Flexible electronics are becoming increasingly popular as a result of the numerous advantages they offer. Flex circuits will continue to be employed for a range of applications as more organisations discover their potential for increased customizability, affordability and portability. Flexible electronics are used by a wide range of sectors and professionals in their equipment and products because they provide a variety of benefts such as, but not limited to, being affordable, fexible, customisable, innovative and portable. From a different standpoint, fexible displays and fexible sensors will revolutionise wearable technology by allowing devices to conform to our bodies and clothing while providing increased utility. For instance, the utilisation of FEAW technology has become more medically oriented, an increasing number of wearable devices are being programmed to interact with humans' bodies and collect data that can be used to inform sports science and health research. It will be critical to ensure that these devices are shatterproof, unobtrusive and "unawareable" to design successful healthcare applications. Figure 2.60 summarises certain benefts and drawbacks of FEAW.

Flexible and wearable technologies will become more popular and cheaper to create as a result of advancements in the industry. In addition to having a larger market cap, it will be evaluated to be utilised in other industries in the future (Skilskyj 2018, 2019).



**Fig. 2.60** Advantages and disadvantages of fexible and wearable technology. (Lee et al. 2016)

Flexible electronics and wearable technologies have high potential. Soon, they will be able to do things that people cannot even think of right now. Major developments in medical, energy and electronics are coming. Studies in the medical feld enabled innovative solutions. One of the featured solutions is electronic skins. Patients will be able to wear a plastic sheet with organic circuits embedded in it if they choose to use electronic skin. The skin can monitor the pulse, oxygen levels and temperature of the user's blood. Users can become more aware of potential health issues and provide invaluable data to their healthcare providers by utilising electronic skin. The UV radiation monitoring patch will also be available in the future (Moser et al. 2016). Users will be able to track how much dangerous UV light they receive using a UV radiation tracking patch. The patch may provide the data directly to smartphones so that people may notice whether they have to search for melanoma and other potentially harmful consequences of UV radiation more vigilantly. Flexible circuits in contact lenses, another development that we will encounter in the feld of health, is another technology that we will encounter in the future. Contact lenses with electrically conducting polymers are an intriguing opportunity for the future of fexible electronics. A user may transfer a picture from a TV or computer screen right into their contact lenses with these contact lenses (Watkins et al. 2021). Additionally, sensors integrated inside the lens could potentially detect a user's glucose level and then project that level onto the lens, allowing the user to see it.

Studies in the feld of energy continue day by day. One of the most exciting innovations in the energy industry is printable solar panels. Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are a type of fexible electronics that are expanding solar energy possibilities. An OPV may print solar energy technology into the fabric of your drapes or laminate it onto your window panes rather than requiring solar panels to be placed on a roof. Consumers may see the technology integrated into solar-powered clothes, which could be used to recharge cell phone and laptop batteries (Global Electronic Services 2021). OPV cells are thin and fexible because they are placed on a fexible substrate. Sunlight is absorbed through technology, which then transmits that energy to devices. These OPVs are not only offered to make houses simpler and meet specifc demands but may also be considerably cheaper than standard solar panels. The lower cost is primarily since OPVs employ a polymer-based semiconductor layer, whereas most solar panels on the market use more expensive semiconducting materials like silicon. Researchers and business professionals are developing techniques to increase the availability of OPVs and incorporate them into a wide range of products. In the future, experts expect to see a lot more of these OPVs (Watkins et al. 2021).

The last area to investigate in FEAW is electronics. The gadgets and devices that employ fexible electronics will be increased for consumers in the future. For example, foldable smartphones can be given as an example. While some of these modern phones are struggling for durability, fexible circuits help change this as technology progresses. As organic light-emitting polymers (OLEDs) develop and become more widespread, expect more durable foldable cell phones. In the future, individuals will be able to see televisions that can wrap around the walls of their houses, in addition to cell phones (Watkins et al. 2021; Delta Impact 2021, Global Electronic Services 2021). OLED TVs will grow more popular, offering consumers a smaller and more versatile alternative to traditional LCD TVs.

## **2.23 Healthcare Analytics**

The technique of examining past and current industry data to forecast tendencies, increase accessibility or even effectively control disease spread is known as healthcare analytics. The area covers various sectors and offers both international and micro viewpoints. It can point the way to better patient care, clinical data, diagnostics and corporate management. When paired with marketing intelligence suites and visual analytics, healthcare analytics help managers make more informed decisions by providing real-time information that can support choices and provide valuable insights. Healthcare analytics is a compilation of administrative and fnancial data that may help hospitals and healthcare managers improve patient care, provide better services and modernise existing processes (Sisense 2021). Wise decisions based on accessible data could help alleviate problems that can occur in traditional healthcare systems and ease the transition to value-based management. In their management systems, healthcare facilities are incorporating information technology. This system collects a signifcant amount of data on a constant schedule. Analytics supplies skills and strategies for extracting information from this complicated and extensive data and converting it into data that can be used to aid healthcare decision-making (Islam et al. 2018). Figure 2.61 repre-

**Fig. 2.61** Applications of healthcare analytics

sents some of the usage areas and applications of healthcare analytics technology.

Healthcare data refers to any data about a person's or a population's health. To gather this information, healthcare providers, insurance companies and governmental organisations employ a variety of health information systems (HIS) and various modern tools, the combination of which can demonstrate a comprehensive picture of each patient as well as trends related to geography, socioeconomic status, race and propensity. The data gathered can be separated into distinct datasets, which can subsequently be examined. A number of tools are used to collect, store, distribute and analyse health data. Some of these methods are mentioned below:


Every second, more and more healthcare data are being evaluated thanks to digital data collecting. A substantial amount of data is being collected in real-time as electronic record keeping, applications and other electronic means of data collecting and storage become more prevalent. There is a need for a centralised, systematic method of gathering, storing and analysing data so that it may be used to its full potential. In recent times, data collecting in health situations has become more effcient. The information might be utilised to enhance day-to-day operations and patient safety and predictive modelling. Both datasets can be used to track trends and generate predictions instead of merely looking at historical or present data. Preventative steps can be taken, and the results can be tracked in this manner (University of Pittsburgh 2021). Four main types of healthcare analytics are stated below:

• *Descriptive analytics* commonly takes the form of a dashboard, leverages historical data to provide insights into trends or benchmarks. While descriptive analytics can help understand what happened in the past, it can't give any substantial insight into how to affect future health outcomes or predict what might happen in the future.


In recent years, there has been a signifcant trend towards predictive and preventative approaches in public health due to a growing need for patient-centric or value-based medical treatment. This is made feasible through the use of data. Rather than just treating the symptoms as they occur, clinicians can detect individuals at signifcant risk of acquiring chronic diseases and intervene before they become a problem. Preventive care may help to avert long-term problems and expensive hospitalisations, saving costs for practitioners, insurance companies and patients. If hospitalisation is required, data analytics can assist clinicians in predicting infection, worsening and readmission risks. This, too, can assist in lowering expenses and improving patient outcomes. In terms of epidemics, healthcare analytics analyses collected data in real-time to better understand the consequences of epidemics and predict future trends so that the spread can be slowed and future epidemics can be avoided (University of Pittsburgh 2021).

Pressures on healthcare institutions throughout the world to save costs, enhance coordination and results, deliver more with less and be more patient-centric are mounting. The growth of medical data systems, digital healthcare data and connected health equipment has resulted in an unparalleled information explosion, which has increased the industry's unpredictability. Nonetheless, the proof is growing that unsatisfactory medical outcomes and ineffciency progressively beset the sector. Developing analytic skills may assist such companies in using "big data" to provide meaningful insights, defne their future vision, increase performance and save the critical time necessary to examine healthcare data. New analytics approaches may be leveraged to generate clinical and operational improvements to tackle business problems. Analytics in healthcare will progress from a conventional base point of transaction tracking utilising basic reporting techniques, spreadsheet applications and software reporting components to a prototype that will ultimately integrate predictive analytics, allowing companies to "see the future", provide more individualised health services, predict patient behaviour and allow for dynamic service (Cortada et al. 2012).

Healthcare providers are obliged to report on a variety of key performance measures. Proper data analytics are now a critical role for modernising digital healthcare software. It can increase productivity, manage daily operations and prepare for the future through trend analysis. An essential aspect is how healthcare analytics may beneft many stakeholders in the healthcare business (SourceFuse 2021).

As the ordinary adult lifetime rises along with the population of the world, data analytics in healthcare are prepared to make a signifcant impact in current treatment. The application of healthcare analytics can cut treatment costs, forecast disease outbreaks, avoid preventable diseases and enhance overall care for patients and standards of living. Data analytics simply digitises enormous amounts of data and then unifes and analyses it using particular technologies. With healthcare expenses surpassing expectations, the sector needs data-driven solutions. These solutions are benefcial to both healthcare experts and the industry. As more providers are paid depending on medical results, health companies have an economic incentive to reduce expenses while simultaneously enhancing patients' lives. Furthermore, because physicians' judgments are increasingly supported by evidence, studies and medical information offered by healthcare analytics are in great demand. Figure 2.62 shows the reasons for the importance of healthcare analytics technology (Kent State University 2021).

The healthcare industry has a history of being sluggish to react, yet it is in a unique position to beneft from data and analytics insights. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the value of leveraging technology to improve effciency in remote patient care and telemedicine. Given the popularity of virtual health, it is apparent that the healthcare sector will increasingly rely on AI and big data to fll in the holes in conventional healthcare systems. Instead of remaining just huge storage, the move to electronic health records in clinics has opened up the option of using data models to utilise this information to deliver proactive healthcare actively. As a result, the idea of a "data-driven physician" is gaining momentum (Tabata 2021). Healthcare analytics in the future will contain increasingly bigger datasets for healthcare companies to interpret and manage. As new technologies develop and customer desire for personal control grows, it will become increasingly vital to understand how to navigate the competitive landscape and scale patient's data to stay relevant. Leading hospitals are attempting to guarantee that data-generating technologies are utilised to produce the greatest outcomes for patients as data-generating technologies have spread throughout society and industry. The Internet of Things includes sensors that monitor patient health and machine status and wearables and patients' mobile phones. Because of the network of this equipment, physicians get a complete picture of what is going on in the hospital and may be informed in real-time if a data anomaly reveals changes that require immediate attention.

**Fig. 2.62** Why healthcare analytics. (Kent State University 2021)

This drastic move towards data can help doctors make better judgments and, in turn, improve patient outcomes. Artifcial intelligence and clever algorithms will evaluate healthcare data to improve medical practitioners' abilities, from picking which individuals to cure to the effective methods to guide them throughout assessment and treatments. These breakthroughs are changing the way the community views healthcare, culminating in healthier communities with extended lifespans (Huiskens 2020). The use of AI inside the forms of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) can add a lot of value to delivering better outcomes across the existing healthcare continuum. The application of these technologies in healthcare will also aid in the development of new "value-based care" models, and with the rise of big data, it may be used to drive greater personalisation and transformation in healthcare analytics for patients. Aside from digital disruption, inventive start-ups have a unique opportunity arise and develop solutions that address specifc challenges in the healthcare ecosystem (Saxena 2019). Also, the healthcare analytics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.9% over the anticipated period, from an estimated USD 21.1 billion in 2021 to USD 75.1 billion in 2026 (Healthcare Analytics Market 2021).

## **2.24 Hydrogen**

Today, increasing economic and environmental concerns increase the interest in alternative fuels. Hydrogen is one of the important alternative energy carriers' sources that are emphasised (Sazali 2020). Hydrogen is the simplest member of the chemical element family, which is fammable, tasteless, odourless and colourless and represented by the symbol H. This element is normally found in nature as a hydrogen molecule in pairs. Although hydrogen is widely found in nature, this element makes up only 14% of the earth's crust by weight. Hydrogen is not found alone in nature but as a part of the water in lakes, seas, glaciers and similar structures (Jolly 2020). Since hydrogen is not found in a pure form in nature, it must be produced.

Today, there are various methods for hydrogen production, but the four most well-known of these methods are given in Fig. 2.63. Electrolysis, steam methane reforming, direct solar water splitting and biological methods are some of the known methods.

In addition to the shared methods for hydrogen production, there are many more methods, and various classifcations are made according to the environmental sensitivity of these production methods and the resources used for production. Three of these methods are widely known (Sazali 2020) and used. These are grey, blue and green hydrogen (Boykin 2021). In the grey hydrogen production method, natural gas (CH4) is the main material, and hydrogen production is carried out using auto thermal reforming (ATR) or steam methane reforming (SMR) methods. As a result of this production, CO2 is released into nature. Due to this emission, this method is not environmentally friendly, and for this reason, it is called grey hydrogen production. In the production of blue hydrogen, the same methods as in grey hydrogen are used, and raw material (natural gas) is used.

However, in this method, the carbon dioxide produced due to the decomposition of natural gas is captured and stored. In this way, this gas that causes the greenhouse effect is not released into nature, and the harmful gases that come out during hydrogen production are largely eliminated. Although this method is more environmentally friendly than the grey hydrogen production method, it still has various effects on the environment since it is not possible to capture all the carbon dioxide that occurs during hydrogen production. Hydrogen that is produced by adopting and using the most environmentally friendly production methods in hydrogen production is called green hydrogen. The production steps performed in this production method are given in Fig. 2.64. The method used in this production method is electrolysis. The raw material used is water. Water is broken down into oxygen and hydrogen by electrolysis. The hydrogen obtained as a result of the separation is stored, and the oxygen, which is harmless to nature, is released into nature. Electricity is required for electrolysis, which is the method used in this production method. In this method, electricity produced by renewable energy sources such as the sun and wind is used to produce environmentally friendly hydrogen (Petrofac 2021).

Hydrogen can be used in different felds. These usage methods are shared in Fig. 2.65. Petroleum refning, chemical, stationary fuel cell, transportation and energy storage are the usage

**Fig. 2.63** Hydrogen production methods and energy sources used in production

**Fig. 2.64** Green hydrogen production

**Fig. 2.65** Hydrogen usage areas

areas of hydrogen. Developments in transportation and energy storage appear as important application areas with the potential to increase the widespread use of hydrogen.

Hydrogen storage brings with it various advantages compared to other storage systems. For example, batteries can store certain amounts of energy for a certain time, and long-term energy storage is not possible in these systems. Here, the long-term storage feature of hydrogen storage systems comes to the fore. Depending on the size of the hydrogen storage facility, it can be stored and can keep the amount of hydrogen stored for days or even weeks after the storage process so that there is no storage-related loss during energy production. Although another storage system is pumped water storage systems that do not have various problems in terms of storage time or amount of stored energy, they require large lands and large constructions and are required to be formed in desired geographical conditions. In this direction, hydrogen storage systems also precede such storage systems (FCHEA 2021). Longterm storage is an important feature. These storage systems stand out as important candidates in emergency generators or other critical energy applications. The widespread use of renewable energy sources can bring along various problems. With this diversity in the sources of energy production, various problems can be experienced in ensuring the supply-demand balance in energy systems. These production imbalances experienced here cause the energy produced to be wasted if the production is more than needed or the system to be supported with fossil fuels due to the insuffcient amount of energy being produced when the demand is high. In this case, energy storage systems gain importance. Hydrogen storage systems are becoming an important alternative at this point. These systems provide the needed power to the electrolysis machines when the energy need is low, hydrogen production is carried out and electrolysis machines can produce green hydrogen. This hydrogen produced can be stored, transferred to stationary fuel cells for power generation, transferred to fuel cell vehicles for use in transportation, transferred to these pipelines to reduce the carbon density in natural gas pipelines, or for later use as a cryogenic liquid, compressed gas (FCHEA 2021). When an energy system needs the energy, stored hydrogen can be used for electricity production.

Another area where hydrogen can be used is in transportation systems. Here, in these hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the vehicles still work with electric motors, but at this point, unlike the battery electric vehicles used today, they are systems that produce their electricity. In other words, these vehicles do not meet their energy needs from an internal battery that can be charged externally, as in electric vehicles. Thanks to the fuel cells they contain, these vehicles effectively have their effcient power plants. By using this fuel cell technology in vehicles, the reverse of the electrolysis process used to produce hydrogen is applied. Thanks to this reverse electrolysis, the hydrogen taken from the tanks react with the oxygen taken from the environment. As a result of this reaction, water vapour comes out of the exhaust and electricity is produced. These vehicles are vehicles that operate without causing emission problems, just like electric vehicles. In addition, while long charging times in electric vehicles are a problematic issue, these vehicles can be charged in a short time, and this problem is signifcantly eliminated. Therefore, this technology constitutes an important alternative for the future (BMW 2020).

As it can be understood from these two usage areas, fuel cells gain importance at the point of conversion of stored hydrogen into electricity. Fuel cells are devices that produce electricity via an electrochemical way. The components situated in fuel cells are anode, cathode, electrolyte and circuit. Chemical reactions occur in anode and cathode; moreover, hydrogen is used as a fuel while oxygen is used as an oxidant. The working procedure of the fuel cells are very similar to a battery; however, if the fuel is available, the heat and electricity can be obtained without problems such as recharging against battery systems. The fuel and oxygen are inserted into the system at the anode and cathode sites, respectively. Electric energy and heat are produced during fuel cell activities. The electrons go through the circuit, whereas the protons are transmitted through the electrolyte membrane (Behling 2012). The electron movement can be designated as current. At the anode, the splitting of the hydrogen into electrons and protons takes place. As a by-product, water is emitted by the reaction that is carried out by combining protons, electrons and oxygen at the cathode site (Behling 2012).

Hydrogen can be used as a stationary and portable energy transfer source. This source is an energy carrier with great potential for clean and effcient power. Hydrogen energy is an important candidate for energy security, reducing oil and natural gas dependency, reducing greenhouse gas and air pollution. In addition, it is an important alternative fuel source for land or air transportation (Smith 2016). It contributes to the solution of the problem of supply-demand balance, which is in front of the storage of hydrogen and the transfer of energy thanks to hydrogen and the use of renewable energy sources. Since these systems can provide long and effcient storage, they become more advantageous systems than normal short-term and low-effciency storage systems. Thanks to the storage of green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy sources such as the sun and wind, energy storage can be realised. In this way, when excess supply occurs in the supply-demand balance, the excess energy that has been produced can be stored. Hydrogen storage systems provide long-lasting energy storage. In this way, when energy is needed, hydrogen is converted back into electrical energy and an energy supply is provided. By using this storage method, the problem of not being able to reach the energy when needed, which is one of the negative aspects of renewable energy sources, is eliminated. In this way, when energy is needed, instead of preferring the use of fossil fuels to ensure energy balance, the use of stored green hydrogen can be used to prevent CO2 emissions that may arise from energy production. In this way, energy is produced and used more cleanly. Hydrogen technology is emerging as an alternative that can be used in the feld of transportation, and with its contributions in this feld, it can contribute to reducing the use of fossil fuels and reducing CO2 emission values. Today, electric vehicles are increasing day by day, but charging time is still an important problem in these vehicles. Since hydrogen vehicles provide an important alternative for this existing problem thanks to their short flling times, they stand out as an important option for the dissemination of such environmental-friendly vehicles in transportation. In this way, it can be an important solution for the environmental pollution problem caused by the transportation sector by increasing the environmental transportation options.

The reason why hydrogen attracts so much attention today is because of this low carbon emission. If hydrogen is used in energy transfer, it does not cause carbon dioxide emissions as in fossil fuels. When hydrogen is consumed, only heat and water are produced (Clark 2012). Although hydrogen seems to be such an attractive source, its usage areas are limited today and it is used in a limited way, especially in projects that can contribute to the environment. Today, the amount of hydrogen widely used in the petroleum and chemical industries is approximately 80 million tonnes. The amount of hydrogen produced is expected to increase to 100 million at the end of this decade and 500 million by 2050, especially with the development of technologies such as energy storage and hydrogen transportation. At this point, it becomes an important economy with the expected growth in the feld of hydrogen. Today, 95% of the hydrogen produced is produced as grey hydrogen. In other words, fossil sources are used in the production of hydrogen (Schnettler 2020). The main reason for this is that this method is much cheaper than green hydrogen production. Grey hydrogen production costs are 1–2 Euros per kilogram, while green hydrogen production costs are 3–8 Euros per kilogram in Europe and 3–5 Euros in regions such as the Middle East, Russia, the USA and Africa. For this reason, grey hydrogen is a muchpreferred source. However, with the increasing awareness about the environment, the demands and policies for green technologies are increasing. Efforts are also being made to reduce green hydrogen production costs. In the future projections, it is predicted that the green hydrogen production costs will decrease by half by 2030 and the kilogram cost of green hydrogen will decrease to 1–1.5 Euros by 2050. With the arrangements to be made and the technological developments to be experienced, it is foreseen that the hydrogen economy will turn into a green hydrogen economy and hydrogen production will increase rapidly, especially after 2030 (Van Hoof et al. 2021). At this point, although hydrogen is an important energy-transportation alternative for the future, it also has important economic potential.

## **2.25 Internet of Behaviours**

The increase in the accuracy of analysis studies that can be done from existing sources and the expansion of their scope has allowed many different technical disciplines to emerge thanks to the development of technology. One of the technologies that can be mentioned in this context is the Internet of Behaviours (IoB). IoB can be defned as studies on data to provide information on user behaviours, interests and various possible preferences (Techvice Company 2021). While the Internet of Things (IoT) technology deals with the interaction of electronic devices with each other, IoB combines location, face and various preference information obtained from users and tries to match this information with various behaviours (International Banker 2021).

The starting point of IoB is to create an optimum level of choice with the integration of data obtained by electronic devices providing data exchange over the Internet with IoT (Todaro 2021). To achieve the integration mentioned here, data can be collected and processed from various sources such as customer information, social media, location tracking and citizenship data provided by government agencies (Techvice Company 2021). In this context, transactions related to IoB can generally be considered as a combination of behavioural science, data analytics and technology (Tech The Day 2021). Today, the concept of IoB is used effectively in several areas. These areas are listed in Fig. 2.66 (Pal 2021).

Consider Uber and its Internet of Things (IoT) application. It is used to keep tabs on drivers and passengers. A survey is done at the end of each ride to assess the passenger experience. They can go further by using IoB instead of IoT to collect data without needing to evaluate the experience through a survey. It is conceivable to monitor the driver's actions and then analyse the passenger

**Fig. 2.67** Features of the IoB technology

experience to work on. Figure 2.67 demonstrates the features of the IoB technology.

The incorporation of IoT devices into many aspects of our lives does more than merely assist us in optimising and automating various procedures. It is profoundly altering sectors and ways of operation, including digital marketing. The importance of IoT technology and the IoB cannot be underestimated today, as they will have an impact on consumer behaviour and the marketing platforms used to capture their attention. So, it is critical to begin incorporating the IoB technology into the digital marketing plan of the business world as soon as possible to proft and obtain the greatest number of pleased consumers (Kolomiiets 2021). According to McKinsey, behavioural insights are key to unlocking an 85% boost in revenue and a 25% rise in gross margin. Businesses can utilise data to do behavioural analysis and establish where customers come from and what happens to them. Knowing this data via the IoB is crucial for analysing recommendations, constructing predictive models and developing effective methods to improve engagement, retention and conversion (Singh 2021). Furthermore, IoB integrates current technologies that directly focus on the person, such as facial recognition, location monitoring and big data. While some consumers are hesitant to provide their data, many others are willing to do so if it offers data-driven value. For businesses, this includes modifying their image, advertising items more successfully to their consumers or improving a product's or service's customer experience (CX). In theory, data on all aspects of a user's life may be collected with the ultimate objective of increasing effciency and quality (Vector ITC 2021).

The biggest challenge that IoB technology will face is cybersecurity issues. Analyses made on people's data can be of great interest to cybercriminals. In addition, the sharing of this data by various companies due to commercial concerns is also a problem for personal security. The legal process from the past related to this situation should also update itself and make users feel safer (Techvice Company 2021). Apart from these problems, the free use of users' data is another issue that makes people prejudiced against IoB. This issue can be overcome by providing customised prices and services to individuals based on data obtained from individuals. The leading sectors that can do this are the banking and insurance sectors (personal interest rate, insurance pricing, etc.) (Kidd 2019). The advantages of IoB are schematised in Fig. 2.68 (IoT Desing Pro 2021).

One of Gartner's technological emerging trends is the IoB, which will enable this "plasticity" – or fexibility – and allow organisations to react, endure and even prosper during a crisis (Sinu 2020). IoB is still in its early phases, according to Gartner, but by 2025, more than half of the world's population will have been exposed to at least one IoB program, whether from the government or a private organisation. Furthermore, according to Gartner, by 2023, 40% of the global population's digital actions will be

**Fig. 2.68** Advantages of IoB technology. (IoT Desing Pro 2021)

tracked in order to affect human behaviour (Axıos 2020). However, for these developments to take place, this technology must be accompanied by a transparency policy that is as user-friendly as possible, protecting privacy rights. In addition, it is very important to protect the cybersecurity of this data as highly as possible (International Banker 2021).

To minimise negative customer reactions, it will be critical to keeping a balance between customised offerings and interference. Any frm that adopts an IoB strategy must ensure that it has robust cybersecurity in place to secure all of that sensitive data. In the hands of the right people and with the proper data protection regulations, IoB will play a signifcant role in the near future (Sayol 2021). In personnel management, it will be feasible to measure the quality of workers' work and analyse how much each department, division or particular employee contributes to the organisation's overall success. Managers in Europe and the USA are already preparing to chip their staff. CNN Business noted that CEOs in the west are optimistic about implants on their employees. A Citrix survey reports that these implants can replace cards, keys and more to increase productivity. Respondents believe that such technologies will be widely available by 2030 and will be incorporated into the IoB.

Intelligent VoIP systems can fnd keywords in conversations. There is a strong belief that it will be possible to analyse even more to gather information about one's verbal, paraverbal and nonverbal characteristics. These feats would facilitate the management of atmosphere among employees, which is especially important for organisations in which contact hygiene is essential, such as insurance, audit and law frms. These teams are highly vulnerable to negative effects that can be caused by a single toxic or depressive behaviour of one specialist. Using IoB technology can potentially revolutionise the fashion business. It can be selected as a customised outft for a person using this modern technology. The idea of "fashion" may then just vanish.

New IoB technologies have the potential to revolutionise medicine. For example, during the Coronavirus pandemic, many individuals acquired a new term: saturation (the degree of oxygen saturation in the blood). This indicator is measured regularly by patients suffering from severe diseases. Wearable devices, such as smartwatches, will almost certainly learn to monitor them fast as well. The same may be said about other appliances. Subcutaneous chips, for instance, will arise that record the temperature of the human body, the quantity of sugar in the blood, the number of leukocytes in the blood and other data. Also, humanity is moving closer to the day when the patient's medical data will be transmitted in realtime to the attending physician, regardless of where the patient is on the planet. The treatment will get more distant and objective (Sannacode | Web & Mobile App Development 2021).

## **2.26 Internet of Things**

The Internet of Things (IoT) connects the virtual world with real-world physical activity. The fundamental idea behind the Internet of Things is to create an independent and secure connection that allows data to be shared between physical objects and real-world applications (Chopra et al. 2019a). The Internet as we know it today has expanded into the real world, embracing ordinary things that characterise the IoT concept. As we know it today, the Internet has expanded into the real world, embracing ordinary devices that constitute the Internet of Things vision. The components of the IoT vision include steady improvements in information technologies, microelectronics and communication technologies that we have seen so far, as well as their potential to continue into the foreseeable future (Mattern and Floerkemeier 2010). As the number of IoT applications grows, intelligent cars, smart cities, smart factories, smart homes, agriculture and energy as components of a broad IoT ecosystem are gaining greater consideration. More potential applications may be predicted by integrating similar technologies, technical methods and concepts (Vermesan 2013). As a result, IoT is envisioned as an ecosystem that grows to integrate surroundings and services better to satisfy better human life expectations (Lutui et al. 2018). The growth of IoT will dramatically increase Internet traffc by connecting numerous objects to the Internet. This will eventually result in increased data storage requirements. Privacy and security problems would arise as a result of such a huge network. To fulfl all these objectives, a suitable architecture is required. Although the IoT architecture is still being developed, it already has several characteristics. Business layer, application layer, middleware layer, network layer and perception layer are the fve levels that make up this architecture. Figure 2.69 illustrates the architecture of an IoT system.

Artefacts of the physical environment and sensor equipment are included in the perception layer. Depending on the object's identifying method, these sensors might be RFID tags, barcodes or infrared sensors. This layer's primary role is to categorise things and collect information about them using sensor tools. This information on the object's position, inclination, humidity, velocity and orientation may depend on the type of sensor. The network layer's primary responsibility is to transfer information from the sensors to the processing unit reliably. This information can be delivered both wired and wirelessly. The middleware layer is largely in charge of managing service between IoT devices and apps. It can also communicate with the local datahub. It transfers information from the network layer to the database. This layer analyses the data and conducts computations regularly. Finally, it makes automatic judgments based on the results of the tests. Based on the object information processed in the middleware layer, the application layer offers global management of the whole program. IoT may be used to implement various applications, including smart homes, intelligent manufacturing and more. The business layer connects with the IoT network, which includes various apps and services. The business layer generates business models using information from the application layer (Chopra et al. 2019b).

As Fig. 2.70 articulates, an object is called "smart" if it achieves one or more functions: interacting with the surroundings, measuring or sensing environmental variables, communicating with other objects and central systems, processing the obtained data and performing selfawareness and localising.

Smart objects are devices that provide intelligence to IoT implementations and an interconnecting network and allow intercommunication of appliances. Properties of a smart network are depicted in Fig. 2.71.

Smart houses are a hot topic in IoT research. In other words, IoT and home automation are inextricably linked because all passive home electronics are becoming digital, wirelessly linked and capable of communicating over local networks or the Internet (Raj and Raman 2017). More capable and smarter appliances are the beginning of a smarter home environment. Realtime energy usage monitoring for all smart home equipment may considerably cut energy expenditures. In terms of smart security, combinations of alarms and sensors at the range of the property may immediately notify the police or fre department and homeowners. Second, by dividing the utilisation of IoT technologies in manufacturing into two categories: manufacturing and user experience, the use of IoT in the industry can be attested. Manufacturers utilise IoT to automate operations, track machinery and determine whether machines require repair. Furthermore, IoT devices in Internet networks are utilised to collect data from customers, which improves the user experience. Then it looks through the information it has acquired to see how it might improve the outcome and possibly solve problems. Finally, IoT-enabled remote patient monitoring (RPM) might enable patients to be tracked while at home. Caregivers can perform the frststep medical check-up without considering the distance, using data of the wearables that collect data of subject's vitals (e.g. blood pressure) (Greengard 2015; Hassan et al. 2018). Fourth, the Internet of Things (IoT) is an initiative to introduce smart city applications that use prevalent sensors in municipal infrastructures to provide real-time data (Latre et al. 2016). To meet the needs of urbanisation, energy management, transportation, health, governance and other

aspects of modern smart cities are all centred on sustainable and effective solutions (Ejaz et al. 2017). Finally, agriculture is one of the examples of IoT applications that are worth highlighting. Farmers and producers would beneft from incorporating the Internet of Things into their operations, as well as a variety of equipment or gadgets that obtain and convey data through cloud services, because it would give them more choices to settle on, cuts costs and increase production effciency (Namani and Gonen 2020). IoT applications may be found in a variety of settings, as shown in Fig. 2.72.

The demand for effcient systems to regulate and optimise energy and resource use in homes, industrial and agricultural facilities is increasing. With the deployment of the IoT, potential opportunities for reducing resource consumption and boosting effciency may be identifed. In recent years, IoT technologies have presented an intriguing potential to develop sophisticated solutions for sensor devices, and Internet-based information systems are used to monitor and control energy consumption. With an adequate power management system, energy hotspots may be detected and energy production can be raised in real-time in proportion to their process (Chen et al. 2018).

Chen (2018) also proposed an energy monitoring and management framework for a machining workshop. Depending on the tasks of the machinery, unused auxiliary equipment can be turned off. To improve energy effciency, realtime energy-focused planning can be used. Moreover, by tracking power consumption frequency in real-time, effective load balancing can be used to reduce energy consumption during peak times. The Internet of Things attempts to increase energy use visibility and comprehension by including smart sensors and smart metres into the system. Consequently, data on real-time energy use from complex systems may be easily gathered and analysed to help people or home automation make more energy-conscious decisions. By acquiring vast quantities of energyrelated data in near-real-time, these types of solutions generate a great deal of knowledge. As a result, it is critical to plan ahead of time how to integrate these IoT energy monitoring devices into the overall energy management system for the environment (Shrouf and Miragliotta 2015).

Also, IoT is seen as a feasible technical option for tracking, evaluating and making quick decisions about infrastructure provision before it fails. A smart water management network could be imagined by integrating IoT across the whole infrastructure architecture. When IoT is fully integrated, the water tracking system becomes a smart entity capable of detecting and treating problems without the need for constant thirdparty monitoring (Ramakala et al. 2017). The control application can also provide a real-time summary of the recorded data and make recommendations for corrective action (Geetha and Gouthami 2016).

Conventional approaches may be combined with cutting-edge technology like the Internet of Things and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to enable a wide range of uses in contemporary agriculture for long-term sustainable food production. New IoT technologies are addressing agricultural issues by boosting farm production effciency, quantity, productivity and costeffectiveness. This rapid adoption of IoT in agriculture and smart farming technologies is gaining momentum, intending to have 24/7 visibility into the health of the land and crops, equipment in use, storage conditions, animal behaviour, energy consumption and water usage rates.

The concept of collecting and storing all relevant data, analysing it and giving meaningful outcomes enables the Internet of Things to become a signifcant modulator of existing urban and rural life. We might argue that robots and people would become increasingly intertwined after the frst industrial revolution due to the gradual blurring of their boundaries between them (Greengard 2015). The disappearance of these boundaries allows for the formation of greater direct or indirect ties between humans and nature. Air is a direct method to engage with the environment, and pollution is a major issue nowadays. Air quality data analysis may be used to monitor toxic gases and harmful particles such as carbon dioxide and soot generated by factories and farmlands (Patel et al. 2016). Following that, necessary measures may be implemented right away. The energy derived from nature is the most extensive sphere of human connection. Because of the massive amount of data and traditional home power networks, measuring, administering, pricing and monitoring the energy that appears in every aspect of a person's daily life is extremely challenging. IoT appliances have the potential to occupy a large feld of home appliances on their own, but in a network with a lot of data and continuous processing, the system grows wiser over time and develops its intelligence. The expansion of the Internet's area and depth above and beyond human contact will affect people's lives in the future (Greengard 2015).

# **2.27 Natural Language Processing**

Natural language processing (NLP) is a multidisciplinary feld consisting of computer science, artifcial intelligence (AI) and linguistics subfelds. The study of NLP is concerned with computers' capacity to apprehend words from texts or speech as well as humans. Through the combination of language modelling, computational linguistics, statistical, machine learning and deep learning models, NLP aims to enable computers to comprehensively process language, recognising the intent and sentiments of speakers or writers (IBM 2020). Many languages and text-oriented studies such as translating between languages, building a database, extracting summaries or understanding text content can be performed using this technology (Allen 2003).

The goal of NLP researchers is to learn how humans comprehend and utilise language so that suitable tools and techniques may be developed to help computers understand and modify natural languages to execute the tasks they are programmed to do (Chowdhury 2003). During NLP, the sentence's grammatical structure and word meanings are analysed by breaking down the sentences at hand. This way ensures that the computer understands and reads both spoken and written text at the human level (Wolff 2021). Only if the source text is a speech is a phonological analysis used. This analysis has to do with the internal and between word translation of tone of language, which can convey much about a word or sentence's meaning (Banerjee 2020).

If the source text is written, tokenisation is used. Simply put, tokenisation is the division of large amounts of text into smaller pieces. This process breaks down the raw text into tokens to assist in understanding the context or developing the NLP model (Chakravarthy and Nagaraj 2020). Morphological analysis is a method that concerns the internal structure of words, often used for NLP; it refers to the process of decoding words based on their smallest meaningful units known as morphemes. Banerjee (2020) explains this process through an example phrase, namely, "unhappiness". In his words: "It can be broken down into three morphemes (prefx, stem and suffx), with each conveying some form of meaning; the prefx un- refers to "not being", while the suffx -ness refers to "a state of being". The stem happy is considered as a free morpheme since it is a "word" in its own right. Bound morphemes (prefxes and suffxes) require a free morpheme to which it can be attached to and can therefore not appear as a "word" on their own". An additional method used for NLP is lexical analysis, which refers to the process of determining and examining the structure of words through separation into smaller pieces such as paragraphs, phrases and words. A language's lexicon is a collection of words and phrases that make it up and when working with lexical analysis, lexicon normalisation is considered to be essential. Among others, stemming and lemmatization are considered to be the most prevalent approach to lexical analysis. Stemming is a rule-based approach that regards the elimination of suffxes of a word (e.g. "ing", "ly", "es", "s" and so on). Additionally, lemmatisation is a method that combines vocabulary (the prominence of terms in dictionaries) and morphological analysis and is used to defne the root form of a word. Syntactical analysis refers to the investigation of words in sentences to discover the sentence's grammatical structure. The grammatical evaluation and relative arrangement of words in sentences are used to perform syntactic analysis parsing. The semantic analysis focuses on the interconnections between wordlevel meanings in a phrase to fnd probable meanings. Some individuals feel that the step determines the meaning, but all of the stages ultimately decide the meaning. In contrast, discourse integration regards texts as a whole, examining aspects that transmit meaning by linking component phrases. For instance, sentences are linked together or dependent on prior context. This can be illustrated by the word "it" in the sentence "It wasn't that diffcult". According to pragmatic analysis, without being encoded in the text, extra meaning is read into it. This demands a comprehensive awareness of the world that includes understanding intentions, plans and goals (Banerjee 2020).

Figure 2.73 is a sample word cloud technique that is used to visualise the result of processed text data. The text data from this section of the book is used to generate the word cloud given in Fig. 2.73.

According to Jusoh (2018), Natural language user interfaces, automated text summarization, information extraction, translation software, questions answering platforms, speech recognition, text mining and document retrieval are all examples of areas where NLP is applied. Figure 2.74 compiles the applications of NLP that can be encountered in daily life (Tableu 2021).

NLP is a strong technology with numerous advantages, even though there are several limitations and issues on that. Table 2.4 demonstrates the advantages and challenges of NLP technology (MonkeyLearn 2021).

NLP is a set of techniques used to create a grammatical structure and semantic relationship, produce natural language and create an output that conforms to the rules of the target language and the data at hand (Reshamwala et al. 2013).

NLP has found great use across various felds. It may not be diffcult to imagine the usefulness of this technology in business contexts, as it was shown in multiple cases. For instance, NLP can be used in business process management (BPM) to signifcantly reduce the amount of effort that is

**Fig. 2.73** A sample use of word cloud technique

**Fig. 2.74** Some applications of NLP technology. (Tableu 2021)

required to ensure these processes work smoothly by enabling automation (van der Aa et al. 2018; Delicado et al. 2017). Furthermore, NLP can be used in human resources (HR) practices such as selection and recruitment. Analysing and screening applicants' resumes, responses and various other types of data with NLP allow for more effcient, less time consuming and less biased hiring processes (Talview 2018). However, NLP is an interdisciplinary technology, and its application has a great range, as demonstrated by its success across felds. For instance, Demner-Fushman and


**Table 2.4** Advantages and challenges of NLP technology

MonkeyLearn (2021)

Simpson (2012) explain that, compared to the recent past, NLP techniques, which are used to analyse immensely large amounts of text data from biomedical literature, have been greatly improved and its promising results are a source of excitement in the feld of biomedicine.

Furthermore, there has been increasing interest in NLP's application and use for sustainability. A recent report by Chakroun et al. (2019) underlines the importance of NLP in the context of sustainable development, which provides an exemplary use of NLP that contributes to the goal of reaching quality education. The example is of a chatbot that can successfully reproduce everything that a good teacher should do. In other words, it provides students with direction and support that is tailored for each student with the use of NLP. Another interesting application of NLP was demonstrated by analysing sustainability reports using NLP (Luccioni et al. 2020). Suggested by its developers, a custom model of NLP named ClimateQA was specifcally designed to analyse, otherwise demanding, amounts of text from fnancial reports to detect segments that are of interest to climate change.

Additionally, NLP has found use in sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI), which emphasises the sustainability of organisations in three main categories called ESGs. Letter E stands for environmental factors such as carbon emissions, S stands for social indicators such as diversity and G stands for corporate governance factors such as bribery and corruption policies (Mukherjee 2020). These elements indicate the overall sustainability of a given organisation, and plenty of research indicates that there is a strong and signifcant relation between ESG's and fnancial performance (Morgan Stanley 2021; Whelan et al. 2020; O'Brien et al. 2018). To assess the sustainability of organisations, a considerably large amount of data from sustainability reports and articles has to be examined. This is where the use of NLP is highly effcient as it can analyse immensely large amounts of text data both from existing and live sources, mining for ESG related insights. NLP addresses various challenges of SRI by producing results signifcantly easier for interpretation, eliminates human error and the feat of including the most recent changes makes for a better, more effcient and up to date approach to SRI (Mukherjee 2020). Applications of NLP include, but are not limited to, the aforementioned examples across numerous felds such as biomedicine, psychology, business, fnance and economics, all underline its usefulness and effectiveness in the automation of analytic processes.

NLP is a challenging problem of AI today. The biggest reason for this diffculty is that human language always contains semantic breadth and uncertainty. In studies conducted in this context, diffculties are usually encountered at the lexical and structural levels (Jusoh 2018). However, the increase in the amount of text data available every day and the potential to be used in other applications will make this technology even more important. Large volumes of unstructured, text-heavy data must be analysed effciently by businesses. A great majority of the data created online and stored in databases is made up of natural human language. Until recently, businesses have not been able to utilise it properly. However, NLP can assist them in making effcient use of the largest available data (Lutkevich 2021). The mere fact that NLP is used even in the digital marketing industry is an indication that this technology will take a more important place in our lives (Lee 2019).

One of the greatest challenges to NLP stands to be code-mixed language, which refers to altered forms of language possibly unique to certain locations such as urban areas (Markets and Markets 2021). This limits the accuracy and effciency of NLP processes with possible changes to normal meanings of sentences; thus, its application among various felds is also limited.

There has been a growing interest in automation and the facilitation of hiring processes among organisations and researchers. Personality is one of the most signifcant indicators, even more so than cognitive ability, of many workrelated outcomes such as job performance, as established by a growing body of research (Barrick et al. 2001; Judge et al. 2013; Chiaburu et al. 2011; Salgado 2002). NLP methods have a highly promising future in its application to assess personality through numerous types of data, which can come from various sources such as job interviews, resumes and more, which in turn can be used to predict important job-related outcomes (Campion et al. 2016; Andrew 2021; Hickman et al. 2021).

Finally, regarding its fnancial future, there is a great expectancy of exponential growth in the market of NLP. Forecasts predict that its market share will exceed over 43 billion US dollars in 2025, an enormous increase of 14 times the size in 2017, estimated to be around 3 billion US dollars (Liu 2020). Additionally, the costs of commercial NLP solutions are considered to be high and may not be very tempting for smaller businesses and instead appeal to advanced programmers (Nadkarni et al. 2011). However, costs are expected to decrease in the future due to the increase in demand. This would facilitate the commodifcation of NLP (Markets and Markets 2021).

only imitations. He asked at this point "Is there a way of simulating it, rather than imitating it?" in the space-time view. The answer to his question is superposition and entanglement in twentyfrst-century technology, although this was unknown when Feynman was considering these questions. Therefore, nowadays, these questions give rise to the starting steps of quantum computing. It is understood that quantum mechanics can simulate the physical world with quantum machines (Feynman 1982). A "bit" is formed in classical computers to process and transfer data. It can be either "1" or "0". Bit 1 corresponds to an electrical signal in the wire, whereas bit 0 does not correspond to any electrical signal. In quantum computing, characteristics of quantum mechanics are utilised in expressing and processing the information as quantum bits. Quantum bits are so small that they work with the physical properties of atomic particles like classical bits. Although quantum bits, aka qubits, are similar to classical bits, there is a major difference: qubits can be in both 1 and 0 positions at the same time. The calculation process, which is also called "superposition", also measures all possibilities, namely, positions, according to the size of the problem. Graphical representation of the bits and qubits can be seen in Fig. 2.75.

While analysing the probabilities of a problem simultaneously, it chooses the correct answer according to some mathematical operators. Thus, quantum computers are designed to solve the

## **2.28 Quantum Computing**

Quantum computing is a recent and emerging technology that uses subatomic particles during the computation process through a specifc device called a quantum computer. The frst question in this technology began when Feynman asked, "What kind of computer are we going to use to simulate physics?" He saw that classical computers are impossible to simulate the physical world. Because of the simulating time, the computers were not making a simulation. They were making

**Fig. 2.75** Comparison of classical bits and quantum bits

**Fig. 2.76** Comparison between classical and quantum computers


problems prepared for them in seconds. This makes the computation process much faster because 0 and 1 are not to be performed separately (Hughes et al. 2021). Figure 2.76 shows the comparison clearly. According to this, classical computational approaches, algorithms run on quantum computers can even reach exponential speedups. A quantum computer can operate at a cost that scales polynomially while operating on an exponentially large computational space thanks to certain features of quantum physics. Hence, quantum computing algorithms have the potential to make hard and time-consuming problems yielding and quickly solvable (Martonosi and Roetteler 2019).

Nature is surrounded by many quantum phenomena, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, which is a state of matter, superconductors and magnetic materials. As Feynman argues, it is often diffcult for scientists to understand and simulate these materials because of the number of parameters needed to characterise a manyparticle quantum system. It is mentioned before this part, a quantum computer can be used as a quantum simulator to simulate quantum systems way more effciently than a classical computer (Eisert and Wolf 2013). According to Moore's famous law, the number of transistors located per square inch of an integrated circuit increases exponentially year by year (Moore 1998). If this trend somehow keeps continuing, the quantum effects will dominate in the computer components which are at the atomic scale (Eisert and Wolf 2013). Then, quantum computing will become nothing but a must ineluctably.

After this technology started to develop, some simulation problems can be solved as explained the following:


Based on the applications and examples given above, it is seen that the use of this technology is inevitable. Many big companies such as IBM, NASA and Google are quite interested and invest in this technology, which has promising future potential (Kanamori and Yoo 2020).

Researchers who deal with machine learning continuously use principal component analysis, vector quantisation, Gaussian models, regression and classifcation methods (Ho et al. 2018). It is assumed that quantum computing technology can be utilised to surmount vast amounts of data to yield better scalability and performance in machine learning algorithms (Perdomo-Ortiz et al. 2018). Since quantum computing offers reduced computational time, it may cause many applications of classical computing to evolve quantum computing applications. Robots that are used in drug discovery, logistics, cryptography and fnance need to deal with large amounts of data. This creates a necessity for faster computation; as a result, quantum computing can be utilised to perform intensive computational tasks with less time required compared to the required time of classical computing (Buyya et al. 2018). In robotics, solving the problems related to kinematics, such as mechanical movement or unexpected behaviours against a command is challenging. It is expected that quantum neural networks or the other quantum computing algorithms will be able to handle these problems (Gill et al. 2020). Quantum computing is also expected to be useful in weather forecasting in the future. The computational power of the supercomputers that are used today is limited for some applications such as food forecasting, urban modelling, sub-surface fow modelling and allied complex tasks. So, quantum computing algorithms can be adapted to solve such problems and achieve better Earth system models in the future (Frolov 2017). Quantum computing in the future in biochemistry and nanotechnology is expected to play an active role. With quantum computing, the results of biochemical processes are calculated faster than normal computers, and it is thought to play a role in the developments in the feld of biochemistry in the future. Near future goals are listed in Fig. 2.77.

# **2.29 Recycling**

Contrary to popular belief, products that have lost their function are not wasted. With the loss of product functions, the EoL stage begins. The end-of-life (EoL) phase can be defned in a variety of ways, such as when a consumer or operator disposes of a product without making any structural modifcations (Gebremariam et al. 2020); making a non-functional product a reusable form of remanufacturing (Wang and Hazen 2016); recycling, which is the collecting and processing of discarded items as raw materials to create comparable products; with and without energy recovery, incineration and conversion of combustible wastes into gases; burying garbage or throwing it in a landfll ("EEA Glossary – European Environment Agency" 2021); otherwise, it simply results in a leak into the environment (Duque Ciceri et al. 2009). All items having an EoL date become trash. All stages of a product's lifespan are shown in Fig. 2.78.

In Fig. 2.78, the life cycle assessment (LCA) of products is shown. LCA is the most important instrument for determining a product's environmental impact. It is feasible to account for all of a product's environmental consequences using LCA, which covers all stages of the product's life

**Fig. 2.77** Future of quantum computing

**Fig. 2.78** General life cycle of products. (Spilka et al. 2008)

cycle, from resource extraction to waste disposal. The main principle of this cycle is based on the 3R principle. In Fig. 2.79, the main principles of waste management are explained.

According to these principles, preventing waste formation is the most effective and longterm solution to the waste problem. Secondly, products should be used in other possible means even after they complete their lifetime. After all this, recycling is a necessity. Recycling can be categorised according to the type of material released. Closed-loop recycling, in which the product produced from the material obtained as a result of the recycling of the EoL product, is the

**Fig. 2.79** Principles of waste treatment

**Fig. 2.80** General recycling stages. (Spilka et al. 2008)

same. The utilisation of recovered resources to create a new product is referred to as open-loop recycling. This results in either open-loop upcycling, which refers to the conversion of waste materials into something of more value and/or durability, or open-loop downcycling, in which the quality and usefulness of the resource is decreased or the capture of the material for future use (Dorn and MacWhirter 2016).

In Fig. 2.80, the recycling process is separated into two main stages:

Figure 2.3 shows recycling stages separated by the recycling stages as primary and secondary. Primary processes provide the appropriate situations for the actual transformation process that will begin in the secondary processes. Computer vision is used by artifcial intelligence to map intricate material streams by analysing millions of photos. AMP neuron uses deep learning to improve the precise identifcation and categorisation of metals, plastics and paper based on their physical features, brand and other factors, as well as contextualising and data storage about each item it observes ("AMP Robotics" 2021). Waste may be used in a variety of ways in terms of technology in processing technology. In general, the initial stages are common, whereas the second stages vary depending on the EoL material. Five categories of secondary processes (Spilka et al. 2008; Vindis et al. 2008):


The following are new technologies that have been created to improve the recycling process stages:


Province, the world's most important bioeconomy cluster. The goal is to provide advantageous market conditions for innovative biobased products and services (Brunn 2021).

• Lithium-ion batteries: Electronics, toys, wireless headphones, portable power tools, small and big appliances, electric cars and electrical energy storage devices all utilise lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. They can affect human health or the environment if they are not properly handled at the end of their useful life. Cobalt, graphite and lithium, which are all considered essential minerals, are used in Liion batteries. Critical minerals are raw resources that are economically and strategically vital to the USA, with a high risk of supply disruption and no viable replacements. We lose these important resources when these batteries are thrown away in the garbage (US EPA 2019).

The massive population growth in recent decades and the desire for people to embrace better living circumstances have resulted in a huge increase in polymer consumption, mainly plastics. The continued use of plastics has resulted in a rise in the number of plastics ending up in the waste stream, sparking a surge of interest in plastics recycling and reuse (Francis 2016).

The effect on the economy is explained through the plastics industry. The progress of the plastics sector refected the so-called linear economy model, which emphasised the benefcial life of plastic items. This was true until the last decades. Growing environmental recognition at social and legislative levels has aided the adoption of the worldwide circular economy model (CEM) in the plastic sector in recent years. This model proposes that the plastic waste created after its useful life be recycled effectively and effciently (Guran et al. 2020).

There are several advantages of recycling for an individual. First of all, recycling can reduce pollution. It can reduce the demand for new resources by recycling materials. This process may minimise the number of pollutants generated when creating new materials by using recycling methods. Secondly, it leads to lower costs. Recycling has an environmental as well as a fnancial point for companies. Working with recycled material is substantially less expensive than working with brand new material. For this reason, frms may save money by employing recycled materials. On the other hand, recycling is related to saving energy; since recycling materials saves a lot of energy compared to making new ones. With the increasing environmental awareness, it is benefcial for businesses to be seen as sensitive to the environment ("Advantages of recycling" 2021). These advantages are shown in Fig. 2.81.

Recycling can help eliminate the problem of large volumes of waste simply thrown into plants and still need to be addressed. Through recycling, in most cases, these incinerated wastes are recycled to combat global warming and air pollution. On the other hand, landflls and incineration sites have a very harmful effect on the environment that surrounds them. These sites can cause irreparable damage to animals' habitats. Through recycling, the need for these harmful landflls can be reduced by decreasing the amount of waste sent to them. In this way, especially animals in danger of extinction are protected. Moreover, recycling offers us a more environmentally friendly alternative to extracting raw materials from the soil. This helps conserve resources. So, recycling can help protect the world's natural resources for future generations ("Advantages of recycling" 2021).

Every year, humanity produces 2 billion metric tonnes of trash. According to global waste statistics, waste production would increase by 70% to 3.1 billion by 2050 if the current trend continues (Kaza et al. 2018). Also, the immensely increasing world population may speed up this period. Therefore, the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) have a signifcant role in preventing this problem and preserving the environment and natural sources. The success of the 3R implementation depends on the balance between the programs and policies at the local level. The essential points of action relate to governance issues, education and the awareness level of people and critical stakeholders. Other than these, techno-

**Fig. 2.81** Advantages of recycling

logical issues signifcantly affect that action to minimise the environmental impact while using technologies in the recycling step (Srinivas 2015). Automation will have a considerable impact on the recycling industry. In the coming decades, substantial developments may be expected to provide identifcation and separation processes more carefully than humans. Indeed, 62.6% of jobs in the waste management sector will become automated by 2030, according to a study conducted by PwC (2017). The recycling process will become much more effective and safer with advances in robot and automation technologies because fewer items are directed towards the landfll, and fewer people are exposed to hazardous waste items ("The Future of Recycling Services 2021). In terms of economy, the circular economy concept has grown in popularity, and it only takes a little effort to put it into practice. As manufacturers and recycling efforts collaborate and achieve critical mass, the future of recycling will see a rise in circular products. Once they are accomplished, they may become standard, with 100% closed-loop recycling systems assuring that recovered components are utilised in products of equivalent value to the original. Additionally, the future of the recycling sector depends on reducing the amount of the different substances recycled together and improving the quality of the raw materials obtained by the recycling process. One aspect of this future vision is standardising materials across products, which effectively reduces and redefnes what we defne as waste ("The Future of Recycling – Looking to 2020 and Beyond" 2020).

## **2.30 Robotic Process Automation**

The most important debate in business and information systems engineering is which jobs will be done by humans and which jobs will be done by automation. This argument has become more critical as data science, machine learning and artifcial intelligence have become widely used (van der Aalst et al. 2018). These technologies have shaped the structure of robotic process automation (RPA) solutions (Lamberton et al. 2017). The level of automation has risen by 75% in the factories since 1980, whereas in the offce, automation has only grown by 3% ("Offce 4.0 | RPA – the industrial revolution in the offce" 2019). Because classical automation systems do not offer an effective solution for offce work. In the classic system, the "inside-out" solution was used, but RPA provides an opposite solution, the "outside-in" approach (van der Aalst et al. 2018). RPA differs from other business automation systems in the following aspects (Willcocks and Lacity 2016):


Even though the title "robot" refers to electromechanical devices, RPA is a software-based approach (Lacity and Willcocks 2016). For a better understanding, assume that there is a physical robot standing by the worker while the worker is doing a regular job performed as part of a process-related application, observing and learning about the job the worker is doing on the computer. The only difference from the robot is that it can perform this routine work with software without using computer hardware like a mouse or keyboard ("Robotic Process Automation (RPA)" 2021).

RPA systems use these key components which are (Tripathi 2018):


Integrating automation into a process is costly. Figure 2.82 presents some of the RPA features

**Fig. 2.82** Characteristics of RPA-appropriate tasks. (Fung 2014)

that are needed to affect the business process positively.

If a process consists of tasks with these characteristics shown in Fig. 2.82, positive results are obtained when RPA automates this process. Also, RPA solutions differ for each business model as they should be designed for each company or industry according to their requirements (Madakam et al. 2019). So, a systematic approach is necessary to analyse the business model for RPA, and this approach consists of at least three main steps: proof of concept, pilot and leveraging. Firstly, the goal of an RPA is installation and identifying potential use cases inside the organisation. End-toend processes and details are examined to fnd use cases. Depending on the process, it is seen for which parts of the process RPA can be a solution. At this stage, RPA use cases are established during the pilot phase. Procedures and technical requirements are completed. To ensure data fow, all necessary data must be in electronic form and missing data must be entered to ensure that the data is available. Also, the standardisation of data is essential. Lastly, the RPA system is tested at the leveraging stage. RPA is adjusted according to the tasks to be done. Once the procedures for usage and RPA have been determined, the RPA is then expected to be ready for use (Alberth and Mattern 2017). RPA offce automation will perform effectively if these stages are followed carefully, and applicable areas are explained below:

• Business process outsourcing: RPA can replace outsourced workforce in business processes (Tripathi 2018).


RPA and other automation systems can automate various business processes of enterprises using structured data and specifc business rules. With these implementations, the business hierarchy has changed and diamonds have replaced the triangle organisational model. This is shown in Fig. 2.83.

As explained in Fig. 2.83, the majority of the changes were in the medium portion of the market. The pyramid strategy is useful in terms of information storage, but it is also costly. The pyramid model tends to increase staff to fll skill gaps or expand resources. Robots are more fexible as they can more easily adapt to increases or decreases in service volumes. In the diamond model, SMEs and software robots work together to manage better processes that both require humans and are suitable for automation. The diamond-shaped enterprise needs more subject matter experts, quality assurance and management (quality/governance) to coordinate services with internal business units and RPA and business process outsourcing (BPO) providers (Willcocks et al. 2017).

RPA has positive effects on the business process if it is suitable for a business and the implementation steps are followed carefully. Several benefts of RPA are compiled in Fig. 2.84.

In Fig. 2.3, the positive effects of RPA are divided into three – on the company, the customer and the worker. RPA substantially boosts productivity while saving operational costs in terms of the company. Unlike workers, RPA can operate without any performance loss all day and is 15 times quicker than human beings (Engels et al. 2018). According to a Deloitte survey, after adopting RPA, the frm's proftability has increased by 86%. Moreover, the quality of the work done has increased by up to 90% and the consistency of the work by up to 92% (*The* 

**Fig. 2.83** Changing business hierarchy from the pyramid to diamond. (Willcocks et al. 2017)

**Fig. 2.84** Benefts of RPA to companies, customers and employees

*Robots are Ready. Are You?* 2017). RPA prevents human error in an ordinary process, avoiding missing steps and greater data input accuracy. Also, customers can get service whenever they want, since RPA is available 24 hours a day (Alberth and Mattern 2017). Employees get rid of repeated work owing to RPA. Thus, they can devote their time to self-development, and they can take part in more important tasks in their frms (Axmann and Harmoko 2020). RPA has an important place in offce automation.

RPA has some drawbacks, just like other technologies. Firstly, RPA implementation in the business model is costly. Also, many people believe that to beneft from robotic process automation, the end-user needs a lot of technical knowledge. This misunderstanding frequently hinders individuals from using the numerous advantages accessible to them. Moreover, fears that robots will replace humans and the distributive effects of RPA make it harder for people to adopt RPA. These disadvantages are due to a poor understanding of RPA (Sadaf et al. 2021). The main limitations of RPA ("The benefts (and limitations) of RPA implementation" 2017) include:


These present limits will not last indefnitely. RPA service providers will continue to attempt to eliminate these constraints to offer the leading product and participate in the RPA market (Axmann and Harmoko 2020). On the technical side, instead of being incorporated into an organisation's IT platform, RPA is located on top of IT (Aguirre and Rodriguez 2017). With the excessive accumulation of data in the business world and the evolution of new business processes, RPA will also be needed to automate processes that are not structured or not yet rule-bound. Businesses will be able to enhance quality, operational scalability dramatically and staff productivity with the integration of artifcial intelligence and machine learning, due to big data and the cloud (Devarajan 2018).

## **2.31 Robotics**

An autonomous mechanism capable of detecting its surroundings, doing calculations to make judgements and acting in the real world is called a robot. Typically, robots accomplish three things: detecting, calculating and acting. A sensor is used to detect its surroundings, a device that records, measures or indicates the physical properties and converts them into electrical signals. To calculate, robots can contain everything from a tiny analogue or digital circuit to high-performance multicore processor units. To act, some robots are built to accomplish certain functions, while others are more versatile and can perform a variety of applications (Guizzo 2018). Thanks to the major advancements in silicon-based chips and AI, some robots can even execute basic decisions. Ongoing robotics research is aimed at building self-suffcient robots that can navigate and make judgments in an unstructured environment. The study of robots is called robotics. Robotics is an interdisciplinary topic as it is an integrated mechanism that typically includes sensors, actuators and computational platforms on a single physical chassis. An advanced robotic system is composed of elements on several levels (Mckee 2006):

1. The fundamental physical core of the system is defned by the materials and mechanical systems, which include motors and gears.


In Fig. 2.85, these four-level explanations are grouped as robotics' subsystems.

Developments in these subsystems help the use of robotics in various felds. These felds are shown in Fig. 2.86.

**Healthcare and Medical** Advances in robotics have the potential to revolutionise a wide variety of healthcare processes, including surgery, rehabilitation, therapy, patient companionship and everyday tasks. Robotic devices in healthcare are not intended to take over the tasks of healthcare professionals; rather, they are intended to make these tasks easier for them ("Top 5 Industries Utilizing Robotics" 2021). Medical robotics is one of the fastest-growing segments of the medical device industry, with applications ranging from minimally invasive surgery, targeted treatment and hospital optimisation to disaster response, prosthetics and home support (Yang et al. 2017). Rehabilitation robotics, which includes assistive robots, prosthetics, orthotics and therapeutic robots, has made the most extensive use of robotic technology in medical applications. People with disabilities gain more freedom through assistive robots by assisting them with daily activities (Hillman 2004).

**Agriculture** According to Bechar and Vigneault (2017), agricultural robots are sensitive programmable devices that perform a range of agricultural tasks, such as cultivation, transplanting, spraying and selective harvesting (Santos Valle and Kienzle 2020). Agricultural robotics aims to achieve more

**Fig. 2.86** Robotic use cases

than only the application of robotics technologies to farming. Most of the agricultural vehicles that are utilised for weed detection, pesticide dissemination, terrain levelling, irrigation and other tasks are currently staffed (Cheein and Carelli 2013). Agriculture evolved from a labour-intensive business to mechanisation and power-intensive production systems throughout the last century, and the agricultural industry has begun to digitise in the last 15 years. A constant labour outfow from agriculture occurred as a result of this transition, primarily from routine activities within the production process. Robots and artifcial intelligence can now do non-standard jobs previously more suitable for human labour (e.g. fruit picking, selective weeding, crop sensing) at cost-effective levels (Marinoudi et al. 2019).

**Automotive** The automotive sector has been greatly infuenced by advances in robotic machine vision technologies. Vehicle manufacturers and component suppliers are increasingly relying on 2D and 3D imaging to perform an expanding variety of quality assurance and assembly operations with increasing accuracy and complexity. As 3D systems become more commonly utilised and sophisticated, new applications will emerge, and demand for robotic systems will grow as the market becomes more competitive (Bogue 2013).

**Transportation** Transportation research committees are progressively coming around to the idea of using robots. A unique robotics tutorial session has been set aside for an upcoming conference on new technologies in transportation engineering. The synthesis of all robotics-related data to establish a complete knowledge base is the most critical shortterm goal, which is mostly numeric, graphic and image data (Najaf and Naik 1989).

**Industry** Industry 4.0, also known as the fourth industrial revolution, is a new period in which industry will engage with technology such as robotics, automation and artifcial intelligence (AI), among others. Robotics is becoming increasingly popular in industries around the world. More industrial robots are being developed using cutting-edge technology to aid the industrial revolution. Not only will intelligent robots take the role of people in basic organised processes in restricted spaces, but they will also take the place of humans in more complicated workfows (Bahrin et al. 2016). Precision and the ability to be reprogrammed for jobs of varying sizes and complexity are more important to these machines than speed. Robotic manufacturing technology is also becoming safer to employ. Robots can recognise and avoid people in the workplace thanks to cameras, sensors and automated shut-off capabilities ("Top 5 Industries Utilizing Robotics" 2021, p. 5).

**Military** Surveillance, reconnaissance, the detection and demolition of mines and IEDs as well as offensive and assault are all areas where military robots might be useful. Weapons are mounted on that last type of vehicle, which remote human controllers currently fre. Although there are many ethical concerns, unmanned ground vehicles and robotics in many areas are being developed rapidly in the military sector (US Department of Defense 2007).

However, many people think that their jobs may be replaced with robots, but the situation is not like that ("7 Advantages of Robots in the Workplace" 2018). Robots have generated new occupations for previously employed folks on manufacturing lines as programmers. They've shifted staff away from repetitive, tedious tasks and placed them in more rewarding, demanding positions. In the workplace, robots provide more benefts than drawbacks. They enhance the lives of current workers who are still required to keep operations operating effciently while also increasing a business's chances of success. Robots have also grown increasingly prevalent across various sectors, from manufacturing to healthcare, as a result of robotics advancements ("Benefts of Robots" 2021). The advantages of robotics in these felds are given in Fig. 2.87.

The advantages of using robots in various felds are explained in three main titles: productivity, safety and savings.

**Productivity** Robots perform work that is more precise and of higher quality. They are more accurate than human employees and produce fewer errors. A robotic pharmacist at the University of California, San Francisco, flls and dispenses prescriptions better than people. There was not a single mistake in over 350,000 dosages ("New UCSF Robotic Pharmacy Aims to Improve Patient Safety" 2011). As robots do not require breaks, days off or holiday time, they can produce more in less time.

**Safety** Robots remove the need for workers to do hazardous jobs. They may work in unsafe situations, such as low lighting, dangerous chemicals or tight areas. Robots, for example, are assisting with the clean-up of Fukushima, a nuclear power plant in Japan that was destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The Sunfsh robotassisted in fnding missing fuel within a nuclear containment tank (Beiser 2018). Furthermore, robots can carry heavy loads without harming themselves or becoming tired.

**Fig. 2.87** Advantages of robotics

**Savings** Robots save time by producing more products in a shorter amount of time. Because of their precision, they also decrease the amount of wasted material. Robots save frms money in the long term by providing quick ROIs (returns on investment), reducing or eliminating worker's compensation and consuming fewer materials.

Robots have many more advantages apart from these. They also help businesses to remain competitive while maintaining jobs in the economy. As more industries use robots, the benefts of robotics continue to increase ("Benefts of Robots" 2021).

The number of robots has been exploited to such a degree that both the scientifc and industrial sectors will be unable to absorb them, and we are about to approach a phase in which selection will be required (Pagliarini and Lund 2017). According to a study conducted by Oxford University, in the next 20 years, 47% of jobs in the USA may be automated (Frey and Osborne 2013). Additionally, according to 2021 robotics industry data, the number of robots used in the automotive industry is about 1290 per 10,000 employees ("US Robot Density in Car Industry Ranks 7th Worldwide" 2021). We can understand with this statistic, whether we like it or not, robotics will be a much more essential part of daily life. Sensors, motion control and machine learning advancements have increased the versatility of robotics and cognitive systems to unprecedented levels (Matthews 2019). Given the rapid advancement of robotics, now is an ideal time to consider what the future may hold.

### 1. *Artifcial Intelligence Will Face Regulation*

Elon Musk has fuelled the fre by declaring artifcial intelligence (AI) to be our "most existential concern" and comparing AI research to summoning demons (Palmer 2019). Although it can beneft humanity, AI will remain to be examined by those worried that robots will become more intelligent than their developers. Expect the fght over AI regulations to continue in the future and governmental or industry rules to arise (Worth 2016).

# 2. *Designers Will Move Away from Humanoid Robots*

Humanoid aesthetics will play an increasingly signifcant role in accepting new robots as they become more widespread in homes and workplaces. The "uncanny valley", a graph of emotional responses to a robot's resemblance to human appearance and behaviour, is a signifcant impediment to a seamless transition to a society populated by robots (Brenton et al. 2005). If humanoids are to become more intertwined with humans, more must be done to prevent uncanny valley. To make people more at ease with robots and make it simpler to engage with them, robotics developers will enhance semi-humanoid advancements that maintain essential human characteristics while also retaining conventional machine forms (Worth 2016).

### 3. *Aerial Robots Will Reach Widespread Adoption*

Safety concerns, effciency and legislation have recently sparked much discussion about UAVs. Despite this, people and companies continue to experiment with unmanned drones in various ways, like lifeguards have fown them to keep swimmers safe throughout the summer months. However, there are concerns about the growing usage of that technology. A man from the USA attached a handgun to a consumer-grade drone and fred the gun remotely. While local authorities claim this type of drone usage is legal, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) claims it has laws prohibiting installing weapons on civil aircraft (Worth 2016).

The future of robotics will be reshaped with technological advancements and how society will react to these developments. Advances in robotics come with ethical issues. The ethical question will be critical and thoroughly explored in the future. On the other hand, experts have critical duties such as initiating discussions amongst specialists from diverse felds and developing rules for this area.

# **2.32 Soilless Farming**

Until the year 2050, the estimated total number of inhabitants of the world will be up to 9 billion, and meanwhile, nearly half of the land suitable for farming might be useless. To fulfl the need for sustenance for this blooming number of people, the food products should be up to 110% more (Okemwa 2015). This increasing number of the population needs an effcient solution to manage their needs. Soilless farming methods like hydroponics could be a proper suggestion regarding this problem. Soilless farming can be explained as a way of breeding plants by using water to nourish the roots while using different mediums than soil. The plant's needed nutrients are fused into a water solution in proper density, called a "nutrient solution" (Oyeniyi 2018). The goal is to create an environment where the plant can grow properly without soil as a growing medium. When using farming methods such as hydroponics, the process is, simply put, making the plant meet the nutrients it needs by carrying them to the roots as a water solution containing the needed oxygen and nutrients ("Soilless Agriculture" 2021). Many sorts of yields can be grown hydroponically. Herbs such as rosemary, sage, oregano, basil, chive, celery, mint and lavender; vegetables such as cabbage, cucumber, potatoes, caulifower, cabbage eggplant, lettuce, peas and asparagus; fruits such as tomatoes, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and grapes (Mohammed 2018). Different techniques of hydroponic confgurations and systems according to the way of giving nutrients are shown in Fig. 2.88.

Soilless farming techniques in Fig. 2.88 are explained below:

**The Deep Water Culture** The deep water culture makes the roots of the plant foat on the nutrient water constantly circulating (Elkazzaz

**Fig. 2.88** Soilless farming methods according to the way of providing nutrients

2017). It is a method of growing plants on a foating or hanging support, such as rafts, panels or boards, in a container holding a 10–20 cm nutritional solution (van Os et al. 2021). The roots are dangled 6–18 inches into the nutrient water, which contains dense oxygen levels, to the time of harvesting. The deep water culture contains a large amount of water to balance inconsistencies in the saturation of the solution. In any failure in the pump mechanism, one would have plenty of hours fxing the pump without facing essential issues such as the roots not reaching the nutrients and water they need (Elkazzaz 2017).

**Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)** NFT is a hydroponic system based on sending nutrients to plants' roots by circulating water. The nutrient flm technique system provides plants with an environment in which the plants are placed in a platform that is placed above the tank containing the nutrient solution in a slightly tilted manner. The nutrient flm technique is focused on circulating the nutrient solution plants need to their roots through some routes such as pipes. The solution is contained in a tank, and through a pump, it is sent to pipes or watering equipment, and it turns back to the tank, constantly circulating (Elkazzaz 2017). For this technique, a level slope must be prepared, immune from depressions that could allow deep pools of the nonrotating solution to collect within a channel and multiple methods are utilised to achieve this (Spensley et al. 1978).

**Aquaponics** Aquaponics is a mutual system of plants and fsh and their environments. Aquaponics consists of both aquaculture and hydroponics as symbiotic cooperation since the water used for the plants in the hydroponics system is also used for the animals living in the water tank of the aquaculture system. For aquaculture, the waste of the water animals should be expelled from the environment since the excrement is harmful to the animals due to the ammonia it contains. The aquaponics create a confguration where the water is purifed by the organisms living in the roots of the plants, which are in the hydroponics, nitrifying the waste coming from the aquaponics systems and turning the waste into nutrients the plant can beneft from, therefore cleaning the water and circulating it back (Elkazzaz 2017).

**Aeroponics** Aeroponics systems work by sending nutrients to the plant by spraying a mist of nutrient water to their roots. Aeroponics is the method where the plants' hanging roots are exposed to a mist from the nutrient solution periodically; the main asset to this method is aeration (Modu et al. 2020). In aeroponics systems, the plants' roots are left dangling inside a cover where a powerful pump mists the nutrient solution and diffuses the solution to the entire root. Some aspects of aeroponics make it highly dependent on energy since the spraying mechanism is the most crucial part of the confguration. Since the roots constantly contact the air, they tend to be dehydrated very quickly if the pumping circle is disrupted (Elkazzaz 2017).

**The Ebb and Flow** The ebb and fow is a confguration that depends on initially surrounding the grow tray then discharging the nutrient solution to the nutrient solution tank and repeating this cycle. Generally, this cycle is regulated by a timer controlling a pump that is inside the nutrient solution tank. In regards to the type of plants, the heat and humidity of the environment and the kind of medium used for the plant to develop in, the daily periods of the pump are regulated (Dunn 2013).

**Drip Systems** Drip systems are most likely to be the most preferred kind of hydroponics worldwide. By a pump controlled by a timer, the nutrient solution drips to plants one by one thanks to a dripping pipe (Dunn 2013).

**Wick System** Wick system is the easiest type of hydroponic system. It doesn't have any parts that are moving and hence does not require any electrical types of equipment, including pumps. On the other hand, the wick is the link between the plant in the pot and the solution to nourish it in the existing reservoir. It is also benefcial in regions where electricity isn't available or is unstable because it doesn't require electricity to function. Plants are grown on a substrate in this method (Elkazzaz 2017).

Also, these systems can be designed by using two different methods according to the circulation of water as shown in Fig. 2.89.

**Closed Soilless Systems** Closed systems use the same nutrient water and circulate it relatively long. In these systems, the nutrients in the solution are cycled to reuse again, and the solution's concentration of nutrients are checked and regulated likewise. Balancing and regulating the nutrient solution is a challenge in a closed soilless system. The examination and analysis of the nutrients within the solution is a requirement per week (Elkazzaz 2017). This nutrition solution is going to be recycled regularly. Water and nutrients are constantly monitored. The disadvantage of this technology is that it is electricitydependent (Lee and Lee 2015).

**Open Soilless Systems** Open systems use a new nutrient solution for every irrigation period. In these systems, a recent nutrient solution is prepared via adjusting the ingredients in the watering system for every watering cycle. In these systems, there should be a goal specifed to regulate the solution that is reaching the roots (Elkazzaz 2017).

On the other hand, the main benefts of this system are that there will be no risk of infection in the plant system as a result of the regular changes in the environment (Jones 2016). Vertical and smart farming can be used with soilless farming techniques. Firstly, vertical farming is one of the suitable confguration options when working with hydroponic systems. Vertical farming is the method of producing crops via a confguration that is multiple layered and controllable with being inside of the buildings where every aspect affecting the improvement of the plant-like saturation of carbon dioxide, amount of illumination, levels of heat and nutrition are under close control to get yields with great qualities and quantities for the entire year without being related on the sun for illumination and different outside obstacles ("Vertical Farming" 2020). Vertical farming could be a considerable solution for indoors and small spaces. Secondly, smart farming is the application of stand-by technology to agricultural production practices to reduce waste and increase productivity. Smart farms, as a result, draw on technical resources to assist in several steps in the production path with planting and soil management, irrigation, controlling the pesticides, monitoring the delivery and so on (Bhagat 2019). On the other hand, smart farming is based on a certain and resource-effcient technique that aims to increase production of agricultural goods effciency while also improving quality on a long-term basis (Balafoutis 2017). Moreover, using IoT technologies provide solutions to increase productivity on yields. With the wireless sensors, data can be collected from sensing devices and delivered to the main servers

using networks. By analysing these data, the most suitable growing conditions can be selected (Ojha et al. 2015).

Fertile lands are rapidly disappearing due to climate change and intensive farming. On the other hand, the world needs to feed more people. Hydroponics, also known as soilless farming, has the potential to convert agriculture by offering a more sustainable and effective alternative to conventional agriculture (van Os et al. 2021). The hydroponic systems have positive attributes, making the method more effcient than traditional farming. The positive attributes of farming without using soil are saving and using more qualifed soil for growing the core crops, recovering at least 90% overrun water, working with a stabilised expense of converted water, and the achieved harvest is the most effective when compared to farming with soil (Elkazzaz 2017). There are several advantages of soilless farming. It can be sorted as (Tajudeen and Oyeniyi 2018):


nutrients and water they need during their growth process. Therefore, they are not affected by the season in this process.


Soilless farming is a relatively new technique that has evolved signifcantly in the 70 years since its birth. Its multiple technologies can be used in both emerging and high-tech space stations. Progression in related technologies such as artifcial lighting and agricultural plastics will increase crop yields and decrease production unit costs, so new cultivars with improved pest and disease resistance. On the other hand, governments are determined that there are politically desirable effects of hydroponics. Another desirable effect is job creation. This type of employment generates tax revenue as well as personal income and improves the quality of life ("Future" 2021). There are several things for governments to do for the success of the soilless farming process. The government should consider it as a vital part of the nation's food production chain. The government must provide credits to encourage entrepreneurs and young generations to invest (Tajudeen and Oyeniyi 2018). However, there is a dearth of technical knowledge of this new technique among farmers and horticulturists in many nations, and well-trained employees are required. Signifcant progress has been achieved recently in the development of economically proper soilless systems, and there is now a broad range of business applications in countries that have implemented farming technologies (Elkazzaz 2017). Accordingly, this defciency can be eliminated by providing innovations in the feld of education. More people can be employed in the future. Although methods that increase productivity, such as vertical farming and smart farming, continue to increase, some plants will depend on the soil to grow. With all technological advances, soilless farming is free of all of the current issues that soil has, making it a proper alternative to soil farming to reach a world without hunger by the year 2030 (Tajudeen and Oyeniyi 2018).

# **2.33 Spatial Computing**

In 2003, Simon Greenwold, who was a researcher in MIT Media Lab, defned spatial computing as follows: human interaction with a machine in which the machine keeps and manipulates referents to real objects and environments (Greenwold 2003). We can explore the concept in detail in three main parts, which are virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR).

A. *VR (virtual reality)* is a cutting-edge humancomputer interface that creates a lifelike world. It replicates a person's physical presence in both the real and virtual worlds (Zheng et al. 1998). It is a fully immersive, engrossing, interactive alternate reality experience in which the participant is completely engaged in sophisticated humancomputer interface technology (Halarnkar et al. 2012). The virtual world allows the participants to move freely (Zheng et al. 1998). They may look at it from a variety of angles, reach into it, grab it and change it. They can engage with the virtual world via traditional input devices like a keyboard and mouse or multimodal equipment like a wired glove, omnidirectional treadmill and/or a Polhemus boom arm (Halarnkar et al. 2012). There is no little screen with symbols to manipulate nor are there any commands to input to make the computer do something (Zheng et al. 1998).

Based on the defnitions above, it is reasonable to conclude that certain factors defne the quality of any VR system. The three (3) characteristics referred to as the 3 "I" or triangle will be the subject of this review. Immersion, interaction and imagination, or presence, refer to the feeling of being involved in or a part of a computergenerated environment. This is due to the system's stimulation of the human senses (haptic, aural, visual, smell etc.). Interaction is a way of talking to the system, although unlike traditional human-computer interaction (HCI), which employs 1–2 dimensional (1D, 2D) means such as a keyboard, mouse or the keypad, VR interaction is commonly done using three dimensional (3D) means such as a head-mounted device (HMD) or a space ball. VR interaction systems have some characteristics, including effectiveness, real-time responsiveness and human engagement. The system designer's imagination might be thought of as a strategy for achieving a certain goal. VR systems are used broadly for solving complicated problems in a variety of sectors. Their effectiveness as a more effcient way of communicating concepts than traditional 2D drawings or text explanations cannot be denied (Bamodu and Ye 2013). Virtual reality is divided into three levels:

### (i) *Non-immersive*

This level is typically encountered on a desktop computer, where the virtual environment is created without the need for any certain hardware or processes. It has the potential to be used for training reasons. Almost any event may be reproduced if the necessary technology is present, which eliminates any potential threats. Pilots can use fight simulators to experience and prepare for circumstances that are either impossible or too dangerous and expensive to replicate in realworld training. The illusion of immersion is created by the user's ability to interact with responsive computer-generated characters and behaviours (Halarnkar et al. 2012).

### (ii) *Sensory-immersive (semi-immersive)*

In this method, real-world modelling is crucial in a variety of virtual reality applications, including robot navigation, building modelling and fight simulation. The user can navigate a visual depiction of himself within the virtual world. As an example, the CAVE is a 10'x10'x9' cube in which the user is surrounded by projected pictures, giving the impression of being completely immersed in the virtual environment (Halarnkar et al. 2012).

### (iii) *Neural-direct (fully immersive)*

The most signifcant concept in virtual reality, as well as the ultimate aim, is neural-direct. Immersion into a world in which the human brain is directly linked to a database as well as the viewer's present position and orientation is the goal of this sort of virtual reality. It fully ignores the equipment and physical senses in favour of immediately transferring a sensory input (Halarnkar et al. 2012).

B. *Augmented reality (AR)* is defned as a realtime, indirect or direct view of a physical, real-world environment that has been enhanced by the addition of virtual computergenerated information (Carmigniani et al. 2011). Augmented reality (AR) is a broad term that encompasses a variety of technologies that display computer-generated content such as text, pictures and video onto users' perceptions of the actual environment. Academics frst described AR in terms of particular enabling equipment, such as headmounted displays (HMDs). However, claiming that such defnitions were too basic for a changing and increasing industry, three criteria may be used to defne AR experience: (a) a combination of real-world and virtual components, (b) that are interactive in realtime and (c) that are registered in three dimensions (3D) (Yuen et al. 2011). There are many different types of augmented reality, but they all share a few things in common: screens, graphical interfaces, trackers and processors. There has to be a way for users to comprehend both real situations and the digital format provided information, a pointing instrument (e.g. a mobile device), a way to guarantee that the digital information is properly coordinated with what the consumer is currently seeing in real-time, and software program to handle the display. Creating applications determines how these elements are assembled and then used (Berryman 2012).

The possibilities for spatial computing technology are endless: simulation of surgical procedures, archaeology with site reconstructions, virtual museum tours, architecture, phobia treatment, training with simulators and many sorts of learning. The importance of virtual reality in education and learning derives from its potential to improve and support learning, boost memory capacity and make better judgments while working in a fun and engaging setting. When we read textual material (such as a printed document), our brain participates in an interpretation process, which increases our cognitive efforts. Understanding gets clearer while utilising virtual reality since there are fewer symbols to comprehend. For example, picturing the process rather than reading a verbal description makes it simpler to understand how a machine performs. With further VR technology, it becomes much easier to visualise. Virtual reality-based learning has been shown to improve both test performance and boost learners' level of attention by 100% (Elmqaddem 2019). Virtual reality (VR) is a cutting-edge teaching method for medical professionals. It can be utilised to provide adequate medical communication for a variety of conditions. It is often used to identify and investigate bone structure in orthopaedics. Medical students are now able to perform surgery virtually by stepby-step learning. Furthermore, VR is benefcial in the treatment of cancer patients. The patient's chemotherapy is carried out easily with high precision. By using a VR headset, one may view the patient's body and parts from various angles. On the patient's side, when they wear VR glasses, this technology boosts their confdence by reducing their apprehension since it gives more realistic information. This technique allows a cardiac surgeon to monitor a patient's heartbeat and changes in rhythm (Javaid and Haleem 2020). AR may be utilised to present a real-world battlefeld environment and augment it with annotation data for military applications. Liteye, a frm, studied and developed certain HMDs for military use. A hybrid optical and inertial tracker with tiny MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) sensors was created for cockpit helmet tracking. The use of AR for military training planning in urban terrain is effective. Arcane, a company, created an AR approach for displaying an animated terrain that may be utilised for military intervention planning. The National Research Council of Canada's Institute for Aerospace Research (NRC-IAR) developed the helicopter night vision system using AR technology to extend the effective range of helicopters and improve pilots' capability to control inclement weather. Practising in massive battle situations and replicating real-time enemy action, as in the battlefeld augmented reality system (BARS), may provide additional benefts particular to military users. The BARS system also includes tools for authoring new 3D

**Fig. 2.90** Application areas of spatial computing

information into the environment, which other system users may see (Mekni and Lemieux 2014). Application areas of spatial computing can be seen in Fig. 2.90.

Fixed exterior systems, mobile interior systems, mobile exterior systems and mobile interior and exterior systems are the fve types of systems of augmented reality. A mobile system can be defned as a system that allows the user to move around without being restricted to a single room, and therefore allows users to move using a wireless connection. Static systems cannot be relocated, and users must utilise them anywhere they are established, with any ability to move unless they are moving the entire system confguration. The sort of system to be developed is the frst decision that programmers must consider since it will guide them in selecting the tracking system, display option and potentially interface to employ. For example, installed systems will not employ GPS tracking, but exterior mobility systems will (Carmigniani et al. 2011). Extending reality, which might be called the future technology platform, has altered the way we work, learn, engage and amuse by integrating the physical and digital worlds. It also affects how companies train their staff, service their customers, generate things and manage their value chain.

C. *Extended reality (XR)* stands for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) (MR). AR merges physical and

**Fig. 2.91** The scope of XR

virtual components in a real-time projection, whereas VR enables users to control and steer their actions in a simulated actual or fctional world (Chuah 2018). Figure 2.91 shows the scope of XR.

The concept "mixed reality" was used to characterise a range of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies that combine the real and digital worlds. MR is a concept that is occasionally defned variably, and based on its meaning, it might include or exclude specifc VR or AR implementations. As a result, the concept of "extended reality" has lately gained popularity as a catch-all word for AR, VR and MR. The terms VR and AR are used to refer to gadgets that fully block the user's sight of the actual world and XR to relate to devices that allow users to see both the real and digital worlds. In Table 2.5, the characteristics of several XR device types are listed (Andrews et al. 2019).

VR, unlike AR, obscures the actual world and digitally places items (such as music, movies, images and messages) throughout the real world in a completely manufactured manner. Users may mentally immerse themselves in the simulated 3D environment and experience the sense of "being physically there", thanks to VR's capacity to mimic detailed real-life scenarios. As a result, virtual reality (VR) has been dubbed integrated virtual multimedia that produces a 3D, virtual imagined and interactive entertainment environment that a person perceives as being in the actual world (Chuah 2018). Whereas virtual reality innovation, or virtual environment as Milgram refers to it, totally immerses consumers in an artifcial world without allowing them to see the reality. Augmented reality (AR) technology enhances the perception of reality by overlaying digital environments and cues onto the physical world in real-time (Carmigniani et al. 2011). The goal of AR is to make the person's life easier by introducing virtual knowledge not just to his surrounding environment but also to any indirect view of the physical environment, such as a video broadcast. The person's perspective of and connection with the physical environment is improved through augmented reality (Carmigniani et al. 2011). As a result, people engage with real-time virtual 3D items seamlessly and intuitively, seeing them as realistic and learning to comprehend, analyse and connect with the items (Halarnkar et al. 2012).

VR is a technology that draws inspiration from a wide range of areas. However, it is distinguished by a close relationship between human aspects and assisting technology as a discipline. Hardware, programming, human aspects and transmitting VR via the Internet are the most pressing issues (Zheng et al. 1998). Today, AR is everywhere in our daily life. The wide usage of AR has become feasible due to the low cost of smartphones and other technology designed to process and present data at high rates. In addition, experts anticipate that the advancement of portable devices that can deliver augmented reality content and experiences will keep accelerating. As the technologies that enable AR to continue to improve, research and development on how AR may be used in education will keep on improving simultaneously (Yuen et al. 2011). In the upcoming years, spatial computing offers a wide range of ground-breaking abilities; for instance, instead of focusing on the shortest path or the travel time, companies have come up with eco-routing, which involves determining paths that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. UPS saves over 3 million gallons of gasoline each year by using smart sequencing, which avoids left turns. When customers and owners offer eco-routing options, such savings can be increased substantially (Shekhar et al. 2015).


**Table 2.5** Characteristics of several XR device types

# **2.34 Wireless Power Transfer**

Wireless power transfer (WPT) is currently one of the trendiest subjects in research, and it is getting a lot of attention. WPT has already made great progress in the feld of charging mobile devices or charging electric vehicles, and in the future decades, the WPT sector is anticipated to develop steadily (Rim 2018). WPT is the transferal of electrical energy without the need for cables based on electric, magnetic or electromagnetic felds that change over time (Georgios and Evangelos 2019). The notion of WPT is based on Faraday's law of induction, which is well-known among engineers. According to this rule, alternating current (AC) generations are caused by the changing magnetic feld (Würth Elektronik 2021). There have been a lot of fascinating initiatives in the history of WPT. Even though the inherent complexity of this technology prevented it from being commercialised, the improvements deserve consideration and are worth investigating. The infographic timeline in Fig. 2.92 summarises the history of WPT (IEEE 2021).

WPT is divided into two categories depending on the length of transmitter-to-antenna distance. The term "near-feld WPT" refers to when the antenna is located close to the transmitter. On the other hand, if the transmitter and the antenna are further or far apart, this is referred to as "far-feld WPT".

An inductive and a capacitive, also known as primary and secondary respectively, coils are used in close distance technology. These coils have been known as Tesla coils since Nikola Tesla invented them in the early 1890s. They can be used to transfer power between themselves by employing the transformer principle. That is electromagnetic induction, electric power through spark-excited ratio frequency resonant frequency. The alteration of the magnetic feld and the passage of a current that oscillates through the primary coil conducts the secondary coil. The primary coil carries a magnetic fux around it, produced by the oscillating current it possesses. Because these coils are looped around the secondary coil, a voltage is induced in the secondary coil. The largest distance that may be covered by this way of delivering electricity via electromagnetic induction is 5 cm. This is since,

**Fig. 2.92** A brief story of wireless power transfer. (IEEE 2021)

as the distance between primary and secondary coils increase, the loss of magnetic fux exponentially increases, resulting in a signifcant power loss.

Long-distance technologies, sometimes known as radioactive technologies, are utilised to achieve long-range wireless uses with distances of several kilometres range. Microwaves and lasers are the most common technologies for long-range communication. The wavelength steers the transmitter in the receiver's direction, while diffraction limit is employed in radio frequency design, allowing this application to be free of electromagnetic radiation dangers and achieve nearly fully effcient transmission. Several methods of WPT technology are shown in Fig. 2.93 (Lokesh 2020).

There are several uses for WPT. To begin with, it has the potential to replace existing charging methods. Instead of using a power cord to charge a phone or laptop, wireless power may be applied in the house, allowing computers or smartphones to charge constantly and wirelessly. Another application of WPT is the charging of electric vehicles (EVs). Chargers for EVs are among the higher-level uses. As EVs grow increasingly common on the road, fxed and even mobile WPT devices can improve the viability of driving one (Mehrotra 2014). Implantable medical devices are also among the usage areas of WPT. These devices have a very low power demand and thus can be powered by WPT to substantially increase the operation time in vivo (a medical procedure that is done on a living organism), improve the

**Fig. 2.93** Schematic of different methods of WPT. (Lokesh 2020)

accuracy of diagnosis and therapy, minimise the rate of misdiagnosis and achieve permanent operation in vivo, all while improving patient comfort. WPT can also be used in industrial environments where it is impossible to use wire for power transmission, such as underwater and chemical areas (Wang 2018).

Even though the notion of wireless power transmission has been around for over a century, it is regaining popularity in the twenty-frst century as a result of the widespread use of smartphones and other mobile devices (Allied Components International 2019). The widespread use of WPT has the potential to bring many benefts. Such as the ability to decrease or eliminate the usage of wires and batteries. Therefore, reducing the use of copper- and aluminium-based electric cable (Sumi et al. 2018). In addition, thanks to WPT, the use of elements used in battery technology is reduced. Until recently, charging diffculties have made EVs less appealing to consumers, despite several government incentive programs. However, charging becomes the simplest process by wirelessly transmitting energy to the EV. Furthermore, projections indicate that the battery capacity of EVs equipped with WPT could be reduced to 20% or less compared to those without WPTs (Li and Mi 2015).

WPT eliminates the need for power ports, which solves signifcant problems of conventional charging methods such as mating cycles, deterioration of connection points, thus greatly contributing to device longevity. Additionally, removing power docks and ports allows manufacturers to design completely sealed devices, advancing water-resistant to waterproof, thus increasing durability and longevity (Würth Elektronik 2021). WPT offers more effcient charging systems making it a must-have feature for IoT-enabled portable devices like cell phones, digital cameras and camcorders, laptops and tablets, wearable electronics and more (Patil et al. 2020). WPT technology has many advantages and disadvantages. Table 2.6 shows the detailed advantages and disadvantages of WPT (Bhardwaj and Ahlawat 2018).

Projections state that it will be possible to utilise electric equipment without the need for a wire in the future. The following section is a discussion of potential applications of wireless power transfer technology, summarised by Sumi et al. (2018).


**Table 2.6** Advantages and disadvantages of WPT technology

Bhardwaj and Ahlawat (2018) and Shanmuganantham et al. (2010)

### (a) Solar Power Satellite

Satellites equipped with solar panels can be used to gather as much solar energy from the sun as possible in orbit. A microwave transmission device is used in satellites to convert electricity into microwaves for transmission to a microwave receiving antenna back on Earth. These microwaves transmitted from space can be converted into energy to power homes, workplaces and so on. Despite being in the early development stages, the use of WPT through satellites is a highly promising source of clean and renewable energy (Cuthbertson 2021).

(b) Home Appliances That Are Powered Wirelessly

The future developments of WPT are likely to produce a power transmission device within the home that will send electricity to the entirety of home appliances, including televisions, laptops, lamps, irons, sound boxes, fridges and mobile phones. The proposed transmitting device would send out electricity. Each appliance featuring WPT receivers could use it to power themselves.

(c) Wireless Charging for Electric Vehicles on Way

EVs are projected to be solely powered wirelessly in the future, which would make it possible to charge EVs while driving thus, eliminating the need to stop and charge. Power beam transmitters can be linked to roads and heavy traffc zones with power sources. These transmitters could transform electricity into power beams and project them onto EVs equipped with appropriate receivers to re-convert the power beam into electrical power, charging the car's battery in return.

### (d) Wireless Charging Train

In the future, all trains may be powered wirelessly, which would eliminate the need to use wire to link the train. Sumi et al. (2018) propose a wirelessly powered future train model, according to this which a dual-mode power receiver and transmitter would be connected to train poles. All train stations would feature pole(s) equipped with a dual-mode transmitter and receiver. The power would come directly from the power station, to be collected and transmitted by dualmode transmitters. When utilising a dual-mode transmitter, power reception and broadcast occur at the same time. Power would reach the train through reception made possible by receivers installed on their roofs. There would be no need to utilise wire in this model.

(e) Supplying Homes with Power from the Power Station Wirelessly

Renewable energy sources may be used to generate clean and green power in the future. The generated power from these power stations can be directly and wirelessly transmitted to residential areas. This would be possible through the use of antennas that convert electric power into microwaves and transmit them to another set of antennas that could receive and again transmit power. The fnal destination would be housing; however, to utilise the power transformed into microwaves, they would require an antenna that could re-transform microwave energy into electrical power.

(f) Controlling a Drone Wirelessly to Extinguish a Fire

Projections state that drones could prove highly useful in emergencies, especially fres. They can be used to carry water pipes and place them in precise locations via a remote-control system. It is thought that fre trucks would carry a transmitter to send power, to be received by an appropriately equipped drone. Drones are invaluable because they can fy where people can't go and take pictures and videos of the situation. Since it will not be possible to connect the drone with a wire in an emergency, it is foreseen that this process will be very useful.

(g) Medical Equipment Can Beneft from Wireless Power

The wireless power supply may be used for medical equipment in the future. A transmitter that is directly linked to the power station may be used to establish a viable power supply. This would transmit the power to a receiver installed in the hospital to create wireless electricity to power medical equipment.

Regarding economics, it is forecast that the WPT market will reach a size of 11.3 billion USD by 2022 and 35.2 billion USD by 2030, which is a substantial increase from 2.5 billion in 2016. This growth is expected to be mainly driven by advancements in far-feld transmission, the need for effective charging systems that WPT can offer and increased needs for appliances powered by batteries (Markets and Markets 2017; Wankhede et al. 2021). An additional driving factor is presumed to be IoTenabled devices, such as cell phones, digital cameras and camcorders, laptops and tablets, wearable electronics and home electronics, gaining more and more traction, and their WPT featuring design needs (Patil et al. 2020). If not addressed, the initial capital costs of installing WPT systems are expected to have detrimental effects on the growth of its market (Markets and Markets 2017).

# **References**

7 Advantages of Robots in the Workplace [WWW Document] (2018). https://roboticstomorrow.com/ story/2018/08/7-advantages-of-robots-in-theworkplace/12342/. Accessed 26 July 2021


eration cloud computing. ACM Comput. Surv. **51**(5), 1–38 (2018)


ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/opac?punumber=8851231. Accessed 28 July 2021


(Springer, Cham, 2014), pp. 45–88. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-319-06160-3\_3


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16358-6\_20


at: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210321/ Tubeless-wearable-insulin-pump-can-improve-blood- sugar-control-for-people-with-type-1-diabetes.aspx. Accessed 25 July 2021


commentaries/going-carbon-negative-what-are-thetechnology-options


societal implications of 3D printing for 2030. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang. **117**, 84–97 (2017). https://doi. org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.01.006


5604–5620 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/J. ESWA.2013.04.018


priseai.techtarget.com/definition/natural-languageprocessing-NLP. Accessed 12 July 2021


com/Market-Reports/natural-language-processing- nlp-825.html. Accessed 3 Aug 2021


Nanocoatings Curr. Future Appl., 543–567 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-85709-211-3.00021-2


J. Eng. Sci. Comput. **6**(5), 1–10 (2016). https://doi. org/10.4010/2016.1482


Available at: https://www.oecd.org/sti/emerging-tech/ reportonindustrialbiotechnologyandclimatechangeopportunitiesandchallenges.htm. Accessed 1 Aug 2021


11957–11965 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai. v34i07.6871


*and Nano Technologies*, ed. by D. Shi, Z. Guo, N. Bedford, (William Andrew Publishing, Oxford, 2015), pp. 191–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/ B978-1-4557-7754-9.00008-1


gate of a biomass refnery. Environ. Sci. Technol. **42**, 6961–6966 (2008)


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# © The Author(s) 2022 S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series,

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_3

Cybersecurity and Drones sections.

### **Abstract**

Poverty, which has taken shape in different dimensions under the infuence of the conditions from the past to the present, can be defned as the defciency experienced by people in fulflling their life functions or the living standards being below the average level. This chapter presents the business models of 39 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-1, No Poverty. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable Development Goals · Business models · No poverty · Sustainability

Poverty, which has taken shape in different dimensions under the infuence of the conditions from the past to the present, can be defned as the defciency experienced by people in fulflling their life functions or the living standards being below

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Berkay İspir, Ekrem Gümüş, Zeynel Salman, Begüm Nur Okur, Canberk Özemek, Elif Berra Aktaş and Beyza Özerdem in completing this chapter. They also contributed to Chapter 2's Autonomous Vehicles, rights such as freedom of expression (Haughton and Khandker 2009). In its various versions, poverty has long been one of humanity's most signifcant conficts. Especially with the increased bad conditions, poverty has gained a higher level called extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is a more multidimensional concept than poverty. According to Sachs (2015), it should be defned more broadly as the inability to satisfy fundamental human requirements such as food, water, sanitation, safe energy, education and a means of subsistence. With the spread of technology and the rise in living standards, there was an expectation that the problem of poverty would be overcome throughout the world. However, the gap between rich and poor people is being further opened day by day with unequal economic distributions in most countries, leading numerous people to live below the poverty line despite the improvements in science and technology. Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain why inequality is bad for growth. Still, the OECD study focuses on one in particular: as the wealth gap widens, low-income households would spend less on education and skills (Keeley 2015). Last but not least, according to the World Bank (2021), a large part of the world's population is still living below the international poverty line of \$1.90 a day.

the average level. Poverty results from a lack of critical capabilities, such as insuffcient income or education, bad health, insecurity, low self-confdence, a sense of powerlessness or the lack of

# **3 SDG-1 No Poverty**

In the early 2000s, the United Nations announced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the face of major problems affecting humanity. Until 2015, these goals were expected to solve these problems or at least reduce them. The MDGs aim to boost global awareness, governmental responsibility, improved measurements, social feedback and public demands by putting these objectives into a simply comprehensible set of eight goals and creating quantifable and measurable targets (Sachs 2012). Research state that with the MDGs there has been an impressive poverty reduction, such as, in a quarter of a century time frame between 1990 and 2015, the extreme poverty rate fell by 33% in developing countries (United Nations 2015). According to Sachs (2012) research, in a world where severe global warming and other signifcant environmental disruptions are now a reality, there is indeed a broad recognition that sustainability goals must be prioritised with poverty reduction goals. In this chapter, the defnition and different versions of poverty, the multidimensional concept of extreme poverty, effects of poverty on human life with the inclusion of technological developments and historical activities made on poverty through MDGs are stated.

As a result, in addition to the improvements made in 15 years by MDGs, new requirements bring new updates about methods of taking action for the UN, which led to the emergence of sustainable development goals (SDGs). As good news, the percentage of the world's population living in extreme poverty has decreased, from 15.7% in 2010 to 10.0% in 2015. The rate of global poverty reduction, on the other hand, has slowed. It is claimed that the worldwide poverty rate will be around 7.4% in 2021; however, with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasts are affected negatively with an increase to 8.7% (United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs 2020). In January 2021, it was estimated that the pandemic would push between 119 and 124 million people into extreme poverty around the globe in 2020 (World Bank 2021). Due to the new requirements of the current world order and pandemic conditions to humanity, signifcant updates are planned in SDGs from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the United Nations have mentioned in their offcial website and publications, the frst sustainable development goal is to eliminate poverty in all its forms everywhere (2015). This goal originally took place under the millennium development goals, which are predecessors of sustainable development goals. As MDGs were practised for 15 years (2000–2015) and fulflled their schedule, SDGs were presented as an improved and more detailed version of MDGs. Sharma et al. state that poverty is a social problem that affects people's standard of living, food consumption and other aspects of their lives. The disadvantaged community cannot produce more and support their families since it lacks the resources to access quality and nutritious food and health services (2016). According to Sachs (2012), eliminating poverty includes providing safe and sustainable water and sanitation, suffcient nutrition, basic health services and basic infrastructures such as electricity, transportation and access to the global information network. These sub-goals are planned to be achieved by 2030 at the latest. This target might seem utopic, but some popular theories claim that it is well within reach with the help of technological advances and economic growth. One of the notable facts about poverty nowadays is that over half of the one billion people with a low income are living in middleincome countries. This means those people are living in societies with the fnancial and technological means to address their remaining poverty (as Brazil and China have effectively and notably done in recent years). Although hundreds of millions of impoverished people still live in the least developed countries, they are a dwindling proportion of the world's poorest people, such that small fnancial and technological transfers from high-income and middle-income countries could alleviate their plight. The UN's perspective of targets for SDG-1 can be found in Fig. 3.1.

Signifcant steps were taken to achieve this goal, as the number of people living in extreme poverty has decreased from 1.9 billion to 736 million between 1990 and 2015. Still, numerous people strive to provide for their basic human

**Fig. 3.1** Targets of SDG-1. ("Goal 1: No Poverty" 2016)

needs (United Nations 2015). Poverty reduction has been the centre of worldwide discussions since the 1970s. The sustainable development goals (SDGs) were established by 193 UN member states in 2015, with Goal 1 being to "end poverty in all its forms and everywhere" (UN 2016). According to Alkire et al. (2014), rural areas account for 85% of all poor people in 105 countries.

As shown in Fig. 3.1, there are several subgoals and indicators under Goal 1, "No Poverty". These include eliminating extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030, which is currently measured as the number of people living on less than \$1.25 a day and halving the number of people living in poverty. Another sub-objective of this aim is to minimise the sensitivity of the poor and the vulnerable to climate-related, economic and social events by 2030. Implementing povertyeradication programs and policies and mobilising resources for developing and underdeveloped nations are other sub-objectives.

The main reason for aiming to end all types of poverty is that it affects individual welfare and living conditions, such as accessing basic necessities like health, nourishment, clothing and accommodation. With the COVID-19 pandemic, it is associated with increased extreme poverty. Fighting against poverty ranks as the frst sustainable development goal in the United Nations remarks. Poor people are more vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters and all examples of extreme poverty such as hunger and malnutrition, fuel poverty, limited access to education, social isolation and discrimination and exclusion from basic health and social protection services and decision-making processes (Goal 1: No Poverty 2016).

Poverty-causing factors such as the consequences of globalisation, population expansion, infation, economic crises and growth rates indicate that we will confront poverty in the future, as well as our need for SDG-1. The fght against poverty ensures that all people can easily access education, health, nutrition and life and that they do not depend on others. Poverty assessments contain epistemic and methodological weaknesses according to academic studies, and because of these problems, the frst sustainable development goal and its implementation are vital. Although poverty has diminished signifcantly from the perspective of time, it remains a problem that must be addressed.

Globally, the number of people living in severe poverty has decreased from 36% in 1990 to 10% in 2015. Still, progress is slowing, and the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse decades of progress in the battle against poverty (Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 1) 2021). The global recession caused by the pandemic has delayed the eradication of poverty. Companies and other workplaces began to close in April 2020. Eighty-one percent of workers and 66% of freelancers were affected (SDG 1: No poverty – Iberdrola n.d.). Only 87 nations had unemployment insurance schemes in place as part of their national legislation in February 2020, and only 34 of those countries protected freelancers (SDG 1: No poverty – Iberdrola n.d.).

SDG-1, unlike the others, is directed at those who are unable to satisfy their fundamental requirements, who have a lower quality of life than the average and who are underprivileged in most ways. Poverty is important for poor people and everyone, privileged or disadvantaged. The elimination of extreme poverty will result in economic progress and a greater level of education among the population. Society must take global poverty seriously and take steps to achieve SDG-1 before 2030. Extreme poverty is a universal confict, and every person should meet their basic needs. Therefore, Sustainable Development Goal 1 is an essential goal for all humanity.

Economic growth in the world or even in a country is not always predictable. If the total GDP in the world is examined, it can be recognised that the actual total GDP in 2009 is about two-thirds of the predicted value (Jolliffe et al. 2015). This kind of deviation may have a massive effect on the process of fulflling SDGs. The World Bank advocates SDG-1 because of the adamant relationship between growth and welfare of the poor. A setback in economic growth could also cause a signifcant setback on the global goal for tackling poverty. This problem is not necessarily global, as some countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, etc. have a huge number of people living in poverty. A slowdown in the economic growth in one of these countries can have a major effect on the global poverty goal (Jolliffe et al. 2015). Tourism is considered a potential solution for this issue (by preventing economic setbacks and helping underdeveloped countries build up their economies). Scheyvens and Hughes defne tourism as a promising economic sector to help create strategies for decreasing poverty, and statistics back up their opinion. It is known to help improve rural areas' economy and well-being in developing countries. It is important to recognise that certain conditions need to be provided for tourism to contribute to SDG-1. Powerful actors such as local elites, company directors and government leaders must do their best to ensure factors like corruption and dictatorship do not undermine the sector of tourism in the relevant countries (Scheyvens and Hughes 2019).

Opposing the opinions claiming that technology and economic growth can make SDG-1 possible, current data predicts that eradicating poverty by 2030 seems unrealistic. Under the most optimistic possibilities predicted before the COVID-19 pandemic, 6.1% of the world's population will most likely remain in extreme poverty by 2030 (Castaneda et al. 2020). The results of comparing poverty scenarios in different countries, as a result of the analysis to monitor progress towards the achievement of the "No Poverty" sustainable development goal, point to the diffculty of achieving this goal unless extra development policy efforts are implemented (Crespo Cuaresma et al. 2018). One of the recommended actions to help this situation in the future is to involve children in the process. According to UNICEF, with the right information and tools, children and youth can play a critical role in implementing the SDGs by driving action in their communities. As millions of children and young people realise the goals, more and more people around the world will start taking action ("How can we achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for and with children?" 2021). When it comes to achieving this target over the long term (between today and 2100), climate change will have devastating consequences for urban and rural regions in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, resulting in new poverty in both developing and developed countries and threatening long-term development (Olsson et al. 2014). Decent work has been carried out during COVID-19, whereby many companies have lent a hand in supporting the healthcare system's response. Pharmaceutical businesses collaborate with governments to improve testing capabilities, while mask and ventilator makers are willing to transfer or build new production lines. To combat the outbreak, tech businesses give critical digital tools to eliminate social isolation, increase social cohesion and raise awareness about health and safety rules. Private sector innovation can make a substantial contribution to the pandemic response, both in the short and long term, as well as longterm resilience. Big data and artifcial intelligence, in particular, must be used to develop digital public goods such as actionable real-time and predictive insights (UN 2020).

Sumner et al. (2020) underline that according to UN estimates, COVID-19 poses a formidable challenge to the UN's goal of ending poverty by 2030, as global poverty could rise for the frst time since 1990. Such an increase could represent a reversal of approximately a decade in global poverty reduction progress depending on the poverty line. The negative consequences could lead to poverty levels equivalent to those seen 30 years ago in some areas. In the most extreme case of a 20% reduction in income or consumption, the number of people living in poverty might rise by 420–580 million, compared to the most recent offcial data for 2018.

# **3.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 3.1 presents the business models of 39 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-1. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://www.lifebankcares.com/; http://www.oneconcern. com/; https://about.wefarm.com/; https://avy.eu/; https:// banqu.co/; https://beam.org/; https://childgrowthmonitor. org/; https://climate.com/; https://efarms.com.ng/en; https://hellotractor.com; https://hellotractor.com; https:// kamworks.com/; https://leafglobalfntech.com/; https:// monkee.rocks/; https://nextfood.co/; https://perfectday. com/; https://pesitho.com/; https://solarcreed.com/; https://swoop.aero/; https://tala.co/; https://wagestream. com/; https://waka-waka.com/; https://whr.loans/; https:// wingcopter.com/; https://www.acrecx.com/; https://www. aerofarms.com; https://www.beyondmeat.com/; https:// www.borlaug.ws/; https://www.crop2cash.com.ng/; https://www.donationmatch.com/; https://www.edenagri. co.th/; https://www.pikadiapers.com/; https://www.redefnemeat.com/; https://www.truvito.io/; https://www. unhoused.org/; https://www.veritas.com/360; https:// www.vodafone.com/; https://www.wildtypefoods.com/; https://zolaelectric.com/; https://www.shambarecords. com/





3.1 Companies and Use Cases








## **References**


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **4 SDG-2 Zero Hunger**

### **Abstract**

People's lives, communities and civilisations have all been defned by constant danger. Hunger is the menace, a plague that causes weakness, despair and death in the worst-case scenarios. One of the primary common threads has been hunger throughout history, which has resulted in large-scale migration, wars, conficts and great sacrifces. This chapter presents the business models of 40 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-2, Zero Hunger. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Zero Hunger · Sustainability

Today, people's lives, communities and civilisations have all been defned by constant danger. Hunger is the menace, a plague that causes weakness, despair and death in the worst-case scenarios. One of the primary common threads has been hunger throughout history, which has resulted in large-scale migration, wars, conficts and great sacrifces (FAO 2019). Since the early colonial era, keeping populations fed has been a key administrative concern (Nally 2011). It helped communities strengthen their bonds of friendship and solidarity. For this important issue, the frst UN conference on food and agriculture was called by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943. The conference specifcally stated that countries must develop a food and nutrition policy to set their own intermediate goals gradually. Afterwards, the escalating Cold War and Malthusian worries that food shortages would fuel communism became the reason for the 1960s to be dubbed as the "fghting hunger decade" by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in its Freedom from Hunger Campaign (Byerlee and Fanzo 2019). Two signifcant advances on the way to SDG-2 occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. First, the conversation switched from food supply to food availability. The FAO modifed its defnition of food security in 1982 to guarantee that all people have physical and economic access to the food they need at all times (Sen 1982; Shaw 2007). After these new developments, global goals have become important for a new millennium. The WHO member nations approved six global targets for promoting

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Sedef Güraydın, Esra Çalık, Gülen Mine Demiralp, Hasan Serhat Bayar, İbrahim Alperen Karataylı, İbrahim Yusuf Yıldırım and Tuana Özten in completing this chapter. They also contributed to Chapter 2's Bioplastics, Recycling, Robotic Process Automation, Robotics and Soilless Farming sections.

maternal, baby and early child nutrition in 2012 and committed to tracking progress towards those goals (WHO 2014). Zero Hunger, developed by economist and agronomist José Graziano da Silva, has been considered as one of the most signifcant achievements in the fght against hunger and poverty on a global scale (FAO 2019).

Many people worldwide think that hunger can be eradicated in the coming decades, and they are working together to achieve this objective (UN 2021). In many countries, undernutrition has decreased nearly half due to the increasing agricultural productivity and rapid growth of the economy. Yet, some people have encountered starvation and malnutrition (Paramashanti 2020). World leaders affrmed the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food at the 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which is compatible with the right to enough food and the basic right of everyone to be invulnerable to hunger. "End hunger, achieve food security and enhanced nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture" are the objectives of SDG-2. Because it is inextricably tied to society, the economy and the environment, SDG-2 is critical to the entire SDG agenda's success. Even though undeveloped countries rely more heavily on agricultural operations, food production and consumption are important to every economy and permeate all cultures (Gil et al. 2019).

More coordinated decision-making mechanisms at the national and local levels are necessary to collaborate and effectively address trade-offs between climate change, water, agriculture, land and energy. To avoid large-scale future shortages and to ensure food security and excellent nutrition for everybody, local food systems must be strengthened (UN 2021). The United Nations Committee on World Food Security defnes food security as all people having social, physical and fnancial access to adequate, clean and nutritional food that meets their dietary requirements at all times to live a healthy life (UNDESA 2021). The goal of SDG-2, which is to ensure global food security and agricultural sustainability, necessitates prompt and coordinated action from both developing and developed countries. This, in turn, is contingent on clear, broadly applicable objectives and indicators, which are now in short supply. The SDGs' new and sophisticated character complicates its implementation on the ground, especially in light of interlinkages across SDG targets and scales (Gil et al. 2019).

The Zero Hunger objective, in particular, highlights a long-overdue realisation that industrial agriculture threatens fundamental ecological processes on which food supply depends by including sustainable agriculture targets into the larger endeavour to end hunger (Blesh et al. 2019). As shown in Fig. 4.1, there are eight targets within the context of SDG-2.

While the increasing population growth was 7.339 billion in 2015, this number increased to 7.753 billion in 2020. This rise carries dozens of new issues, such as decreasing per capita income and increasing consumption of natural resources ("Population, total | Data" 2021). According to UN estimates, there are over 690 million hungry people globally, accounting for 8.9% of the global population, an increase of ten million in a year and over 60 million in 5 years (Goal 2 2021). When it comes to calculating needed caloriebased consumption, the rise in food demand has overtaken population growth. To consume food, one must also produce it, which necessitates agricultural and animal resources (Fukase and Martin 2020). The world's arable land rose from 1523 million hectares to 1562 million hectares between 1992 and 2012. As a result, arable land per capita has decreased, as has the effect of population expansion and rising food consumption. In other words, the food will be produced with more diffculty, and this will also cause the reduction of forests (Fukase and Martin 2020). Agriculture for food production and the food consumed have harmed the environment, for example, GHG emissions and land conversion. These challenges can help solve many problems through agricultural research, resource management and infrastructure improvement, but they are insuffcient. Focusing on the agriculture sector and doing complementary research outside of it can help solve both the environmental and hunger problems. This is a global issue as well as one that affects regional economies. Reduced hunger

**Fig. 4.1** SDG-2 targets. (Goal 2 2021, p. 2)

in Africa, for example, might be shown as a goal. Accepting some conditions is important to go confdently towards this objective. These situations can be handled as follows: climate change has hindered and may continue to prevent hunger reduction, investment in agriculture in poor countries and the rest of the world can increase productivity for important crops and livestock, and investments in agricultural R&D and other incremental investments, not just in agriculture, are needed to end hunger (Mason-D'Croz et al. 2019). In addition, to deal with the global issues, there is the concept of food safety, which is a national and regional security concept (Tansey 2013). Transforming the global food system into an inclusive private sector-based system that is environmentally sustainable and more benefcial in terms of climate is an important move towards achieving the goals. While these moves are being implemented, changes or situations may complement each other. As a result, the goal is to establish priorities and optimise the success of these defnitions (Rickards and Shortis 2019). Research areas are also effective in providing these optimisations.

WEF nexus explains the relationship of the three main components of water, energy and food to improve intersectoral coordination while supporting sustainable development. It is also a good approach to managing natural resources (Hamidov and Helming 2020). Although this triangle previously varied, water, energy and food have been considered the most basic triad due to unbalanced access (Sharif Moghadam et al. 2019). Food production, which requires water and energy, is an example of the water-energyfood relationship (Nie et al. 2019). Considering this concept, new food production techniques are being developed to reduce resource use and increase product yield.

Increasing food demands have resulted in an over-expansion of agricultural lands required to meet food production goals. Agricultural production accounts for about 80% of global deforestation, and livestock and animal feed production is a major factor in agricultural deforestation (Agribusiness & Deforestation 2021). People settlement and agriculture have changed the majority of the natural ecosystems (Ellis and Ramankutty 2008). Studies should be carried out to prevent these adverse effects for the most effective use of agricultural lands. Food production is sensitive to climate change. With climate change, temperatures have increased, ecosystem boundaries have changed, and invasive species have emerged. As a result, both livestock productivity and the nutritional quality of grains and crop yield decrease (Climate-Smart Agriculture 2021). Food production accounts for between 1/5 and 1/3 of greenhouse gas emissions from humans (Agriculture and Food Production Contribute Up to 29 Percent of Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions According to Comprehensive Research Papers 2012). CSA focuses on the effects of climate change and food security on parts of the food supply such as agriculture, livestock and fsheries. Food supply aims to increase productivity, increase resilience to harsh conditions and minimise emissions per calorie obtained (Climate-Smart Agriculture 2021).

Dietary patterns that support all aspects of an individual's health and well-being while being environmentally friendly are known as sustainable healthy diets. The goal of sustainable healthy diets is to ensure optimal growth and development of all people; to support functionality and physical, mental and social well-being at all stages of life; to prevent all forms of malnutrition; to reduce the risk of diet-related diseases; and to maintain biodiversity and planetary health while providing nutrients (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization 2019).

The aim to reach SDG-2, Zero Hunger by 2030, will not be accomplished (Grebmer and Bernstein 2020). Still, hopeful future predictions could be made regarding the positive processes that have been made already. Even in the most dangerously vulnerable countries to hunger, the conditions have gotten signifcantly better over the years. Our problematic global food arrangement has a share in the current position, which is the limits of the planet's ecology and social connections in the sense of being no longer suitable for the population to be safe and develop equally (Grebmer and Bernstein 2020). Decreasing hunger is a crucial means to extend the growth further globally, but ending hunger holds an underlying position of bringing everyone the right to fair living conditions, including nutritional needs they deserve, as stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Cohen 2019). Producing food creates an imminent compromise in protecting nature. However, diminishing hunger can be considered the core element of sustainable development. By defnition, sustainable development is creating growth that will satisfy the demands of the present generations while preserving its potential to satisfy the needs of the later generations. Therefore supplying enough food is a primary demand towards sustainable development. Attentively planned distribution of cropland in prospective would affect compromises to function better between producing the food and protecting the biological diversity (Zhang et al. 2021). A comprehensive solution for agriculture and food arrangement internationally is demanded to feed the current 690 million food-deprived people with the predicted addition to the global population of two billion people by 2050. The dangers of hunger could be relieved by more productive agriculture systems and more sustainable management of food supplies (Goal 2 2021). Closing the yield gap would both create a great saving of soil and decrease the species that are going extinct (Zhang et al. 2021). Being careless about food security comes at a cost; hunger creates great expenses in respect of patients' well-being, diminishes the capacity of human force and decreases sustainable growth (Cohen 2019). An important outcome that could be seen through the projects aiming to eradicate hunger that did not get funded properly and fulfl its purpose throughout the last 20 years is that the electorate's support is crucial for powerful policies (Cohen 2019). It is crucial to create proper policies for the smaller-scale farmers and women in underprivileged regions of the world, which are experiencing the worst of global hunger, for them to present themselves politically and become actors in the actions that they get affected by (Cohen 2019). FAO predicts the need for food internationally will grow by 70% until 2050. This higher need for food will be caused by Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, which are growing areas in terms of the predicted increase in the residents' incomes (Linehan et al. 2012).

According to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, business is a critical partner in accomplishing sustainable development goals. People want organisations to assess their impact, set ambitious targets and communicate honestly about the results through companies' key activities. The SDGs attempt to reroute global public and private investment fows towards the challenges they represent. As a result, they defne expanding markets for businesses that provide creative solutions and dramatic change (SDG Compass 2021).

The most crucial two aspects of the "Zero Hunger" goal is agricultural production and food supply, and they mostly depend on the activities of the private sector. That means, to achieve SDG-2, major involvement in the private sector is needed. There are many different types and sizes of businesses in the agriculture and food sector. Some businesses use the most conventional methods, while others prefer the most modern methods. The sizes of these businesses may range from smallholder farmers to global multi-billiondollar companies. Considering these factors, investors, customers and end consumers have a wide range of needs and expectations. If nations, continents, sectors and professions join forces and act on evidence, the world can attain Zero Hunger. Agricultural, fshing and forestry employ 80% of the world's poor. As a result, achieving "Zero Hunger" requires a rural economic revolution. Governments must provide possibilities for more private sector investment in agriculture, as well as strengthen social protection programs for the poor and connect food farmers with metropolitan areas (A #ZeroHunger world by 2030 is possible 2021). Since 2015, the worldwide food and beverage industry has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7%, reaching almost \$5943.6 billion in 2019. From 2019 to 2023, the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.1%, reaching \$7525.7 billion. In 2025, the market is expected to reach \$8638.2 billion, and in 2030, \$11,979.9 billion (Food and Beverages Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2030: COVID-19 Impact and Recovery 2020). There are many opportunities in the food market for businesses that attach importance to the targets of SDG-2, agile to adapt and use the emerging technologies, social responsibility values and sustainability, thanks to its massive size.

# **4.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 4.1 presents the business models of 40 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-2. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://betahatch.com/; http://notco.com/; http://www. scadafarm.com/; https://agrograph.com/; https://asirobots.com/; https://bensonhill.com/; https://biomemakers. com/; https://brouav.com; https://future-meat.com/; https://get-nourished.com/; https://gussag.com/; https:// impossiblefoods.com/; https://indigodrones.com/; https:// orbisk.com/en/; https://orbital.farm/; https://plantix.net/ en/; https://sunbirds.aero/; https://www.agbotic.com/; https://www.apeel.com/; https://www.beehex.com/; https://www.biomilq.com/; https://www.gamaya.com/; https://www.ibm.com/blockchain/solutions/food-trust; https://www.nokia.com/networks/services/wing/; https:// www.ifarm360.com/; https://www.infyulabs.com/; https://www.intelligentgrowthsolutions.com/; https:// www.novolyze.com/; https://www.nrgene.com/; https:// www.odd.bot/; https://www.phytech.com/; https://www. plantiblefoods.com/; https://www.rapidpricer.com/; https://www.refucoat.eu/about/; https://www.smallrobotcompany.com/; https://xfarm.ag/?lang=en; https:// algamafoods.com/; https://www.indigoag.com/; http:// skymaps.cz/main.php?content=agrimatics


**Table 4.1**Companies and use cases in SDG-2












## **References**


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

### **Abstract**

There is a consensus that health is a fundamental human right. The extent of the countries seeking to improve the health conditions of their people is one of the indications of sustainable development. Poor health systems jeopardise a country's citizens' rights, hinder their involvement in educational programs, limit their ability to participate in economic activities and engage in meaningful work fully and ultimately raise poverty regardless of gender. This chapter presents the business models of 55 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-3, Good Health and Well-Being. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Good Health and Well-Being · Sustainability

There is a consensus that health is a fundamental human right. The extent of the countries seeking to improve the health conditions of their people is one of the indications of sustainable development. Poor health systems jeopardise a country's citizens' rights, hinder their involvement in educational programs, limit their ability to participate in economic activities and engage in meaningful work fully and ultimately raise poverty regardless of gender. The current state of health is concerning; women all over the world continue to face barriers to general and reproductive healthcare, billions of people lack access to important medicines, hundreds of millions of adults and children lack access to safe drinking water, and many suffer from malnutrition (Filho et al. 2019). Furthermore 2020 demonstrated to the world how infectious diseases might spread from a small group of people to a health issue of international signifcance in a matter of days. Infectious diseases' global effect has steadily declined since 2000, yet they were still responsible for more than 10.2 million fatalities in 2019, accounting for 18% of all deaths. Investments in the diagnosis, treatment and control of major infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB), as well as child and maternal problems, have had positive effects over the past 20 years, with global declines in their prevalence, incidence and rates. However, in 2019, these diseases remain among the top 10 causes of mortality in low-income countries (LICs) (World Health Organization 2021a, b).

**<sup>5</sup> SDG-3 Good Health and Well-Being**

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of İlayda Zeynep Mert, Ömer Sami Temel, Abdullah Aykut Kılıç, Abdullah Enes Ögel, Veysel Ömer Yıldız and Enes Ürkmez in completing this chapter. They also contributed to Chapter 2's Data Hubs, Healthcare Analytics, Internet of Behaviours, Natural Language Processing and Wireless Power Transfer sections.

One of the primary aims of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) principles is to create healthy living conditions and ensure well-being at every stage of human life. Despite the signifcant development of technology in health, the impact of which will be felt globally in all areas of life, various health problems may cause permanent or temporary damage to people, which dramatically affects global functioning. To overcome these problems, the main principles to be followed are to focus on more effcient fnancing of health systems, improving sanitation and hygiene and providing greater access to doctors (United Nations 2021a, b, c, d).

SDG-3 seeks to "make sure healthy lifestyles and promote well–being for every generation". Other than the millennium development goals (MDGs), however, SDG-3 looks at health and well-being in a broader sense by looking beyond a narrow range of disorders (Seidman 2017). According to SDG-3 (Good Health and Well-Being), ensuring health and well-being across all generations is crucial for sustainable development, and only rigorous and continuing healthcare monitoring will be able to do this (Papa et al. 2018). SDG-3 also asks for greater research and innovation, increased healthcare costs and stronger ability in all nations to reduce and manage health risks (UN Offce for Outer Space Affairs 2021). The SDG-3's main objective is to prevent 40% of premature deaths in each nation (i.e. at 2010 mortality rates, deaths before the age of 70 years would be witnessed in the 2030 population) and to enhance healthcare for all ages. To strengthen this main objective, four subobjectives have been targeted, such as avoiding two-thirds of child and maternal deaths; preventing two-thirds of deaths caused by tuberculosis, HIV and malaria; refraining one-third of premature deaths caused by non-infectious diseases; and preventing one-third of deaths caused by other causes (other infectious diseases, malnutrition and injuries) (Alleyne, et al. 2015). Figure 5.1 demonstrates the targets set by the UN in the feld of health under the name SDG-3.

Health is a fundamental human right and an important measure of long-term growth. Poor health jeopardises children's rights to education, limits economic prospects for men and women and fosters poverty around the world (SDG Compass 2021). In addition to disrupting the well-being of the individual, diseases harm the resources of the family and society and reduce the potential of people. The health of each individual and society plays a key role in long-term development. Avoiding diseases is important for survival, promoting wealth and economic growth (United Nations 2021a, b, c, d). Building thriving communities requires ensuring healthy lives and fostering well-being (United Nations 2021a, b, c, d). The link between health and well-being, which is one of the drivers of human capital, and fnancial growth was studied from 1991 to 2014 in the following high-income nations (Luxemburg, Israel, Australia, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, Portugal and Poland). According to the fndings of the research, health factors have a long-term impact on fnancial sub-variables. On the other hand, income has no direct impact on the health variable. However, through fnancial sub-variables, the income factor indirectly impacts the health variable (Kuloglu and Ecevit 2017).

SDG-3 is viewed in conjunction with SDG-1 No Poverty, SDG-14 Life Below Water and SDG-15 Life on Land as a direct outcome of progress towards the other objectives in terms of social and environmental benefts. They are also important since regressing these goals restricts and limits the human and natural resources needed to maintain a stable global system (Cernev and Fenner 2019). According to WHO (World Health Organization 2021a, b), several factors infuence a person's health, including lifestyle, fnancial position, social status, available healthcare services and facilities, degree of education, nutritional access, communal life and genetic composition. Understanding health via these variables can aid in predicting medical status using factors that are measured, evaluated and compared across groups. Individual and community health can be improved through specifc treatments. This is inextricably connected to SDG 3.4, which specifes the goal of reducing early death due to non-communicable illnesses

**Fig. 5.1** Targets of SDG-3 good health and well-being. (United Nations 2021a, b, c, d)

(NCDs) (Sharma-Brymer and Brymer 2020). Illnesses are likely to hinder one's ability to work, which in turn could create fnancial disadvantages or worsen pre-existing ones. Individuals who create economic income by working for themselves can avoid poverty. Children without any disease are more likely to learn, and at the same time, healthy adults are more likely to generate added value and generate income (Frenk and de Ferranti 2012).

The connection between economic development and health outcomes is a signifcant avenue of research in development economics. The relationship between income levels and health improvements is widely documented in this body of research (Vu 2020). Each year, the County Health Rankings provide a score to each county in the USA based on its health results. Poor counties are said to perform worse than wealthy counties. According to the study's fndings, more affuent areas fared better rankings (McCullough and Leider 2017). Signifcant progress has been made against primary causes of illness and mortality. Life expectancy has risen substantially; maternal and infant mortality rates at birth fell, malaria-related deaths fell in half, and the HIV epidemic changed.

The 2030 agenda recognises the value of health in the path of sustainable development and refects the interconnectedness and complexity between them. It takes these emerging challenges into account; rising social and economic inequality, increasing urbanisation, climate and environmental risks, the continuing burden of communicable diseases and HIV and NCDs are considered to pose new concerns (UNDP 2021). The implementation of SDG-3 "Health and Well-Being" includes studies on health and the biomedical feld together. It also examines its relations with civil society (Guégan, et al. 2018). Health coverage needs to be universalised for SDG-3's goal of reducing inequality and eradicating poverty. For example, antimicrobial resistance is one of the global health priorities not directly mentioned in the SDGs. The gap between and even within countries is wide in advances. There is a 31-year difference in life expectancy between countries with the shortest life expectancy and the countries with the longest life expectancy. While there are countries that have made signifcant progress, national averages hide that many countries lag. Addressing inequities and promoting good health for all requires multisectoral, rights-based and gender-sensitive methods (UNDP 2021).

Numerous aspects require signifcant consideration regarding the future of good health and well-being. Initially, maternal mortality, one of the targets identifed by the UN, is considered to be an important criterion. Comprehensive crosssectional research reports that there have been great reductions in global maternal mortality and a substantial increase in the ratio of births under healthcare services such as hospitals (Souza et al. 2013). Furthermore, the maternal severity index (MSI) can be used to assess whether the performance of health facilities is suffcient with regard to their ability to care for pregnant women and deal with possible complications. However, it is also noted to reduce deaths during childbirth, global coverage of vital treatments must be accompanied by complete emergency care.

Another critical factor that determines an individual's well-being is mental health. Certain complications come across when seeking and administering mental healthcare. The accessibility to mental healthcare is among the greatest of these challenges. Financial resources are vital for most, if not all, healthcare facilities to provide for those in need. Comprehensive research by the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that, on a global scale, mental health makes up for less than 2% of the total government health expenditure.

Furthermore, a great gap between various regions still exists, showing that there is a great lack of funding for those on the lower end. The fndings above indicate a positive relationship between income and accessibility to mental health services. This means that individuals in lower-income regions and countries have less access due to certain variables, including funding, mental health workforce and costs (World Health Organization 2018). Another identifed factor that affects the accessibility of mental healthcare is the stigma around mental illnesses and treatments. Evidence demonstrates that around one-third of the global population suffers from various mental illnesses. Many of these individuals do not receive any treatment, which holds even for countries that have adequate resources (Thornicroft 2011). Additionally, men have been reported to be less likely to seek treatment or help regarding mental health (Terlizzi and Zablotsky 2020), which can be partially explained by the worldwide masculine norms (Chatmon 2020), indicating that stigma regarding mental health might have more severe results for males. There are various governmental programs utilised to decrease the stigma that surrounds mental health. For instance, the UK's Time to Change campaign has been reported to be successful as it was related to increased helpseeking and comfort in disclosing mental health issues (Henderson et al. 2018). However, there have been suggestions to change into alternative frameworks regarding these policies, campaigns or programs to increase their comprehensiveness and effciency (Stangl et al. 2019).

Tracking and preventing the spread of infectious diseases is another great concern that needs to be addressed to achieve SDG-3. That is to make sure that all individuals of the whole generation have healthy lives and well-being is promoted. Although it is not exhaustive, a list of diseases of major concern has been made. These include HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and more. Additionally, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which has had devastating effects on numerous aspects of society, is a great example that further underlines the importance of precautions and measures regarding infectious diseases. For instance, studies indicate that it has reduced life expectancy, both directly by fatal infections and indirectly, through unemployment that is due to measures taken to stop the spreading of the virus, most notably lockdowns (Bianchi, et al. 2020). Furthermore, it has been reported that it has disrupted essential health services globally (World Health Organization 2021a, b). Thus, it's a major disruption to the progress made regarding SDG-3, if not a great setback. This issue can be addressed by using personal, mobile and wearable technological devices that can track and report vital health information. These data can be delivered to the corresponding healthcare facilities (Savelyeva et al. 2019). Additionally, the processing and gathering of this data could be facilitated by using emerging technologies such as AI, big data and cloud computing. These technologies are suggested as highly effcient solutions to the points mentioned earlier.

## **5.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 5.1 presents the business models of 55 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-3. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://cipherskin.com/; http://genomes.io; http://graft3d. com/patient-specifc-implant/; https://albert.health/; https://augmedics.com/; https://autonomoushealthcare. com/; https://biontech.de/; https://captionhealth.com/; https://carbonhealth.com/; https://cloudmedxhealth.com/; https://engage.3m.com/3M-Respiratory-Tracker; https:// healx.io/; https://in-medprognostics.com/; https://iryo. network/#network; https://jetbrain.ai/#/robots/amro; https://khealth.com; https://kinsahealth.com/; https:// kumovis.com/; https://optellum.com/; https://prognoshealth.com/; https://proximie.com/; https://raslabs. com/; https://rsresearch.net/about-us/; https://siramedical. com/; https://solve.care/; https://www.philips.nl; https:// www.aleph-farms.com/; https://www.atomwise.com/; https://www.babylonhealth.com/; https://www.bagmo.in/; https://www.basebit.ai/en/; https://www.battelle.org/; https://www.behavr.com/about-us/; https://www.benevolent.com/; https://www.biomodex.com/; https://www. dualgoodhealth.com/healthcare/; https://www.emedgene. com/; https://www.epigenelabs.com/; https://www.fathomhealth.com/; https://www.freenome.com/; https:// www.implicity.com/; https://www.insight-rx.com/; https://www.intenseye.com/; https://www.medimsight. com/; https://www.micromek.net/; https://www.nextgen. com/products-and-services/health-data-hub; https://www. operoo.com; https://www.paige.ai/; https://www.prellisbio.com/; https://www.prokarium.com/; https://www.tempus.com/; https://www.univfy.com/; https://www.unlearn. ai/; https://www.vergegenomics.com/; https://www.xr. health/













**Table 5.1**






## **References**


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

### **Abstract**

Education is a component of sustainable development with its strong effects at global, regional and local levels. The biggest challenge the world faces in this context is the preservation and continuous improvement of the effort put forward to provide sustainable education in studies on education. The lack of chances for learning stymies social, economic and sustainable development and long-term stability and peace. This chapter presents the business models of 49 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-4, Quality Education. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Quality education · Sustainability

Education is a component of sustainable development with its strong effects at global, regional and local levels. The biggest challenge the world faces in this context is the preservation and continuous improvement of the effort put forward to provide sustainable education in studies on education (Franco et al. 2020). The lack of chances for learning (also education) stymies social, economic and sustainable development and longterm stability and peace. Learning is especially essential for individuals who have been banned from formal schooling or who have not achieved basic skills and education. Learning is required to accomplish the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, titled Transforming Our World (UN 2015), including 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 related targets. The goal of providing opportunities for lifelong learning for everyone emphasises the global education agenda's comprehensive character and its importance for achieving all SDGs by 2030. To provide comprehensive learning opportunities and systems, this integrated approach supports the concept that bridges must be built among and amongst actors, institutions, processes, learning places and times (Hanemann 2019).

The main purpose of the fourth SDG, under the title of "Quality Education", put forward by the United Nations, is to encourage the principles and practices of sustainable development to create societies with exceptional opportunities in all felds of education (Franco et al. 2020). Today, almost 262 million children and adolescents are out of school. Sixty percent of school goers do not acquire basic numeracy and literacy skills in their frst few school years. Seven hundred ffty million adults in the world are illiterate, which adversely affects the welfare of societies and reveals marginalisation (UNESCO 2021).

**<sup>6</sup> SDG-4 Quality Education**

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of İlayda Zeynep Mert, Ömer Sami Temel, Abdullah Aykut Kılıç, Abdullah Enes Ögel, Veysel Ömer Yıldız and Enes Ürkmez in completing this chapter.

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_6

Despite this situation, the enrolment rate in regions that continue to develop rose to 91% in 2015 because of active work carried out since 2000. As a result of these efforts, the number of children who are out of school has nearly halved. In addition, the signifcant increase in girls' school enrolment and literacy rates are also among the remarkable achievements (United Nations Development Programme 2021). At the micro-level of society, the impact of epidemics of acute infectious disease on people, families and communities may be enormous. Children may lose their chance of going to school due to consequences or demands at home in the event of a large epidemic, at least until they are older (Kekić and Miladinovic 2013). These adverse outcomes of epidemics can easily be caused by pandemics as well. For example, the COVID-19 outbreak caused widespread school cancellations in 188 countries, affecting almost 1.5 billion children

and adolescents. Only 30% of low-income countries have built a national distance learning platform. Nevertheless, over 65% of countries have done so. Almost 33% of young people in the world were already digitally excluded before the crisis. Also, girls have less access to digital technology than boys, restricting their online learning opportunities. It is especially challenging to reach children with mental or physical disabilities through online education programs. Distance education quality and accessibility will vary considerably within and between nations. Only 15 countries worldwide offer distance education in several languages (United Nations 2020). As a result, education plays a massive role in bringing societies to a certain level of resilience. All kinds of education are essential in generating sustainable development and in environmental problems, employment problems and industrial operation (UN Environment Programme 2021).

The objectives of SDG-4 concerning the problems as mentioned above are to present equality of opportunity based on literacy, numeracy and broader learning competencies, which are the most basic learning levels of education in general, from kindergarten, or nursery, to vocational schools and university (Unterhalter 2019). Expanding possibilities throughout all levels of education (preschool, primary, secondary, vocational, higher and adult education) is one of SDG-4's goals. The goals expand the defnition of education as a worldwide enterprise to include objectives in reading, numeracy and other areas such as global citizenship, sustainability and gender equality (Unterhalter 2019). Figure 6.1 demonstrates the targets set by the UN in the feld of quality education under the name SDG-4 (United Nations 2021a, b, c).

"Quality education", one of 17 different development goals, emphasises an egalitarian, inclusive, quality and lifelong education content. Achieving the goals set in the scope of SDG-4 is also of great importance in terms of achieving other sustainable development goals. Along with literacy and access to primary education, higher educational institutions are considered to be highly infuential in achieving sustainable development, with a social responsibility to bring forth a setting that cultivates sustainable development amidst their students and communities (Ferguson and Roofe 2020). In addition to SDG targets, trade activities in countries are directly related to education. The lack of educational opportunities in a particular region, that is, the lack of professional and personal skills of the people living in that region, has a signifcant impact on the creation of new business areas in the region and the disruption of various entrepreneurial and investment activities. Investing in people is of great importance for faster economic developments (Cervelló-Royo et al., 2020).

Although primary school attendance in developing nations has reached 91%, 57 million children are excluded from school. Many of the other SDGs can only be achieved through a good education. If people can get a good education, they can break the cycle of poverty (United Nations 2021a, b, c; Patel20 2019). Due to high poverty levels, armed confict and other emergencies, progress has also been hampered in developing regions. The number of youngsters out of school has risen due to the continuous violent situations in West Asia and North Africa. Although Sub-Saharan Africa has accomplished the most improvement of any developing region regarding primary school enrolment, substantial inequities

**Fig. 6.1** Targets of SDG-4 quality education (United Nations 2021a, b, c)

still exist. Children from the poorest homes are four times more likely to drop out of school than those from the wealthiest households. Inequalities between rural and urban areas continue to be signifcant (Joint Sdg Fund 2021). Education has a critical role in reducing inequity and achieving gender equality. It also allows people worldwide to lead healthier and more sustainable lives (United Nations 2021a, b, c).

Education also plays a role in fostering intercultural tolerance, promoting a more peaceful society (United Nations 2021a, b, c). It is also a potent instrument for enhancing societal resilience. Formal and informal education and public awareness and training are essential for encouraging sustainable development, strengthening people's and countries' capacity to handle environmental and development concerns and establishing green and decent employment and industries (UNEP 2021). Education plays a signifcant part in developing tolerance in people interactions and the development of much more friendly communities. Fair access for females to education, medical care, decent jobs and involvement in economic and political institutions would improve humanity and the world economy's sustainability. Funding in educational initiatives for females and raising the age of marriage would provide a fvefold return on investment (Koßmann 2019).

SDG-4 aims for all boys and girls to have equal access to elementary and secondary education and early childhood development programs and accessible university education for both men and women by 2030. This goal's main aim is to increase young people's numeracy and literacy abilities while also ensuring that all people, regardless of gender or handicap, have an equal chance (Joint SDG Fund 2021). Simultaneously, increased access to university education, as well as vocational and technical training, is emphasised. Within this context, available scholarships for students from developing nations to enrol in higher education, vocational training programs and other science programs in developed or developing countries are gradually increasing (Patel20 2019).

SDG-4's main goal, which is to ensure that everyone, regardless of their race, gender, age or other characteristics, has access to inclusive and equal quality education, is ambitious and challenging to achieve. The way knowledge is passed down is presumed to change dramatically due to technological advancements, with a big move towards online platforms.

As an alternative to conventional methods of education, online education can be used to address specifc challenges of SDG-4. Projections are ambiguous regarding the mix of online materials available to students in the future. Existing patterns indicate that a lot more online educational information is accessible, but it appears that considerably less of it would be used successfully by students. The ratio of rationales and ideologies between public and private content will continue to shift, but it appears that a few international content producers will start to control the industry (Unwin et al. 2017). A growing body of research aims to understand and explain the aspect of gender in online learning (Latchem 2014). Some suggest that online education methods are non-sexist and more gender-inclusive (Margolis and Fisher 2002). In contrast, others report that it does not solve pre-existing problems of traditional methods (Anderson 2004). Nevertheless, there is consensus that online platforms may offer more accessible knowledge, free exchange of information, networks and learning communities without regard to gender (Latchem 2014). Despite offering promising solutions, online education systems are not perfect. Literature suggests that, in developing regions and countries, women face the same challenges regardless of the educational platform, e.g. online vs traditional (Glen and Cédric 2003). It has been suggested that providing women with training and support in creating content that is appropriate to their needs and addresses their particular viewpoints, experiences and concerns would greatly help prevent their absence in online educational platforms (Latchem 2014).

Furthermore, virtual reality (VR) and different methods may also be used in the classroom. This would permit students to learn how to negotiate diffculties and communicate ideas online using new platforms. Forecasts regarding the future of education and the use of VR suggest that as gaming technologies are being created for the classrooms, augmented reality (AR) and VR are likewise expected to become much more common (Unwin et al. 2017). Campuses, as we know them today, may cease to exist. This would free learning from the confnes of a physical school. A new campus would likely consist of mobile classrooms and a real-world setting. On the other hand, city libraries and laboratories would coexist to assist students in completing their assignments. Games that teach youngsters how to code, toys that teach robotics and various apps that help teachers quickly deliver knowledge to children are highly likely to become commonplace. The use of technology in education is expected to increase exponentially, aiding teaching and learning processes, thus evolving learning into being more creative and practical as time goes on. Conventional methods of performance and learning evaluations, such as tests, will likely be replaced by evaluations of students' critical thinking and problem-solving abilities through their performance in creative projects (Nerdy Mates 2021).

Forecasts indicate that by 2025, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in schools will be substantially more diversifed. This makes predicting how it will be utilised in any given situation exceedingly challenging. Similarly, there will be some imaginative and unique situations in exceedingly disadvantaged contexts, where well-trained, incredibly inspiring educators will use ICTs to encourage kids to critically discover a wealth of information and thoughts, allowing them to build the abilities and understanding required to change the world in which they live. Furthermore, many governments' educational systems will probably change. Many of these systems will expressly urge wider use of ICT in schools, driven in part by the interests of big multinational businesses and by a growing understanding of the impact advantages such technologies may provide. Educators will continue to play a critical role in education systems that schools still control. In the fnest systems, even so, their function will have shifted from that of knowledge suppliers to that of mentors, assisting youngsters in learning to navigate the universe of digital data. This is especially important when working with disadvantaged children who may lack the parental and community support needed to organise and socialise education (Unwin et al. 2017).

# **6.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 6.1 presents the business models of 49 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-4. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://www.solarpak.net/; https://alchemyimmersive. com/; https://bluecanoelearning.com/; https://bridge-u. com/; https://campuslogic.com/; https://coachhub.io/en/; https://codecombat.com/; https://cubomania.io/; https:// delphia.com/; https://edutekno.com.tr/; https://elevateu. ai/; https://elsaspeak.com/en/; https://en.duolingo.com/; https://eonreality.com/; https://gethownow.com/; https:// inurture.co.in/; https://learnwithhomer.com; https:// locorobo.co/index.html; https://odem.cloud/; https://photomath.com/en/; https://riiid.com/en/main; https://roybirobot.com/; https://scanmarker.com/; https://shop. robolink.com/; https://tab.gladly.io/; https://tinalp.com/; https://wondertree.co/; https://www.12twenty.com/; https://www.applyboard.com/; https://www.arduino.cc/; https://www.aurum3d.com/; https://www.avidbots.com/; https://www.betterup.com/; https://www.brainscape. com/; https://www.brightbytes.net; https://www.century. tech/; https://www.civitaslearning.com/; https://www. coursera.org/; https://www.disciplina.io/; https://www. grammarly.com/; https://www.immerse.online/; https:// www.mereka.my/; https://www.odilo.us/; https://www. ossovr.com/; https://www.packback.co/; https://www. talespin.com/; https://www.transfrvr.com/; https://www. verizon.com/; https://ziotag.com/


**Table 6.1** Companies and use cases in SDG-4









**Table 6.1** (continued)



**Table 6.1** (continued)





**Table 6.1** (continued)



# **References**


at/2019/04/05/sdg-4-education-matter/. Accessed 16 Agu 2021


sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ Goal-4.pdf. Accessed 14 Aug 2021


www.tr.undp.org/content/turkey/en/home/sustainabledevelopment-goals/goal-4-quality-education.html. Accessed 1 Aug 2021


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

### © The Author(s) 2022 S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_7

### **Abstract**

Gender equality, the ffth of the sustainable development goals of the UN, is a base element for creating a comfortable, sustainable and wealthy world and being a fundamental human right. While achieving the goals for a sustainable future, SDG-5, Gender Equality, will be one of the building blocks of this path. So, taking actions to accomplish the goals of SDG-5 is not only crucial for the related SDG itself, but also it helps to proceed in other SDGs as well. This chapter presents the business models of 16 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-5. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable Development Goals · Business models · Gender Equality · Sustainability

Gender equality, the ffth of the sustainable development goals of the UN, is a base element for creating a comfortable, sustainable and wealthy world and being a fundamental human right. The word "gender" is not the same concept as the word "sex". Sex refers to the biological distinction between men and women, and gender means the social status that is attributed to men and women. Gender roles can change according to religion, ethnicity, age and environment (Kumar Pathania 2017). The concept of gender equality is the name given to ensuring equal rights and freedoms regardless of gender in all social events such as gender ratio in companies, salary ratio, psychological and physical violence, right to vote and gender ratio in education (Shastri 2014). An important step for ensuring gender equality is women's empowerment. Women's empowerment refers to the essentiality of a woman's ability to have more authority in her life independently from her sex (Kumar Pathania 2017).

SDG-5 aims to end all forms of discrimination against women and girls, including ending violence, ensuring access to sexual health and reproductive rights and ending child marriage and sexual exploitation. Also, it aimed to increase the visibility of women in society and encourage women to appear in all spheres of life (Stuart and Woodroffe 2016). Even though gender inequality is decreasing, women still face various diffculties. Several examples can be given (United Nations 2018):

# **7 SDG-5 Gender Equality**

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of İlke Burçak, Fatma Balık, Aleyna Yıldız, Fatmanur Babacan, Handan Öner, Enejan Allajova and Batuhan Özcan in completing this chapter. They also contributed to Chapter 2's Artifcial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Distributed Computing, Edge Computing and Quantum Computing sections.

7 SDG-5 Gender Equality


The examples given above are only a tiny part of the inequality experienced. These inequalities have driven women to seek equality and effectively include gender equality among sustainable development goals. Taking actions to achieve the goals of SDG-5 is not only crucial for the related SDG itself, but also it helps to proceed in other SDGs. Although it does not seem so, progressing in gender-related issues serves, facilitates and expedites the improvements in some of the remaining main goals (IISD 2017). In this perspective, to achieve gender equality and women empowerment, six targets were determined by the UN. Figure 7.1 summarises the targets and indicators of SDG-5.

Environmental policy is inextricably related to sustainable development goals, and it's hard to conceive sustainable development goals without modern digital technology. Emerging technologies are increasingly essential instruments for achieving a balance of low environmental impact and high performance (Мачкасова 2020). Sustainable development cannot be accomplished unless gender equality is ensured. However, gender inequality is a reality that exists almost everywhere globally. Therefore, it is a possible and sad event that today's people are exposed to injustice and discrimination because their genders are different. In such a situation, gender equality, which aims to end discrimination between the sexes, is very important to us. Since women and girls make up approximately half of the world's population, they are potentially half its total potential. However, gender inequality still exists today and undermines the development of society (United Nations 2021).

First of all, gender equality is a human right, and all women and girls should have the same rights and lives as men. Gender equality is a basic human right and indispensable for a peaceful and sustainable world. Despite such goals, sexism and discrimination persist. For example, one in fve women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 are exposed to sexual or physical violence by someone else (United Nations 2021). Also, in many countries, the sexes are segregated, such that women are denied inheritance and land ownership (Shi et al. 2019). In addition to this, women and girls are exposed to all kinds of violence and are subjected to all sorts of injustices in business and social life. Considering all these, ending gender inequality has a crucial place for the development of humanity. Therefore, gender equality, the ffth goal of sustainable development, representing equality for women and men everywhere and in all felds according to their needs, is the number one method of eliminating tyranny against people's gender (Murat 2017). During the last 20 years, gender equality has been the main study area for UNDP. According to statistics of UNDP,

**Fig. 7.1** Targets and indicators of SDG-5. (United Nations 2021)

today more girls continue to a school than 15 years ago. However, in some areas, this sexual violence and discrimination are still in progress even by the governments. In addition to all these discriminations (salary inequality, job inequality or others), climate change, natural disasters and migrations affect women and children negatively much more in many ways as they are more prone to adverse conditions (United Nations Development Programme 2021).

Achieving SDG-5's goal will lead to equal and quality access to education for both women and girls who cannot reach education because of being exposed to discrimination and completing one of the goals of quality education (SDG-4). Abolishing discrimination against women and girls also helps achieve goals of reduced inequalities (SDG-10) by supporting their participation in the elections, decent work and economic growth (SDG-8) by supporting their access to the labour market and providing them decent work opportunities to survive and peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG-16) by obtaining more peaceful and connected societies (United Nations 2018). In short, if the SDG-5 goals are achieved, then they will affect the other sustainable development goals of the UN.

The other important side of SDG-5 is the discrimination of women in labour. According to UN data, one of every four people in parliament is a woman. When looking at the inequality between the ages of 25 and 34, women in this age group have extreme poverty, 25% more than men. A woman must work three times more to get the same salary as a man. The difference in labour force participation between 25 and 54 is 31% in the last 20 years. Women are paid 16% less than men, and only one in four managers is a woman. Looking at young people between the ages of 15 and 24, while illiteracy is 14%, it is 31% for women. While 39% of women work as agricultural workers, only 14% own land. Forty percent of women do not trust the justice system and are afraid of its vulnerabilities. One hundred ninety million women wanted to avoid pregnancy; however, they could not fnd a way for it in 2019 (United Nations Women 2021).

Gender equality is an indicator of success in different felds, for example, in the economy, health, safety, business, racial equality, reducing poverty and bringing peace. Therefore, SDG-5 is a method to ensure gender equality in this regard. There are several specifc feld examples that SDG-5 affects:

• Moreover, gender inequality has severe consequences during natural disasters. Experts explored how gender disparity contributes to death and damage at the 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction. Climate change, which increases the severity of natural disasters, also affects gender equality, looking at the results of other studies, and puts female individuals in even more poor conditions. Women can have a more decisive part in their own protection when a gender viewpoint is included in discussions (Human Rights Careers 2020). Unequal societies have fewer social and emotional bonds. High rates of non-social harmful behaviour and violence are observed in these countries. In genderequal countries, the situation is the opposite, where people are cohesive. People in these countries are healthier and have better life conditions (Victorian Government Directory 2021).


While achieving the goals for a sustainable future, SDG-5 will be one of the building blocks of this path. So, taking actions to accomplish the goals of SDG-5 is not only crucial for the related SDG itself, but also it helps to proceed in other SDGs as mentioned above. Although it does not seem so, progressing in gender-related issues serves, facilitates and expedites the improvements in some of the remaining main goals (IISD 2017). According to the report published by the European Institute for Gender Equality, abbreviated as EIGE, even in the continent that contains some of the most developed countries in the world, that is, Europe, SDG-5 could not progress appreciably (Barbieri et al. 2020). If we look at the larger framework, it is expected that, by 2030, 169 targets which correspond to 17 goals will not be successfully met. Prioritising certain goals, in particular SDG-5, is one possible attitude to take one step forward in speeding up completing the targets at the regional, national and mondial levels. As it can be seen from the previously mentioned topic above, there is no doubt that one of the most inclusive and universal goals is gender equality. Therefore, transforming the SDG-5 into the focal point of the progress plans, both intellectually and offcially, can help move forward in the 2030 agenda and shape the new route map after 2030 accordingly (Hepp et al. 2019). To exemplify the bond of SDG-5 with other SDG, combinations between SDG-5 (Gender Equality) and SDG-16 (Peace and Justice, Strong Institutions) have emerged in recent years, and achieving gender equality is considered to be instrumental in progress as countries improve their ability to provide stable governments or vice versa. In any case, such efforts will have to be greatly increased in the future in terms of achieving the SDGs, including the Paris Climate Accord and lengthy gender equality, in these specifc situations (Kroll et al. 2019).

In addition, ensuring gender equality, especially in education, will also contribute to the future economically. According to a study that predicts economic growth, if women receive education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the employment rate is expected to grow by 0.5–0.8% until 2030. This growth is expected to increase to 2.5% by 2050 ("Economic Benefts of Gender Equality in the EU", 2021). However, unfortunately, in countries like Nigeria awareness of gender equality is not provided in education. Thus, there can be no development for the future. Since teachers do not have suffcient knowledge about gender equality, they cannot inform people about it both inside and outside the school. It will be tough to build a country based on gender equality if this gap is not flled with a signifcant gender equality gap. It is challenging to integrate gender equality projects in an environment with no infrastructure. In this respect, insuffcient knowledge about gender equality will cause future generations to be unaware of this issue.

There are a lot of differences between genders, and these differences refect consumption and production activities (Roushdy 2004). Women's reliance on money in the family increases spending and development, which is benefcial for all family members (Schady and Rosero 2008; Rubalcava et al. 2009). A woman can be seen in the business world and be in the role of a worker or an entrepreneur. However, inequalities can create gaps in women's lives, such as entering a new workplace, preventing them from gaining professional competence (BarNir 2012) or having a role in work. Even in the same job, women receive 86% of men's salary in public institutions and 76% in the private sector, which causes diffculties in their careers (Shi et al. 2019). Even for women entrepreneurs, these situations are not different (Fairlie and Robb 2009). When looking at fnance performance, the ideas and products of women entrepreneurs are not worse than male entrepreneurs. However, establishments where women entrepreneurs run businesses raise fewer fnancial resources (Demartini 2019). This leads to the gender employment gap, and if this gap is closed, GDP will increase by 11% (Victorian Government Directory 2021).

Women's infuence extends beyond businesses and organisations. As stated in the studies, the economy benefts from improving women's economic engagement. If the average wages of women living in OECD countries were raised to the current Swedish level, GDP would increase by about \$6 trillion. Thus, it is obvious that the pay gap between genders is quite harmful to the economy (Human Rights Careers 2020). As it was mentioned as an example above, in Australia's GDP, enterprises, where at least three out of ten people in the management of the company staff are women, are 15% more proftable. If the number of men and women entering the workforce from higher education is equalised, the Australian economy will beneft eight billion dollars. In Victoria, police spend 2 out of 5 h dealing with issues related to family violence, costing more than \$3.4 billion annually in fnancial terms. In Australia, the budget for unpaid care is six times higher than the budget for paid care, and the majority of those who do these unpaid care jobs are women (Victorian Government Directory 2021).

In short, the goal of SDG-5 is about empowering women's economic status and fnance. Steps were taken to achieve this goal and accelerate the progress in no poverty (SDG-1) to reduce the number of women who are having a hard time fnding a job to live by promoting a prominent endorsement for their economic freedom and rights. Thus, this ensures the ideas that were mentioned above about poverty. Additionally, creating economic opportunities and amenities for women results in sustainable industrial development, which is one of the targets of industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG-9) (UN Women 2018). Thus, it is concluded that gender equality affects every feld, and it will lead to development, especially in the economy.

# **7.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 7.1 presents the business models of 16 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-5. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://www.equilo.io/; http://www.pipelineequity.com/; https://encourage.f/; https://equalista.com/; https:// equileap.com/; https://safeandthecity.com/about-us; https://salvatio.dk/; https://solve.mit.edu/challenges/ frontlines-of-health/solutions/4506; https://www.avawomen.com/; https://www.bodyguard.ai/individuals; https://www.developdiverse.com/product/; https://www. euphoria.lgbt/; https://www.metta-space.com/about; https://www.shimmy.io/; https://www.sisterwave.com/; https://www.someturva.f/vaikuttajat





## **References**


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **8 SDG-6 Clean Water and Sanitation**

### **Abstract**

The sixth sustainable development goal, Clean Water and Sanitation, is to ensure that everyone has access to safe, clean water. Everyone has the right to healthy, adequate, physically accessible and affordable water for household use under the right to water security. Acknowledging that millions of people lack access to clean water for sanitation, there is an urgent need for major investments in infrastructure and governance of water provisioning to ensure public health and increase resilience for transmissible diseases and virus outbreaks. This chapter presents the business models of 36 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-6. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable Development Goals · Business models · Clean Water and Sanitation · Sustainability.

The sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formally accepted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on September 5, 2015, paving the way for a sustained, unifed development effort on a global scale, leaving the millennium development goals (MDGs) in the dust. They are a collection of 17 goals that are anticipated to affect global social, economic and environmental policy through 2030. The sixth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) is to ensure that everyone has access to safe, clean water. Everyone has the right to healthy, adequate, physically accessible and affordable water for household use under the right to water security (UN 2015). Although the MDGs have made progress, the goal of improving basic sanitation through access to latrines and sanitary waste collection remains unmet. In addition, the population predictions of nine billion people by 2050 imply that more work remains to be done. SDG-6 performance and its implications on other SDGs are infuenced by a variety of factors at various geographical and temporal dimensions. Signifcantly, the actuality of SDG-6 is defned by natural limits, regulations and ethnic identities (UN 2015).

Water is a limited resource, and increased demand causes water stress, resulting from water accessibility, need and water quality. These challenges are caused by expanding human population and per capita water consumption, increasing urbanisation, the consequences of climate change, the need for additional irrigation water to boost food production and environmental needs

8 SDG-6 Clean Water and Sanitation

for environmental preservation and biodiversity. While climate change impacts water ecosystems and water resource accessibility, socioeconomic factors increase water demand and degrade water sources (Komarulzaman et al. 2017). Briefy, SDG-6 includes local water supply objectives and governance and technologically focused objectives. Achieving the objectives of SDG-6 is essential not just for water-related concerns but also for other SDGs such as SDG-2 on zero waste and SDG-14 on life below water, as well as for the future of the Earth. Clean water is vital not just for humanity but also for fora, fauna and other associated sustainable development initiatives. Sustainable development necessitates the reduction of waste and the recycling of as much water as feasible through the use of a circular system (Gulseven and Mostert 2017). The agenda recognised the need for clean water and proper sanitation for human rights. Clean water is linked to all aspects of life, including food, nutrition, illnesses and poverty reduction. It contributes to promoting sustainable economic growth and the preservation of the planet's biosphere. SDG-6 defnes eight global targets. These are all essential elements that are included in SDG-6. These targets are universally accepted, but all governments ensure the implementation of the targets according to their national liabilities (Alshomali and Gulseven 2020). In line with "Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" by the UN, the eight main targets of SDG-6 are illustrated in Fig. 8.1. These targets are categorised under two headings: main targets and implementation targets. The main targets of SDG-6 are illustrated from 6.1 to 6.6, whereas the implementation targets are 6.A and 6.B.

So far, the millennium development goals have aided in mobilising the globe to enhance access to clean water and sanitation. By 2015, hundreds of thousands of people have acquired better water and sanitation access. From 2000 to 2015, the percentage of the world's population that used better sanitation climbed from 59% to 68%. This indicates that in 2015, 4.9 billion people worldwide had access to better sanitation (UN 2016). Notwithstanding, there is still a long way to go for hundreds of thousands of people who do not have access. In 2020, slightly more than half (54%) of the world's population will access adequately managed sanitation. Yet, it's alarming that nearly one-half of the population does not. Around 6% of the population does not have access to sanitation and must practice open defecation (Ritchie and Roser 2021). SDG-6 substantially boosts the degree of expectation for the water sector, asking for universal access to safe water and sanitation while addressing challenges of water quality and shortage concerns over the next 15 years to balance the demands of the environment, energy, communities, agriculture and industry (Leigland et al. 2016).

On the one hand, poor sanitation results in fnancial damages due to the direct expenses of curing sanitation-related diseases and lost money due to diminished or lost production. Furthermore, poor sanitation costs time and effort owing to inaccessible or inadequate sanitation facilities, reduced product quality due to poor water quality, lower tourism income and more clean-up expenses. As a result, it is undeniable that increased sanitation signifcantly infuences people's health and the overall economy (Van Minh and Hung 2011). On the other hand, the world will not fulfl the SDGs unless the international fnancial system undergoes signifcant change. Fulflling the targets of SDG-6 by 2030 is not possible with the current fnancing. Meeting SDG goals 6.1 (i.e. ensuring that everybody has access to clean and affordable drinking water by 2030) and 6.2 (i.e. achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations by 2030) is expected to cost around US\$150 billion every year (sanitation and hygiene for all in a fair manner). Additional SDG-6 objectives such as protecting waterrelated ecosystems, minimising water pollution and adopting integrated water resource management will cost signifcantly more; total global WSS infrastructure development needs are expected to reach US\$6.7 and US\$22.6 trillion by 2030 and 2050 respectively. Although the most immediate requirements are in the Global South, high-income nations are also suffering

**Fig. 8.1** Eight targets of SDG-6. (United Nations 2021)

from severe defcits; the USA, for example, is expected to require US\$1 trillion in water supply and sanitation (WSS) investment over the next 20 years (McDonald et al. 2021).

Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals is to guarantee that everyone has access to clean drinking water and sanitation by 2030, at the cost of around \$150 billion annually. There exist a few funding sources. One alternative is private fnance in the form of direct equity investment from private water frms and commercial bank credit. According to a study, private investments in water and sanitation have not materialised as expected due to the industry's risk-return profle. Private investors regard water and sanitation as "too complex", with inadequately attractive returns. An undiscovered resource of public funds, public banks, is one option for flling the fnancial gap for water supply and sanitation. Even though there are about 900 public banks globally, with assets totalling \$49 trillion, academic studies and mainstream policy institutions such as the World Bank have been widely ignored as a key source of water and sanitation funding (McDonald et al. 2021). Therefore, SDG-6 has its challenges as it has its targets. SDG-6 must overcome its challenges to achieve its goal to "ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all" (Katila et al. 2019). Sadly, the water industry is failing to fulfl its targets, and studies imply that SDG-6 will face three main challenges (Alshomali and Gulseven 2020):


political stability, institutional rules, administrative management, wise decision-making and related implementations. These gaps can be solved by the government using data accountability.

SDG-6 is critical to achieving sustainable development, as access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation are human rights (UN-Water 2021). The availability of these services, especially water and soap for handwashing, is critical to human health and well-being. They are necessary for improving nutrition, preventing disease and providing healthcare, as well as guaranteeing the smooth operation of schools, workplaces and political institutions, as well as disadvantaged and marginalised groups' full involvement in society. The evidence for the negative health effects of inadequate water and sanitation is overwhelming. Poor water and sanitation can lead to a wide range of severe diseases, such as diarrhoea (Howard et al. 2016). In 2017, approximately 1.2 million people died as a result of contaminated water sources, equivalent to 2.2% of all deaths worldwide (Ritchie and Roser 2021).

As mentioned in the recent Summary Progress Update for SDG-6 (UN-Water 2021), acceleration in future action depends on several factors. One of the main bottlenecks is that due to policy and institutional disintegration between different levels, sectors and actors, decisions are taken in one area, or the sector usually falls short of considering the impacts on water quality and availability in other areas. Such fragmentation along with funding gaps and lack of data and information sharing across sectors and borders result in problems in informed decision-making. Furthermore, the implementation of SDG-6 targets is slowed by institutional and human capacity defciencies, particularly at the local government and water and sanitation provider levels, as well as inadequate infrastructure and governance models. Five accelerators to drive action at a larger scale were proposed to overcome the problems. Optimising fnance, improving data and information, capacity development, fostering innovation and effective governance are all needed for delivering SDG-6 results for the future.

There is also a change needed in three professional perspectives that guide water policy. These are economics, management and engineering (Sadoff et al. 2020). Economics should not treat water resources as abundant resources to minimise the costs of its provision. Economics as a discipline should acknowledge the value of water as the scarce key resource and not the capital that is required for its provision. Water engineering also needs to be revised in a way that needs and goals-based perspectives replace the linear and centralised approach to water engineering. This means that by using the existing technology, water engineers should design wastewater recycling systems and differentiate between the sources of water, its costs and qualities to utilise each for certain needs and goals better. "Water engineering needs to move beyond the concepts of reliability and optimality, which evaluate designs over a narrow set of objectives and possible future conditions, to focus on robustness and fexibility in the face of uncertainty" (Sadoff et al. 2020). Finally, water management must increase its capacity to deal with complexity and trade-offs. Adaptive and integrated water management is required in an uncertain environment to account for interconnections, changes and potential surprises. Integrated techniques help identify and minimise trade-offs, as well as the unravelling of unforeseen consequences. They also help promote inclusiveness in water management, as different stakeholders from different sectors at all scales are brought together.

Finally, in line with the impacts of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, acknowledging that millions of people lack access to clean water for sanitation, there is an urgent need for major investments in infrastructure and governance of water provisioning to ensure public health and increase resilience for transmissible diseases and virus outbreaks.

## **8.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 8.1 presents the business models of 36 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-6. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://worldswaterfund.com/; http://www.fuidrobotics. com/; https://4lifesolutions.com/; https://aquarobur.com/; https://asterra.io/; https://boxedwaterisbetter.com/; https:// cropx.com/; https://enbiorganic.com/; https://fredsense. com/; https://orbital-systems.com/; https://lifestraw.com/; https://metropolder.com/en/; https://puralytics.com/; https://rentricity.com/; https://robonext.eu/case-studies/ water-link/; https://uptraded.com/; https://wasserdreinull. de/en/; https://watly.co/; https://www.aguardio.com/; https://www.bluetap.co.uk/; https://www.ecoworth-tech. com/; https://www.sarastear.com/en/; https://www.hibot. co.jp/; https://www.hydraloop.com/; https://www.idrica. com/goaigua/drinking-water/#; https://www.innovyze. com/en-us; https://www.lishtot.com/tech.php; https:// www.mwater.co/; https://www.oceowater.online/oceo/ website/index; https://www.oleanetworks.com/; https:// www.ranmarine.io/; https://www.semillasanitationhubs. com/; https://www.solarscaremosquito.com/; https:// www.takadu.com/; https://www.zte.com.cn/global/; https://zwitterco.com/


**Table 8.1** Companies and use cases in SDG-6



**Table 8.1** (continued)



**Table 8.1** (continued)





**Table 8.1** (continued)


# **References**


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **9 SDG-7 Afordable and Clean Energy**

### **Abstract**

Reaching affordable, clean, sustainable, modern and reliable energy is the main aim of the Sustainable Development Goal 7. Energy is placed at the centre of environmental and economic issues. Despite this signifcance, 20% of people living worldwide cannot access electricity in 2021. Adaptation towards SDG-7, Affordable and Clean Energy, brings in new investments and creates a signifcant economy around it. While private investments and government spending in developed countries concentrate on achieving effciency and renewable energy production, developing countries focus on obtaining access to electricity and clean energy sources. This chapter presents the business models of 60 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-7. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Affordable and clean energy · Sustainability

Reaching affordable, clean, sustainable, modern and reliable energy is the main aim of the Sustainable Development Goal 7. Energy is placed at the centre of environmental and economic issues. Despite this signifcance, 20% of people living worldwide cannot access electricity in 2021. Also, the utilisation of renewable energy sources must increase because of the high-level demand for energy. For example, the ratio of people reaching for clean energy for cooking has increased from 50% in 2010 to 66% in 2019 (United Nations 2021a). The renewable and nonrenewable energy sources are obtained from the environment. Examples of these energy sources are coal, natural gas, petroleum, hydropower, solar wind, etc. Energy sources, including fossil fuels and renewables, are in high demand worldwide. Despite excellent progress in expanding access to power, increasing the use of renewable energy in the electrical sector and improving energy effciency during the past decade, the world remains far from obtaining cheap, dependable, sustainable and contemporary energy for all. With an average yearly electrifcation rate of 0.876 percentage points, the worldwide power

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Berk Ürkmez, Görkem Balyalıgil, Ali Emir Güzey, Samet Özyiğit, Kerem Şen and Esra Kılıç in completing this chapter. They also contributed to Chapter 2's Advanced Materials, Blockchain, Energy Storage, Hydrogen and Internet of Things sections.

access rate improved from 83% in 2010 to 90% in 2019. The worldwide access defcit has shrunk from 1.22 billion in 2010 to 759 million in 2019. Despite signifcant efforts, there may still be 660 million people without access to electricity in 2030 (United Nations 2021b). Whereas bioenergy is the most common renewable energy source, approximately three billion are utilising the energy sources such as wood, coal, animal waste and so on (United Nations 2021a).

Since 2010, the number of people who have gained electricity access has exceeded a billion, making it possible for 90% of the world population to be linked in 2019. Despite this, 759 million people lack access to electricity, and the majority of these people live in areas that are unstable or affected by confict. While regional differences continue to exist, the global electricity access defcit concentration is located in Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 75% of the gap on a global scale. The number of people without access to electricity is less than 2% of the population in Eastern Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In Sub-Saharan Africa, this number is around 50%. Within countries with major access defcits, Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda have shown the largest improvements since 2010. This is attributable to more than three percentage points annual electrifcation growth rates, largely due to an integrated approach that combines grid, mini-grid and ongrid solar electrifcation (IRENA 2021a).

According to new data released this year, the number of individuals without access to lowcarbon cooking equipment has steadily decreased. Since 2010, around 450 million individuals in India and China have acquired access to clean cooking due to clean air policies and liquefed petroleum gas (LPG) transition programmes. The problem in Sub-Saharan Africa is very severe, and the situation is deteriorating. Only 17% of the population has access to safe cooking water. Over 2.6 billion people in the world still lack access, and household air pollution, caused by cooking smoke, is responsible for roughly 2.5 million early graves each year (IEA 2020).

From 63 (56–68)% in 2018, the percentage of people in the world who have access to clean cooking fuels and technology rose to 66% (confdence ranges of 59–71%) in 2019. There were 2.6 (2.2–3.1) billion people in the world who did not have access to the Internet. Clean fuels and technologies were only nine percentage points more accessible in 2018 than in 2010 when 57% (52–62%) of the world population had access. According to current trends, the world will not be up to the 2030 universal access objective by about 30%, reaching only 72% of the population. To accomplish the aim of universal access to sustainable fuels and technology by 2030, annual increases of more than three percentage points would be required (*The Energy Progress Report 2021* 2021).

Renewable energy comes from naturally renewing but fow-limited sources; renewable resources are nearly limitless in terms of duration but have a limited amount of energy per unit of time (EIA 2020). Technological advancements have increased the consumption and interest in renewable energy sources, owing to rising pollution and rapid fossil fuel usage. Many nations debate energy, energy security and global warming, and rules are being developed in this context. The United Nations (UN) is responsible for the most important pioneering study in this subject. The energy sources listed below are the most well-known renewable energy sources.

The energy produced by the use of sunlight and heat is called solar energy. Solar energy has different uses, and these can be generating electricity from solar energy or heating air and water. The use of solar energy in the world is increasing day by day, and by the end of 2020, more than 700 GW of energy will be produced from the sun, which will equal approximately 3% of the energy consumed in the world (ARENA 2021).

Winds occur in various regions of the world depending on atmospheric events. Winds, moving air, cause kinetic energy, which can be converted into electrical energy with the help of wind turbines (IRENA 2021a, b). The use of both onshore and offshore wind turbines has increased signifcantly in the last 20 years for electricity generation from wind energy. While there was a production capacity of 7.5 gigawatts (GW) in 1997, this fgure increased approximately 75 times in 2018 and reached 564 GW. Electricity generation using wind energy has more than doubled from 2009 to 2013 and equalled 16% of the energy produced using renewable energy sources in 2016 (IRENA 2021b).

One of the commercially developed renewable energy technologies is hydroelectric energy technologies. In this technology, a reservoir for water is created, usually using a large area. The water accumulated in this reservoir is released when energy is needed, and it turns the turbines into the dam to generate energy. The difference between this energy source and other renewable energy sources is that it provides continuity. While solar energy and wind energy can sometimes cause fuctuations in production in energy systems, energy can be produced when needed in hydroelectric energy systems (EDF 2021).

Geothermal energy originates from the heat underneath the Earth's surface. The causes of this heat are the actions that take place inside Earth and the planet's structure. Although this heat is practically endless, it is not allocated evenly under every part of the surface (Barbier, 2002). Places where geysers or fault lines are located are more suitable for geothermal energy production. Produced energy can be utilised in heating and electricity. Worldwide total installed geothermal energy capacity was 14,013 MW in 2020 (IRENA 2021a).

Biomass mostly derives from organic waste generated by plants and animals. It can be used to produce liquid, gaseous or solid biofuel by biological, chemical or thermochemical conversion processes and to produce heat by directly burning it (EIA 2021). Worldwide total installed bioenergy capacity as liquid, gaseous or solid biofuels was over 130,000 MW in 2020 (IRENA 2021a).

The ratio of the amount of consumed energy and created specifc output is called energy effciency. In fnal usage areas such as manufacturing, buildings, construction, agriculture and transportation, highly effcient technological instruments are key to achieving effciency goals. Emission savings and air quality are directly associated with energy production and effciency levels, so any effort to improve effciency in fnal usage areas and electricity production would contribute massively against the GHG problem. Governmental energy policies are major impulses for effciency and consumption rates, but private efforts such as digitalisation in industry and residences are similarly effective only when they are practised collectively. For instance, it is predicted that digitalisation in the building sector could cut CO2 emissions by 10% in 2030 (IEA 2019). The building sector includes the construction industry and residential usage and represented 36% of total energy consumption in the world in 2018 (Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction 2018). A conceptual residential digitalisation includes smart grid infrastructure, IoT-enabled learning algorithms, management and edge computing systems (Küfeoğlu 2021). Industrial digitalisation advanced rapidly due to high energy usage density per facility, but in comparison, single houses have much lower energy usage density. Thus, only a collective switch to smart houses and smart grid systems would make a difference in global energy effciency.

Other high energy density industries such as manufacturing and agriculture are quite open felds for automatisation and digitalisation, and at some point, energy-saving actions in these felds must be taken by machines and intelligent systems instead of humans to get rid of human intervention and error (Küfeoğlu 2021). Even though intelligent systems have a cost at the beginning, long-term effects include, frst and foremost, energy effciency, positive budget changes, air quality and individuals' well-being.

One of the goals in SDG-7 is to increase access to clean energy through international cooperation. This direction supports research and development projects on clean energy, energy effciency and cleaner fossil fuel technologies (United Nations 2021a). In addition, incentives are provided for investments in the energy infrastructure with the studies to be carried out. To achieve this goal, investments to be made by developing countries in clean energy, including hybrid systems, are supported fnancially. Although the fnancial fow in this area continues, the amount of fnancing transferred to the least developed countries remains below the

**Fig. 9.1** Targets of SDG-7. (United Nations 2021a, b)

desired level. Although there are fnancial fows in this area today, studies need to be done especially on the countries that are left behind. In this direction, among the future targets under the title of international fnancial fow are strengthening international connections and increasing the fnancial fow in general, especially in lagging countries. Although governments and various development fnance institutions have announced support in line with the targets set today, the desired levels have not been reached yet, and studies on this issue need to be increased (*The Energy Progress Report 2021* 2021). Figure 9.1 summarises the targets of SDG-7.

With the targets set by the United Nations in 2015, sustainable development has been discussed in three dimensions. Holistic development is aimed at considering economic, social and environmental perspectives. In this study, plans were made by considering different countries' development levels and national realities (Calzadilla and Mauger 2017). Efforts within the scope of SDG-7 are aimed at affordable, reliable, modern and sustainable energy for everyone (Sustainable Development Goal on Energy (SDG-7) and the World Bank Group 2016). One of the important steps to be taken in line with this purpose is to realise fnancial fow. Thanks to this fnancial fow that has been realised and will be realised, especially developing countries will be able to fulfl the 2030 targets set by the UN. With the studies in the feld of renewable energy, important steps have been taken, especially in decentralised electricity generation. Studies have been carried out on the problem of not delivering electricity to underdeveloped regions with the contribution of renewable energy. While 1.2 billion people did not have access to electricity in 2010, this fgure decreased to 759 million in 2019. Although this fgure is desired to be reduced even more for 2030, the target set for 2030 is to reduce the number of people who cannot reach electricity to 660 million, with the effect of the pandemic in the world. Progress in achieving clean cooking conditions is as stable as it gets. By 2019, 2.6 billion people still do not have clean cooking facilities. The smoke produced during cooking still endangers the lives of many people. The target set for 2030 is to reduce this fgure by 30%. To achieve this goal, radical steps must be taken (Sustainable Energy for All 2021a). Another target set is energy effciency. The United Nations also carried out various studies to increase energy effciency, starting with the motto of "the cleanest energy, is unconsumed energy." In line with this target, efforts are underway to reduce primary energy intensity from 5.6 megajoules (MJ) per USD in 2010 to 3.4 by 2030. In 2018, this fgure decreased to 4.75 MJ/USD, and studies in this direction continue (Sustainable Energy for All 2021b). When these targets are achieved by 2030, signifcant progress will be achieved in clean and affordable energy, although not enough. Although there are various regressions in the studies carried out, especially with the effects of the pandemic period, studies continue to reach these targets with the right targets to be set.

In addition to these targets set for 2030 by the United Nations, countries also have their plans for renewable energy and energy effciency. For example, while the United States provides 21% of its electricity production from renewable sources in 2020, the target set for 2050 is to increase this fgure to 42% (Dubin 2021). European countries are particularly ambitious in this regard. Sweden aims to eliminate fossil fuels in electricity generation by 2040 and is investing in this direction. Denmark, which met more than half of its energy from solar and wind in 2017, has set a fossil fuel-free future target for 2050. Germany aims to meet 65% of its electricity production from renewable sources in its 2030 target. Studies on this subject are not only carried out in Europe and America (Climate Council 2019). In addition, while China aims to produce 35% of its electricity from renewable sources in 2030, Chile has set a 70% renewable energy target for 2050. Indonesia, one of the Asian countries, aims to increase the share of renewable energy from 2% in the country to 23% by 2025, in line with its decisions (Siahaan 2014). Many countries have similar renewable energy future plans. By 2050, it is foreseen that 100% of the energy of 139 countries will be met by renewable energy (McKenna 2017).

Like the investments made in renewable energy, many countries are also working on energy effciency, as it is the cheapest and cleanest means of energy source. Besides, with the advancements in energy effciency, there is a decrease in carbon emission rates. Each country has its own goals and its own specifc goals in its unions, such as the European Union. By 2030, the EU aims to achieve 32.5% progress in energy effciency (Malinauskaite et al. 2020). For example, Germany is working to reduce its primary energy consumption by 50% compared to its consumption in 2008 as a target for 2050 (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy 2021). Chile has carried out studies to support the renewable energy target it set in 2015 regarding energy effciency and aims to signifcantly improve energy effciency by 2050 by setting new standards (Siahaan 2014). The UK aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 78% from 1990 levels by 2035 and zero emissions by 2050 (GOV. UK 2021). To achieve this goal, they turn to renewable energy sources and work on energy effciency to reduce energy consumption. All these investments and studies carried out in these areas emerge as a result of certain fnancial planning and create many new job opportunities. In achieving these goals, it is important to manage the fnancial fow correctly.

The energy that is both affordable and clean guarantees that modern civilisation can function smoothly and productively. Industries have thrived, thanks to the existing energy system based on fossil fuels. However, it has led to severe climate change and exponential environmental deterioration. The private sector accounts for 23% of global electricity consumption, mostly met by damaging fossil fuels. Businesses may help speed up the transition to sustainable energy systems by investing in renewable energy technologies, research and development, focusing on energy effciency and incorporating clean energy into their daily operations. They may go beyond their practices and invest in renewable energy sources for their communities, ensuring that their employees and customers have access to it and even providing renewable technology to developing countries (Bureau 2021).

Adaptation towards SDG-7 brings in new investments and creates a signifcant economy around it. While private investments and government spending in developed countries concentrate on achieving effciency and renewable energy production, developing countries focus on obtaining access to electricity and clean energy sources. As an example, in 2020, the government of the United Kingdom introduced a £350 million package for the transition from fossil fuels to environment-friendly sources ("PM commits £350 million to fuel green recovery," 2020). Additionally, the United States and Germany raised funding equal to US\$7 billion and US\$45 billion, respectively, and South Korea declared a 5-year package of US\$63 billion to increase the portion of clean energy (Beyer and Vandermosten 2021). Furthermore, international fnancial fow to developing countries rose to US\$14 billion in 2018 from US\$10.1 billion in 2010 (IRENA 2021a). However, African countries struggle to fnd private investment, and governments' spending on energy is not strong enough to achieve the goals. According to recent surveys, very few nations in Sub-Saharan Africa spend higher than 4% of their GDP on infrastructure, which prevents access to electricity and clean energy sources by all (Baumli and Jamasb 2020).

Moreover, the energy sector presents many employment opportunities. Global renewable energy employment is expected to reach 11.5 million in 2019 from 11 million in 2018. Although a few countries dominate the market, for instance, the top 10 biofuel producer countries account for 90% of the present jobs, the proftability of new technologies expands the current network to a wider range of countries (IRENA 2020). From 2015 to 2019, the energy effciency sector has created more than 400,000 new jobs solely in the United States. It grew at a rate of 20%, roughly three times faster than the whole US economy (NASEO and EFI 2020). Furthermore, expansion of the renewable energy sector has a benefcial impact on jobs, as more positions are being provided in the power, agriculture and construction industries. Even though it is causing job losses in the fossil fuel distribution industry and in high energy-demanding businesses as rising energy prices reduce their proftability, the effect of the expansion in the renewable energy sector to employment is still positive in different scenarios. In 2050, 1.3% of EU employment is expected to be redistributed among several sectors with the low-carbon transition in the EU (Fragkos and Paroussos 2018).

## **9.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 9.1 presents the business models of 60 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-7. We should highlight that one use case can be related




















to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

## **References**


Rev. **6**, 3–65 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1016/ S1364-0321(02)00002-3


<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://befc.global/; http://bluwave-ai.com/; http:// datagumbo.com/; http://enexor.com/; http://equotaenergy. com/en/; http://grid4c.com/; http://rcamtechnologies. com/; http://sierraenergy.com/; http://v-labs.ch/; https:// agriculture.newholland.com/eu/en-uk; https://ambri. com/; https://annea.ai/; https://cadenzainnovation.com/ technology/; https://crowd-charge.com/; https://energyvault.com/#about-us; https://essinc.com/energycenter/; https://fuenceenergy.com/ energy-storage-technology/; https://formenergy.com/ team/;https://gridcure.com/; https://hydrogrid.eu/tr/ home\_tr/; https://ndb.technology/; https://newenergy.slb. com/; https://ore.catapult.org.uk/; https://orison.com/; https://qubitengineering.com/; https://raptormaps.com/; https://sonnengroup.com/sonnenbatterie/; https://storage. wartsila.com/; https://trionbattery.com; https://tvinn.se/; https://witricity.com/; https://www.aeroshield.tech/; https://www.ambyint.com/; https://www.aurorasolar. com/; https://www.bandorasystems.com/; https://www. bluesky-energy.eu/en/home-2/; https://www.brightmark. com/; https://www.brightmerge.com/; https://www.drifttrader.com/; https://www.enercast.de/; https://www.leveltenenergy.com/; https://www.meyerburger.com/en/; https://www.nafon.com/en/products; https://www. nearthlab.com/; https://www.nozominetworks.com/; https://www.oxfordpv.com/; https://www.physee.eu/realestate-solutions/smartskin; https://www.plugpower.com/; https://www.ponton.de/; https://www.powerledger.io/; https://www.se.com/ww/en/about-us/sustainability/; https://www.sekab.com/en/products-services/biofuel/; https://www.sgh2energy.com/; https://www.siemensenergy.com/global/en/offerings/industrial-applications/ oil-gas/cybersecurity.html; https://www.smartthings.com; https://www.trine.com/; https://www.utilight.com/; https://www.vodafone.co.uk/business/5g-for-business/5genergy-and-utilities; https://www.wibotic.com/; https:// www.zeroavia.com/


Amcham Indones (2014), http://www.amcham.or.id/ en/news/detail/indonesia-passes-national-energyregulation-set-to-raise-price-of-fuel-power. Accessed 7 Aug 2021


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **10 SDG-8: Decent Work and Economic Growth**

### **Abstract**

Economic growth can be defned by increasing consumption due to the increase in population and reaching production amounts to meet consumption with technological developments and governmental incentives. The correct placement of people in the production and consumption equation can be expressed as decent work. Although decent work and economic growth may seem like different terms at frst glance, they are inseparable terms for each other. SDG-8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, aims to attain full and productive employment, as well as respectable work, for all women and men by 2030. This chapter presents the business models of 37 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-8. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Decent work and economic growth · Sustainability

Economic growth can be defned by increasing consumption due to the increase in population and reaching production amounts to meet consumption with technological developments and governmental incentives. Economic activity has been boosted by various governmental initiatives, ranging from tax optimisation to free-market protection, infrastructure and education investment (Bleys and Whitby 2015). On the other hand, the correct placement of people in the production and consumption equation can be expressed as decent work. Although decent work and economic growth may seem like different terms at frst glance, they are inseparable terms for each other. Decent work includes equal opportunities for all people, without gender, social and opportunity discrimination. According to International Labour Organization (2015), decent work encompasses opportunities for productive work that pays a fair wage; workplace security and social protection for families; improved prospects for personal development and social integration; freedom for people to express their concerns and organise and participate in decisions that affect their lives; and equal advantages for all women and men. Although slavery has been abolished in the past centuries in human history, there is still a lot of employment in inhumane work that can be defned as modern slavery. The increase in decent employment is directly related to economic growth. The work done will be fnalised in less time with more quality, waste will be reduced,

### © The Author(s) 2022

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Berkay İspir, Ekrem Gümüş, Zeynel Salman, Begüm Nur Okur, Canberk Özemek, Elif Berra Aktaş and Beyza Özerdem in completing of this chapter.

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_10

and this optimised framework will directly contribute to the economy. Decent work is made possible by rights, security, conditions, remuneration, being organised and represented and equality in every sense (Rodgers 2009).

Before 1990, until the millennium development goals (MDGs), poverty was one of the leading indicators affecting decent work and economic growth, while in developing countries, the rate of extreme poverty was 47%, and the rate of work over \$4 a day was only 18% (United Nations 2015). While not the exact MDG counterpart of SDG-8, it is directly related to more than one MDG, which are MDGs 1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger), 3 (promote gender equality and empower women) and 8 (develop a global partnership for development). According to the research and observation, it illustrates signifcant changes in poverty. For instance, in a quarter of the years between 1990 and 2015, the rate of poverty decreased by 33% in developing countries. From the gender discrimination perspective, women make up 41% of paid workers except those who work in the agricultural sector. Also, there was an increment in 1990, which was about 35%. In the last 20 years, women gained a right to represent themselves in 90% of 174 countries' parliaments. The research also states that between 2000 and 2004, from developed countries, the offcial development assistance enhanced 66%, and it reached \$135.2 billion (United Nations 2015).

Based on these developments, in the environment created by the goals achieved, it was decided to continue these studies with more comprehensive goals in September 2015 at a historic UN Summit. The sustainable development goals (SDGs) seek to promote long-term economic growth by increasing productivity and fostering technological innovation. Promoting policies that stimulate entrepreneurship and job development and effective efforts to eliminate forced labour, slavery and human traffcking is critical. Keeping these goals in mind, the objective is to attain full and productive employment, as well as respectable work, for all women and men by 2030 ("Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth", 2016). The SDG-8 is among the top fve, with the most progress between 2018 and 2019 based on target achievement (UNDESA 2020).

Global economic growth, which has already slowed down for many reasons in recent years, has slowed down even more with the effect of the pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted many global economic activities. According to projections, real GDP (gross domestic product) is expected to decrease by 4.6% in 2020 compared to 2019. Considering these studies, it is expected to remain well below the 7% target envisioned by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations 2021). As a result, SDG-8 is measured in a general framework, with which indicators, the sub-goals and the potentials of decent work and economic growth are mentioned, and how these studies are carried out on a global scale. In 2020, after the global economy and employment were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the world, the projections have changed, and it will be seen how it is affected by 2030.

The United Nations' SDG-8 promotes inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (United Nations 2015). In his study, Sachs (2012) mentions that as MDGs fulflled their schedule and appeared to be insuffcient, SDGs were suggested to take their place, which was more detailed and comprehensive, although some of the SDGs do not have a corresponding MDG (2012). Due to the lack of existence for this development goal in the MDGs, economic development was included as an important item together with the SDGs. This goal involves some business themes: employment, economic inclusion, non-discrimination, capacity building, availability of a skilled workforce and elimination of forced or compulsory labour ("Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth", 2016). The targets of SDG-8 are including economic growth sustainability per head for eligibility of national state of affairs and especially minimum 7% GDP growth in the countries with the least developed economies; diversifcation, technological upgrading and innovation, particularly an emphasis on high-value-added and labourintensive sectors, will help countries achieve better levels of productivity. Also, targets of SDG-8 include micro, small and medium-sized businesses that encourage formalisation and expansion, especially via access to fnancial services through development-oriented policies that support constructive things, fair job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. Progressively improvement of global resource consumption and production is also aimed. Additionally, achieving full and effcient employment, decent work and the same pay for work of the same value for all women and men and decreasing the youth rate not in training, education or employment is crucial. Lastly, SDG-8 targets design and applications for new policies to promote sustainable tourism; supporting local fnancial institutions capacity; aid for trade support for developing nations; creating and operationalising a worldwide youth employment strategy and putting it into action are the goals. The targets of SDG-8 are shown in Fig. 10.1.

The continuous increase in the population in the world causes concern about the use of natural resources and the fact that people can settle in suitable jobs to live at a certain level of welfare. On the other hand, technology disparities between countries, sectors and businesses are generally acknowledged as the major drivers of productivity inequalities (Acemoglu 2012). However, with the effect of technological developments, economic growth supports meeting human needs and keeping welfare high. Lastly, the models of endogenous innovation and technology have advanced signifcantly.

In this chapter, the importance and aim of SDG-8, some sub-targets, and the effects of COVID-19 on the urgency of SDG-8 will be explained along with statistical examples. SDG-8, decent work and economic growth aim to help build a suffcient and healthy economy and provide a job with satisfying work conditions for every person in need. Economic power is a key contributor to any other SDGs.

Economic growth depends on the increase in the total production in an economy. This production may be of goods or services required to meet human needs. One of the most critical targets of SDG-8 is "sustainable economic growth", which represents building up the economy while caring for social and environmental issues for current and future generations (de MELLO et al. 2020). Target 8.1, the frst target of SDG-8, focuses on sustainable economic growth, which is usually not easy to predict, as it depends on many different parameters. Some of these parameters are usual (government policies, technological developments, new enterprises, global and local trends, etc.), while some are unpredictable scenarios. The pandemic of COVID-19 is such an example. In January 2020 (before the pandemic), the total GDP of the world was expected to grow by 2.5%. In June 2020, the forecasts had changed to a decrease of 5.2% (World Bank 2021). According to the World Bank (2021) data, the effects were enormous: In 2020, world trade volume had decreased roughly by 8.3% compared to the previous year.

SDG-8 contains economic growth and work opportunities with decent conditions for all. According to Embrapa (2020), Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, one of the main indicators of economic growth is the employment level. If economic growth sets back and fails to provide jobs to everyone in need, the policy environment will be considered insuffciently business-friendly (Frey 2017). Therefore, government and institutional policies for business will be subject to questioning. As a recent example, the effect of COVID-19 on people's lives can be given. The disease has impacted economic growth and trade volume and employment opportunities. With the virus becoming a pandemic, many companies have downsized. Therefore, employment opportunities have gone down.

SDG-8 also aims to take immediate and effective steps of precaution to protect labour rights and end forced labour, modern slavery and human traffcking (de MELLO et al. 2020). Decent work conditions are also major factors in people's lives as they affect their physical and psychological wellbeing, income and social status. Therefore, SDG-8 is a matter to be considered vital for the development of society. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO 2006), "decent work" includes providing everyone access to "productive and quality work in freedom, equity, security and human dignity conditions". Therefore, SDG-8 is also an essential contributor to maintaining human rights. The ILO framework for the measurement of decent work includes four main titles: "International labour standards and fundamental principles and rights at work", "Employment creation", "Social protection" and "Social dialogue and tripartism" (Stoian et al. 2019).

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous infuence on job potential in nations across the globe. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (2021), following an average of 2% growth from 2014 to 2018, real global GDP per capita expanded by only 1.3% in 2019 and is expected to decline by 5.3% in 2020 related to the pandemic's damage. For the near future, post-pandemic global GDP per capita is expected to rise by 3.6% in 2021 and 2.6% in 2022. The economic growth is steadily rebounding; however, it may continue to lag behind prepandemic levels for some time. It has had devastating consequences not only for job opportunities but for many other SDG-8 objectives, such as working hours and income. To reverse this trajectory in the future, economies need to be transformed in ways that promote high productivity, such as shifting from low-yield agriculture to high-yield agriculture (Lambrechts and Stacy 2020). While the global economy improves, and workers' living circumstances improve, inequities persist, and there aren't enough jobs to keep up with the world's expanding population (van den Breul et al. 2018).

## **10.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 10.1 presents the business models of 37 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-8. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://passiontoproft.co/; https://aeinnova.com/; https:// anscer.com/; https://aws.amazon.com/what-isaws/?nc1=h\_ls; https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/; https://enosi.energy/; https://feedzai.com/; https:// joonko.co/; https://jos-quantum.de/; https://movandi. com/; https://pezesha.com/; https://smartforest. world/;https://store-h.com/; https://www.accenture.com/ us-en/about/technology-index;https://www.aquafarmsafrica.com/; https://www.bitpesa.co/;https://www.bobemploi.fr/; https://www.dataroid.com/; https://www. diversely.io/; https://www.eyelight.tech/; https://www. geminus.ai; https://www.google.com/intl/en\_ie/business/; https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/ar-vr-workplace; https://www.impactterra.com/; https://www.marklabs.co/; https://www. morpher.com/; https://www.oureye.ai; https://www. ovamba.com/; https://www.poketapp.com/; https://www. qcware.com; https://www.realblocks.com/home; https:// www.samsara.com/; https://www.simularge.com; https:// www.springboard.com/; https://www.uber.com/global/en/ cities/; https://www.upcyclingplastic.com/en/; https:// www.yeself.com/


Companies and use cases in SDG-8

**Table 10.1**








10.1 Companies and Use Cases




## **References**


ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/ WCMS\_071241/lang--en/index.htm


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **11 SDG-9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure**

### **Abstract**

Developing and underdeveloped countries need durable infrastructure investments, sustainable industrial breakthroughs and innovative approaches to achieve sustainable economic growth and social and grassroots development and combat climate change. SDG-9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, is based on three main themes. To provide transportation, information and communication infrastructures, which are an important part of development in line with these goals, the key to sustainable economic growth and raising the welfare level of the society is to develop industrialisation, and new technological developments and new skills in line with innovation are discussed. This chapter presents the business models of 59 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-9. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Industry · innovation and infrastructure · Sustainability

Economic welfare is decreasing day by day; meanwhile, inequalities are increasing. People have problems in reaching their basic needs. One out of every three people in the world does not have access to clean drinking water ("1 in 3 people globally do not have access to safe drinking water – UNICEF, WHO"); 940 million people (13% of the world) live without the miracle of electricity (Ritchie and Roser 2020). According to WHO projections, fve billion people will be deprived of health services by 2030 (World Health Organization 2017). This situation started to become much more dangerous, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. Therefore, world leaders adopted SDG-9 specifcally for infrastructure and industrial investments within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to cope with these inequalities and combat climate change through the UN in 2015. In this agenda, developed countries have committed to providing development assistance to developing and underdeveloped countries. Developing and underdeveloped countries need durable infrastructure investments, sustainable industrial

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Ulaş Özen, Eren Fidan, Uğur Dursun, Büşra Öztürk, Asya Nur Sunmaz and Muhammed Emir Gücer in completing of this chapter. They also contributed to Chapter 2's Carbon Capture and Storage, Cellular Agriculture, Crowdfunding and Flexible Electronics and Wearables sections.

breakthroughs and innovative approaches to achieve sustainable economic growth and social and grassroots development and combat climate change within the scope of this SDG. In this direction, governments, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and universities need to fnd solutions to these problems together.

SDG-9 infrastructure is primarily based on environmental considerations and global commitments and is driven by scientifc research and innovation. In 2015, Sweden had an ambitious aim to ramp up investments in solar and wind and clean transport and eliminate fossil fuel within its boundaries. Then the ambition evolved among the European Union, where the member states could provision resources. In 2016, Canada took this ambition a step further by lessening traffc congestion to reduce fuel consumption and air pollution and modernising the workplace to use its offce places better. After the initiatives of countries such as Australia, China and India in order, countries worldwide have been triggered to make efforts to build resilient infrastructure and sustainable industries and foster innovation (Saxena 2019).

Access to fnancial services and markets is crucial for developing countries. These countries need loans and credit for their growth. Surveys covering from 2010 to now show that 34% of small-scale industries in developing countries receive loans or credit, which is for competing in the global market. But, in sub-Saharan Africa, only 22% of small-scale industries beneft from loans or credit (United Nations 2020). According to the World Bank's data, individuals using the Internet rate of all populations have increased from 20.412% to 48.997%. The average of OECD members is 83%. Even though individuals using the Internet rate is high for OECD members, the average of the least developed countries, which the UN classifes, is 17%. Access to the Internet is still meagre for the least developed countries (International Telecommunication Union Database 2020). Accessing a mobile network is another main parameter. Almost all of the world's population is covered by mobile networks. It is estimated that 96.5% of the world population is covered by at least 2G communication, and 81% of the world population is covered by the Long-term Evolution (LTE) network (United Nations 2020).

The 5th target is enhancing research and upgrading industrial technologies with the indicators of new product development or established technology and infrastructure and increasing expenditure on R&D (Källqvist 2021). Regarding SDG 9.5, worldwide R&D spending has risen, with R&D investments totalling 1.7% of global GDP in 2014, as stated by the SDG Progress report (United Nations 2021b). For example, R&D expenditure in wealthy nations amounted to 2.4% of GDP, in developing countries 1.2% and in the least developed countries (LDCs) 0.3%. The number of researchers per million is similarly divisive: 1098 researchers worldwide in 2014, 3739 in the millions in the rich nations and just 63 in the millions in the LDCs (International Telecommunication Union Database 2020; United Nations 2021b). According to a UNCTAD media statement released, the research calls for focused investment policies in developing countries to increase connectivity infrastructure, encourage digital enterprises and assist the larger economy's digitisation (UNCTAD 2021). So, this SDG-9 aims to trigger new action plans according to innovative movements, thanks to contributing to the vast fnancial resources in most countries, especially developing countries.

SDG-9 is based on three main themes. To provide transportation, information and communication infrastructures, which are an important part of development in line with these goals, the key to sustainable economic growth and raising the welfare level of the society is to develop industrialisation, and new technological developments and new skills in line with innovation are discussed. Figure 11.1 summarises targets of SDG-9.

Industry-innovation cooperation in the case of developing sustainable infrastructure becomes crucial over the sustainable development goals agenda. Achieving these objective goals complies with the execution of infrastructural enhancement. Economy, environment and society are the three main pillars in focusing on the vital step of implementing innovation and indus-

**Fig. 11.1** The targets of SDG-9 (United Nations 2021a)

trial development into societal development (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2019).

In the economic aspect, cases of generating infrastructure linked to the innovative industry are proftable in practical steps that vary from the frst area of job creation to producing active industrial links "such as a bridge that links a rural village to urban markets" (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2019). The basis of a healthy economy lies on the ground of sustainable development of creating values. "Concrete, steel and fbre-optic cable are the essential building blocks of the economy" (Puentes 2015). Therefore, generating infrastructure by investing in energy projects, telecommunication systems, pipelines, parks and water systems keep that ground fruitful. While pointing out that economic growth is visibly linked with infrastructural progress, it enables many other goals that depend on it to be actualised and should not be left out unspoken. "[…] sustainable infrastructure enables governments and the private sector to provide […] broader economic growth while improving quality of life and enhancing human dignity" (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2019).

A senior policy analyst in the OECD's Environment Directorate, Virginie Marchal, says "Infrastructure is really at the centre of the delivery of the SDGs" (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2019). Looking at the main circles of SDGs which are not only focusing on materialistic development but also the reduction of every kind of inequality within nations, providing access through infrastructural development plays an undeniable role. "Infrastructure is a tool in increasing social mobility" (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2019). Access to affordable and fair clean water, food, sanitation, education and employment and gender equality cannot be separated with the pipeline installation, innovative and effcient agriculture developments, construction of education centres in safe walking distances and providing those who are out of employment and boosting new job areas and transportation options.

Through the environmental aspect, with innovative methods, industries are now ready to follow a greener path in which they reduce the harmful impact of their work and, in some cases, even neutralise it. In this case, being the most used by people in industrial outcome, greenfocused provided infrastructure enables millions if not billions of people to contribute with or without knowing. To give an example, the Economist Intelligence Unit published data from the USA in which they say that it is estimated that for a person travelling to work back and forth, switching to use public transportation from private may have the power in the reduction of carbon footprint close to 2177.243 km per year (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2019). By actively contributing, green infrastructure installations can also provide quite a benefcial improvement for the environment and directly to the city populations' life quality. Other data from The Economist Intelligence Unit based on a simulation suggests that, in downtown Toronto, a reduction by 2 °C in the temperature would have been achieved if half of the suitable exteriors were installed with a green roof (The Economist, 2019, p. 8). Innovative developments and simple cases of planting trees and greens also have a huge impact on many lives by being effective protection in the case of natural disasters such as foods and soil erosion.

SDG-9 proposes that industrialisation and technological progress are the basis for growth and that all countries should industrialise sustainably. Investment in infrastructure and innovation are important factors of economic development. Cities now accommodate more than half of the global population. It is now more important than ever to establish new enterprises and develop public transportation and renewable energy and information and communication technologies. Long-term approaches to fnancial and ecological concerns, such as energy effciency and employment generation, need innovative transformation. Sustainable development may be fuelled by encouraging sustainable industries, technological research and innovation investment. Several countries across the world are working on SDG-9. Germany's Chemnitz University of Technology won the German Excellence Initiative with its Merge Technologies for Multifunctional Lightweight Structures research centre (MERGE). In this cluster, seven of Chemnitz University of Technology's eight faculties, two local Fraunhofer-Institutes as extramural research partners and several industrial partners collaborate in a trans-disciplinary approach to develop new lightweight materials that will allow cars, for example, to lose weight and consume less fuel while conserving natural resources (United Nations 2018).

Another example is the 10th Annual Longjiang Cup, an innovation competition for advanced mapping technology and product information modelling students, held at the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in China. The competition's goal is to apply the spirit of the government of Heilongjiang Province's Proposal to Encourage University Graduates' Innovation and Entrepreneurship. With the involvement of 20 teams comprising of 150 undergraduates from 16 institutions, including HIT, it also seeks to promote students' inventive abilities (United Nations 2018).

The HLFP (High-level Political Forum) thematic review, released in 2017, emphasises that funding SDG-9 implementation would need large investments in infrastructure and innovation and instances of how SDG-9 expenditures may help other SDGs develop. According to the report, more than 1.1 billion people lack access to electricity, 663 million do not have access to safe drinking water, 2.4 billion do not have adequate sanitation, and one-third of the world's population does not use all-weather roads. Even though closing these gaps requires infrastructure, innovation and roughly US\$1–1.5 trillion per year in developing countries, offcial development assistance (ODA) to developing countries for economic infrastructure, particularly transportation, totalled around USD 57 billion in 2015 (SDG Progress Report), up 32% from 2010 (United Nations 2017) (International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) 2017).

As a result of investments in local infrastructure and technology (such as water pumps, power, clean cookstoves and mini-grids), local growth may be accelerated and more inclusive. At the same time, effciency is increased, and repair and maintenance time is reduced. As explained in the review, fnancing at this level is likewise fraught with diffculties. For example, growing fnancial services in the agri-food and rural sectors, commonly comprising small-scale operations, present obstacles due to a lack of credit histories and collateral.

## **11.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 11.1 presents the business models of 59 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-9. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://envelio.com/; http://futuresisens.com/en/home/; http://greyscale.ai/; https://appliedvr.io/; https://awakesecurity.com/product/; https://carbonengineering.com/; https://carrier.huawei.com/en/; https://cattleeye.com/; https://climeworks.com/; https://credosemi.com/; https:// deepmind.com/; https://eigentech.com/; https://epigamiastore.com/; https://gravity.co/; https://www.avantmeats. com/; https://integriculture.jp/?locale=en; https://intellistruct.com/; https://iomoto.io/en/; https://jobs.netfix.com/; https://mirreco.com/; https://new-home.superpedestrian. com/; https://nextwavesafety.com/; https://northvolt. com/; https://samsunghealthcare.com/en; https://saphium. eu/?lang=en; https://spatial.io/; https://steeltrace.co/; https://surgicaltheater.net/; https://verily.com/; https:// www.apple.com/healthcare/apple-watch/; https://www. armis.com/; https://www.ayfe.com/; https://www.beebryte.com/; https://www.bluebeam.com/uk/solutions/revu; https://www.bostondynamics.com/spot; https://www. dow.com/en-us; https://www.ebayinc.com/company/; https://www.fbr.com.au/; https://www.gene.com/; https:// www.hybirdtech.com/; https://www.ibm.com/quantumcomputing/; https://www.intellisense.io/; https://www. microsoft.com/en-us/hololens; https://www.mobiusbionics.com/; https://www.multiplylabs.com/; https://www. nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now; https://www.perceptiveautomata.com/; https://www.redrockbiometrics.com/; https://www.rubberconversion.com/; https://www.seadronix.com/; https://www.sensefy.com/; https://www.starlink.com/; https://www.terracycle.com/en-GB/; https:// www.track160.com/; https://www.tsmc.com/english; https://www.ubiqsecurity.com/; https://www.uipath.com/; https://www.valerann.com/; https://www.waste2wear. com/



11.1 Companies and Use Cases













# **References**


IDB-Infrascope-Report\_FINAL-1.pdf. Accessed 2 Nov 2021


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **12 SDG-10: Reduced Inequalities**

### **Abstract**

The concept of inequality is that two different people or two different societies do not have equal rights and freedoms on the same event, depending on certain factors. Inequality is a situation that prioritises one segment and excludes the other segment. These inequalities can be mainly age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion and economic situation. Ensuring SDG-10, Reduced Inequalities, is an important step in the path of achieving a more sustainable world. This chapter presents the business models of 21 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-10. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Reduced inequalities · Sustainability.

The concept of inequality is that two different people or two different societies do not have equal rights and freedoms on the same event, depending on certain factors. Inequality is a situation that prioritises one segment and excludes the other segment. These inequalities can be mainly age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion and economic situation. Also, these inequalities begin to increase due to people's place in society and class differentiation. The tenth sustainable development goal (SDG-10) "reduced inequalities", which is expected to be reduced by 2030, is very important for all developed or developing countries (European Commission 2021). Because inequality occurs in many areas, it should be examined in different groups as it has many cultural, regional and religious layers. Since these factors have led to various inequalities in the individual and society term, the European Commission has divided inequalities into two groups so that "reducing inequalities" can be achieved and studies can be carried out on this issue (European Commission 2021). So, when the main problems that cause inequality are considered, some of them are seen to be more personal problems, while others are more social. For example, it is stated that while poverty caused by economic inequality is a more personal problem, gender inequality is more social. Thus, some inequalities that can be grouped based on individual (European

Commission 2021) include:

© The Author(s) 2022

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of İlke Burçak, Fatma Balık, Aleyna Yıldız, Fatmanur Babacan, Handan Öner, Enejan Allajova and Batuhan Özcan in completing of this chapter.

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_12


Some other inequalities can be grouped based on society (Stewart et al. 2009):


According to some studies carried out by the European Commission, it has been determined that "horizontal inequality", which also includes gender inequality, is the group where violence and confict are seen the most and which causes social peace, social order and democracy to be affected (European Commission 2021).

Inequalities are not only between people. There are inequalities between countries, such as those connected to representation, migration and development assistance, which are also targeted by the goal (UN 2015). It is also important to implement the laws to prevent the economic system and the current global wealth inequality against the inequalities between countries. Thus, thanks to the targets and indicators established under SDG-10, it also acknowledges that it helps to alleviate inequalities within the country (Ofr et al. 2016). SDG-10 aims to improve developing nations' representation in international markets, regulate migration and increase the fow of fnance to developing countries via foreign direct investment and government development assistance. In this approach, eliminating inter-country inequalities serves as both a goal and a means of lowering inequalities inside countries (Katila et al. 2020). In addition, reducing income inequality will lead to positive economic and sociocultural results (Pickett and Wilkinson 2010). Also, another area of inequality is in education. The increasing level of education will increase development worldwide and reduce economic inequality. According to a study, increasing the early child education rate to 25% in all countries has a beneft of \$10.6 billion, and increasing it to 50% has a beneft of \$33.7 billion (Engle et al., 2011).

Socioeconomic injustice manifests itself in the form of exploitation, economic marginalisation and denial of essential living conditions, resulting in unequal concepts of justice. Thus, socioeconomic injustice can lead to disasters. For example, thousands of migrants lost their lives on their journeys due to high migrant movements in 2020. 4186 deaths and disappearances were seen in 2020 (United Nations Economic and Social Council 2021). Remedies against distributional injustice can be realised through factors such as changing the division of labour, renewing incomes and transforming economic structures. The transformation of economic structures can also occur with the restructuring of political-economic policies (Katila et al. 2020). So, political decisions are vital in tackling these inequalities. It has been said that legally protecting rights will also reduce social and cultural inequality (Guha-Khasnobis and Vivek 2007).

**Fig. 12.1** Targets and indicators of SDG-10. (United Nations 2021)

SDG-10 has 10 sub-targets. As shown in Fig. 12.1, Targets 10.1-4 of SDG-10 are illustrated to understand how they are distributed among social groups, minorities and multiple groups across variables such as political, social and economic (Kabeer et al. 2017). Target 10.1 recognises economic differences within a country, whereas Target 10.3 recognises potential distribution; both have a lot of overlap with distributive justice principles. Target 10.2 conforms to the concepts of recognising and observing justice, thus aiming to strengthen its inclusiveness economically, politically and socially. However, it aims to ensure social, economic and political participation for all people, regardless of their age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or another status. Indicator 10.2.1, on the other hand, just evaluates progress in economic aspects and contexts of age, sex, and people with disabilities. Just as other targets, Target 10.4 adopts policies that review political, social and economic inequalities by adhering to the three concepts of environmental justice (Katila et al. 2020).

There are, in particular, SDGs that have synergy, like SDG 1-8-5. SDG 5 is a unique one. It has synergy with most of the SDGs. However, there is an exception as SDG-10, which reconciles not with most SDGs (Hegre et al. 2020). SDG-10 is not tied to SDGs 12–15, which deal with environmental preservation. The possible conficts, exchanges and effciencies between SDG-10 and these environmental SDGs have gone unnoticed. This is important because environmental justice study is particularly aware of the implications of global environmental remedies on localised battles (Sikor and Newell 2014). In short, the tenth goal of sustainable development, "Reduced Inequality", aims to end inequality between states and people by supporting policies implemented to eliminate discriminatory practices and policies. SDG-10 supports everyone to reach the same social, economic and political level regardless of age, religion, ethnic origin or economy.

After discussing what inequality is, it is seen that inequality is a concept that is constantly witnessed by people between countries and even in all areas of society. Among the types of inequality, social inequality, which affects society and humanity the most, still makes a name for itself in today's age. Even in today's conditions, inequality is a problem in the world. Disadvantaged ethnic groups or religious communities with a bad image may experience diffculties while benefting from public services such as health and education. The deprivation of some segments of such public services in a sustainable life is a major obstacle to sustainability for that society because public services have a key value for a sustainable society (Ogwezi et al. 2020). Therefore, states have demonstrated their political intention and desire to decrease inequality within and across countries by adopting SDG-10. Each country can choose which direction it wants to take to meet this lofty target by 2030. With this, in September 2015, 193 states have affrmed that they have the political willpower to act following the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes SDG-10 (Kaltenborn et al. 2020).

Although the approach of states to inequalities is positive, societies still face problems in many areas due to inequalities. In this case, to better comprehend the signifcance of preventing inequality, it is necessary to state the problems encountered frst on account of the present inequalities. In this way, the importance of adopting this purpose can be better explained by revealing how many problems are imposed on life. In the course of daily life, it is possible not to pay enough attention to whether one can recognise the problems that arise from these inequalities.

• **Health:** In unequal societies, the expectation of long life is lower as the healthcare services are not provided equally. At the same time, in this kind of society, psychological health problems, child death rates and overweight issues are also higher. Furthermore, the percentage of HIV infection is higher in unequally developed and still developing countries (The World Economic Forum 2015). If we consider the reverse case, healthy individuals mean more effcient work, happier people and a prosperous society. Therefore, more people must achieve affordable and professional healthcare services (ESCAP 2019).


Report aims to measure income and property inequality systematically. Earnings in some countries can be several times higher than in other countries. In this case, the increasing political infuence in the economy makes it diffcult to trust the parliaments and the state. Today, even in countries that have survived the crisis, economic inequality can arise (United Nations 2020a). From another perspective, economic growth will be slow in societies with high-income inequality. While the cost of ignoring inequality is high, countries with high-income inequalities will experience an economic recession, and it will be diffcult for the society to get out of poverty (United Nations Economic and Social Council 2021).


impacts of these technologies have contributed to income inequality. On the other hand, however, some countries that cannot reach health services have started to reach them, thanks to the developing technologies. If a system that can facilitate learning is invented at the educational level, the people in rich countries have more advantages than developing countries because of transportation/ communication costs (United Nations 2020a).

The problems caused by inequality in the areas encountered in life have been explained above. SDG-10 has an important role in solving problems that are so integrated into human life. It is necessary to solve by considering the specifc areas and situations of the 2030 targets and the problems after.

The action plan of sustainable development goals is aimed to be completed by all states in the world by 2030. However, there are some debates on whether the SDGs can be achieved by the target date or not. According to the "UN's 2020 report on the SDGs", it has been stated that due to the negative impact of the recent pandemics and regional wars, the work towards the successful completion of the SDGs has slowed down (United Nations 2020b). If SDG-10 is achieved, studies have been carried out on what the "imaginary" world would be like. For example, according to a study in the UK West Midlands Combined Authority Area, city issues have been solved under cover of SDGs. The estimates of future oriented to SDG-10 (Bonsu et al. 2020):


As can be seen from the study, ensuring SDG-10 is an important step in the path of achieving a more sustainable world. However, whether or not these SDGs can be completed by the targeted date has also become important for the future. When the United Nations' SDG report of 2020 is examined, it has been observed that the pandemic in 2020 has some consequences that may also affect the SDGs. Considering that the course of the SDGs depends on some developments, evaluations of improvement/worsening made based on areas become important. While there has been improvement in some areas, other areas such as food insecurity and the increase in natural disasters have caused many inequalities to emerge. These developments show that the pandemic has produced some unpredictable effects in 2020, and it is not exactly known what effect it will have on the course of the SDGs. According to the report, it becomes more diffcult to achieve these targets until the targeted date (United Nations 2020b). In other words, it is thought that there is not enough data about whether the targets can be achieved or not in the future and that the effect of the pandemic can be reversed as a result of the ongoing studies.

The matter of inequality is a popular research area in economics. Inequality has risen over the world. Countless studies relate inequality and economic growth (Galor 2011). The 2018 World Inequality Report, co-authored by Alvaredo, Piketty and Zucman, likewise strikes a fresh and distinct tone, warning that if growing inequality is not adequately tracked and tackled, it might lead to a wide range of political, economic and social disasters (World Inequality Lab 2018). Especially, policy circles have become more interested in the economic growth rates affected by income inequality. Although the effect may vary based on the wealth of the corresponding and some other variables, it is stated that the changes in income inequality affect the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (Hossen and Khondker 2020). On the other hand, the World Bank blazed the way, demonstrating that there are policies that can reduce inequality while also increasing growth and productivity (World Bank 2016).

Furthermore, the 2018 World Inequality Report has some latest studies: Economic inequality exists in all parts of the world. For example, in Europe, it is the least, whereas, in the Middle East, it is the highest. The disparity has expanded in nearly all nations in recent years. However, at varying rates, since 1980, economic inequality has climbed fast in North America, China, India and Russia, while it has increased moderately in Europe (Kaltenborn et al. 2020). The expansion of democracy into economic institutions, in addition to international and national initiatives to develop progressive tax systems and combat tax evasion and tax havens, can have a signifcant infuence on decreasing inequality. Nations may adopt some basic, doable steps to increase equality alongside economic democracy.

## **12.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 12.1 presents the business models of 21 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-10. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left col-

1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://www.almacenaplatform.com/; http://youbeneft. spaceflight.esa.int/3d-printing-for-refugee-camps/; https://ceretai.com/; https://lexmachina.com/; https:// mouse4all.com/en/; https://quadf.com/index.html; https://skilllab.io/en-us; https://tykn.tech/about/; https:// voiceitt.com/; https://www.ava.me/; https://www.dotincorp.com/; https://www.gapsquare.com/; https://www. knockri.com/ethical-ai/; https://www.letsenvision.com/; https://www.marinusanalytics.com/; https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/seeing-ai; https://www.scewo.com/en/; https://www.sevaexchange.com/; https://skilllab.io/en-us; https://www.skillhus.no/about-us; https://www.visualfy. com/; https://www.wandercraft.eu/fr/accueil-2






umn, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

## **References**


edn. (UNU-WIDER, 2017). https://doi.org/10.35188/ UNU-WIDER/2017/393-6


United Nations Economic and Social Council, *Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals* (United Nations, 2021) World Bank, World Bank Annual Report 2016 71, (2016) **Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

World Inequality Lab, *Executive Summary | World Inequality Report 2018* [WWW Document] (2018), https://wir2018.wid.world/executive-summary.html. Accessed 22 Aug 2021 The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **13 SDG-11: Sustainable Cities and Communities**

### **Abstract**

City governance is vital for sustainable development goals and resource management and allocation as well as urban climate-related initiatives, as it is estimated that more people will reside in the urban areas in further years. As more people migrate to cities, the world steadily becomes more urbanised. The population of the cities accounts for 55% of the total population, and cities generate 85% of global gross domestic product and emit 75% of greenhouse gas emissions. SDG-11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, aims to ensure inclusive, safe, resilient, sustainable urban and human settlements by providing inexpensive transit solutions, decreasing urban sprawl, enhancing urban governance involvement, improving the protection of cultural assets and addressing urban resilience and climate change issues. This chapter presents the business models of 50 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-11. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Sustainable cities and communities · Sustainability

City governance is vital for sustainable development goals and resource management and allocation as well as urban climate-related initiatives, as it is estimated that more people will reside in the urban areas in further years. As more people migrate to cities, the world steadily becomes more urbanised. The population of the cities accounts for 55% of the total population, and cities generate 85% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and emit 75% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is forecasted that by 2050, the total city population will be equal to 6.5 billion people. If the urban areas are going to be designed and managed as now, sustainable development will not be achieved. Additionally, due to the rising populations and migration, rapid urbanisation has resulted in a surge of populated cities, particularly in developing nations, and slums have

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Alaattin Canpolat, Zeynep Kaya, Zafer Güray Gündüz, Uğur Cem Yılmaz, Selenay Sonay Tufan, Yalkın Kızılkan, Zeynep Yaren Dabak, Buse Gönül Bostancı and Emre Koç in completing of this chapter. They also contributed to Chapter 2's 3D Printing, 5G, Biometrics and Biotechnology & Biomanufacturing sections.

become a critical issue of urban life. The challenges of global sustainability cannot be solved without a signifcant focus on urban sustainability. Furthermore, making cities sustainable requires the establishment of jobs and economic opportunities, as well as safe and affordable housing, resilient communities and strong economies (UNDP 2020; Vaidya and Chatterji 2020). Further to that, there is a high potential of collaboration and coordination across various industries at the city scale, as well as the vital potential for policymakers in governments to recognise the interconnections and the need for interoperability among the stakeholders responsible for planning

and designing sustainable development plans (Radovic 2019). Perceiving the importance of cities, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted in 2015 to make "sustainable cities and communities" another target within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Data obtained from 911 cities in 114 countries in 2020 shows that spatial urbanisation has been substantially quicker than population increase throughout the 1990–2019 period, and smaller cities are urbanising faster than larger cities (United Nations, 2021). In particular, from 2000 to 2018, the percentage of people living in slums fell from 39.66% to 29.25% among the global urban population. However, this percentile decrease is equivalent to an almost 80 million people increase (The World Bank 2021). This fact is a sign of the need for taking precautions to avoid devastating results.

"Sustainable Cities and Communities", which is within the "Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations as Goal 11", aims to "ensure inclusive, safe, resilient, sustainable urban and human settlements" by removing slum-like situations, providing inexpensive transit solutions, decreasing urban sprawl, enhancing urban governance involvement, improving the protection of cultural assets, addressing urban resilience and climate change issues, improving urban management (pollution and waste management), ensuring access for all to secure public places and enhancing urban management through improved urban rules and regulations (Franco et al. 2020).

SDG-11 and prospective innovations and effcient solutions to enhance city policy coherence include several major sectoral interlinkages and urban synergies. Despite the worldwide progress to lead and drive all processes on sustainable development, there are still signifcant information gaps and diffculties that might stymie SDG-11 implementation. The New Urban Agenda of UN-Habitat presented by "The United Nations Human Settlements Programme" emphasises the importance of a concentrated emphasis at the city and neighbourhood levels. It also has direct, tangible benefts for people's quality of life and the achievement of long-term developmental goals. To provide successful implementation and make concrete improvements in people's daily lives, the global goals laid forth in SDG-11 must be integrated with local development agendas (Franco et al. 2020). As shown in Fig. 13.1, there are ten targets within the context of SDG-11.

SDG-11 and the subject of sustainable urbanisation are important for most countries, given the high rates of urbanisation and the expected future share of the urban population (Koch and Krellenberg 2018). For instance, nearly threequarters (320 million people) of the European Union's (EU) population reside in urban regions such as cities, towns and suburbs. Europe's urban population is predicted to rise to just over 80% by 2050. As a result, sustainable cities, towns and suburbs are vital for their residents' well-being and quality of life (Eurostat 2021). Another critical fact that should be stated is, while occupying only 3% of the Earth's territory, cities account for 60–80% of global energy consumption and 75% of global carbon emissions (United Nations 2021). Thus, the results of related regulations in the cities could impact the entire earth.

When creating sustainable smart cities that focus on SDG-11, several factors are to consider. The growth of information communication technologies (ICT) has signifcantly infuenced the way people live their lives and how they arrange work, leisure and society. A variety of innovative products, services and business models have been facilitated by a dropin computer capacity costs and size. Two signifcant developments could be stated for the

**Fig. 13.1** SDG-11 targets. (United Nations, 2021)

worldwide growth of ICT and to make cities smart. The frst is the transition from cables to wireless services, including telephones and the Internet. The second trend is related to the rising number of devices linked to the Internet and the change to the "Internet of Things" (Townsend, cited in Höjer and Wangel 2015). Furthermore, the impact of smart cities on sustainability cannot be underestimated. Renewable and green energy, energy effciency, air quality, environ-

ment monitoring and water quality monitoring are all noteworthy research subjects in smart city planning (Ismagilova et al. 2019):

**Renewable Energy** Many key city entities, such as wireless sensor networks and water distribution, require power systems for basic operation. These have to be adapted into being optimised, intelligent and environmentally friendly in the smart city concept. This is possible with renewable energy and ICT systems. The main targets of smart cities are reducing energy usage, providing renewable energy and lessening the carbon footprint. All of this leads to the smart city energy concept (Aamir et al. 2014; Ismagilova et al. 2019).

**Energy Effciency** The concept of energy effciency enables maximum productivity with less energy consumption. Experts give several ideas to achieve this goal. For instance, a new technique that helps prevent energy effciency anomalies in smart buildings was presented (Peña et al. 2016). The suggested method is built on a rulebased system that uses data mining tools and energy effciency specialists' expertise. This research has resulted in a series of rules that may be used as part of a decision support system to optimise power consumption and anomalies in intelligent buildings by monitoring device activation and minimising power consumption while considering varied user needs (Peña et al. 2016).

**Environmental Monitoring** Another important focus is environmental monitoring. For example, six different environmental factors are identifed for "Smart City Mission" in India: landscape and geography, climate, atmospheric pollution, water resources, energy resources and urban green areas. These factors should always be observed and accessible through online platforms to achieve public participation for problem-solving. This was achieved in Pisa, Italy, where the system gathered, processed and disseminated data on air quality using a low-cost, distributed and effcient sensor network. Fixed and mobile sensor nodes were included in the system. Moreover, the data from the citizens were stored and later converted into indices such as Air Quality Index, Traffc Index, etc. All parties interested in obtaining regular updates on the city's air quality can access this information (Bacco et al. 2017; Dwivedi et al. 2019).

**Air Quality** Air pollution is one of the most serious concerns for industrialised societies. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that pollution is the prominent reason for mortality among children under the age of 5. A case study in the context of air quality monitoring was implemented in Christchurch, New Zealand, after the earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2. The research focused on near-real-time monitoring of fne-scale air pollution and connections to respiratory illnesses. The project's purpose was to create a citywide continuous real-time air pollution surface and provide the data in the form of an interactive dynamic map and raw data stream. A grid of four dust mote devices and low-cost IoT air quality sensors were used to collect the data. All people and interested parties were given access to data on air quality in a variety of formats, including main forms, maps and tables. Its goal was to encourage individuals to check air quality information simply and understandably. Also, citizens could collect information about their exposure (Marek et al. 2017). Identifying the city's most polluted and cleanest regions can help to enhance the environment and citizens' quality of life. Illnesses such as cerebral stroke can be minimised by reducing air pollution (Zaree and Honarvar 2018).

**Water Quality Monitoring** Managing the quality of water and providing safe drinking water are challenging in crowded cities. Nowadays, cities confront diffculties such as ageing water infrastructure, high maintenance costs, new contaminants and increased water use as a result of the rising population. Therefore, an effective water management system is needed by sustainable cities (Hrudey et al. 2011; Hou et al. 2013; Polenghi-Gross et al. 2014). In particular, a study has been released that improved ICT may enhance drinking water quality throughout the world. In the study, wireless communication, data processing, storage and redistribution have been suggested for Bristol's quality monitoring system. Data collection, transfer, storage and visualisation are parts of the system which is based on cloud computing (Chen and Han 2018).

Cities will have to reconsider their systems and their environmental consequences as more people migrate into urban areas and environmental concerns become more urgent. Many cities across the world have already started to embrace more environmentally friendly practices (mostly in America and Europe), and certain patterns are emerging (Martin et al. 2018). Sustainable cities will build on these foundations, going beyond today's environmental standards. Cities have vital roles in sustainable development and are thus critical for both regional and global destinies. However, there is no one-size-fts-all solution for creating a sustainable city due to the climate, geography and law differences. Long-term planning is required for the most drastic changes aimed at creating a sustainable city, and future studies can lead to further discussions and decision-making processes. Future studies should focus on improving one's understanding of future opportunities for adapting to or avoiding future infuences and consequences (Phdungsilp 2011).

Along with the developing sustainability industry, thanks to increasing investment ratios from companies around the world, many new business areas are emerging and will continue to emerge in the future. Investing in SDG-11 can bring many benefts to the company. Companies may beneft from a better brand image, a greater staff retention rate and increased fnancial performance by investing in the sustainability of their communities. They will be able to keep up with changing laws and avoid penalties under their state's environmental legislation (Valuer | SDG 11 Forecast, p. 32).

Let's assume the appropriate policies are put in place. In that case, 24 million new jobs will be created by adopting sustainable energy practices and shifting to a greener economy, such as increasing electric vehicles usage and energy effciency in existing and future buildings (International Labor Organization 2011). For instance, South Korea will invest USD 61 billion to raise renewable energy capacity from 12.7 GW to 42.7 GW by 2025 and increase its green mobility feet to 1.33 million electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. The plan will effciently renovate public rental housing and schools to become more energy-effcient and transform urban areas into smart green cities (European Commission 2019). Moreover, the global electric vehicle market is estimated to reach 34,756 thousand units by 2030, up from an estimated 4093 thousand units in 2021 (Research and Markets 2021). Furthermore, a united effort to improve communities' sustainability will require investments in various sectors such as transport, waste management and construction (Valuer | SDG 11 Forecast, p. 32). Two sectors, which are indispensable for sustainable cities, will continue their development in the future; by 2023, the smart transportation industry will be worth \$149.2 billion (MarketsandMarkets 2020a, b), while the worldwide waste management market will be worth \$530 billion in 2025 (*Waste management market value worldwide 2027* 2020).

The built environment is one of the major causes of environmental degradation. Excessive energy and resource consumption are caused by the embodied energy of the built environment during construction and the energy needs of structures during use (Wieser et al. 2019). The construction industry will be the most demanded market in the future. For instance, the global construction industry will be worth \$15 trillion by 2025 (Deloitte-Marketing & Brand Department 2021). Meanwhile, the global modular construction market is expected to reach \$157.19 billion by 2023, up from \$106.15 billion in 2017, with a CAGR of 6.9% (MarketsandMarkets 2020a, b). Additionally, the global construction sustainable materials market is expected to be worth \$523.7 billion by 2026 to provide a more environmentally friendly solution (BIS Research 2017). Well-managed cities will make effcient use of natural resources and technology, resulting in a benefcial and crucial impact on society, the environment and the economy (Revi and Rosenzweig 2013). By 2050, smart cities will have saved \$22 trillion through initiatives such as public transit and energy-effcient buildings (Smart City Futures 2017). Mobility as a service (MaaS) solutions are expected to increase in popularity as technological infrastructure improves, and data becomes more accessible worldwide. The global MaaS market will grow from \$38.76 billion to \$358.35 billion by 2025 (The Insight Partners 2018).

# **13.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 13.1 presents the business models of 50 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-11. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://neer.ai/; http://www.fngerprints.com/; http://www. intel.com/; https://carge.co/; https://emsol.io/; https:// enviosystems.com/; https://evreka.co/; https://nordsense. com/; https://numina.co/; https://phantom.ai/; https:// restado.de/; https://skycatch.com/; https://ucomposites. com/; https://urbanfootprint.com/; https://view.com/; https://waymo.com/; https://www.actility.com/smartbuilding-facility-management/; https://www.altaeros. com; https://www.betolar.com/; https://www.brighterbins. com/; https://www.cepton.com/; https://www.cyvision. com/; https://www.ekodenge.com/; https://www.fve.ai/; https://www.foam.space/; https://www.fuelcellenergy. com/; https://www.gofar.co/; https://www.hayden.ai/; https://www.iberdrola.com/home; https://www.interactions.com/; https://www.interstellarlab.com/; https:// www.latitudo40.com/; https://www.oneclicklca.com/; https://www.optibus.com/; https://www.ourcrowd.com/; https://www.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/homepage; https:// www.printyour.city/; https://www.quantafuel.com; https://www.sigfox.com/en; https://www.skeletontech. com/; https://www.smartcultiva.com/; https://www.smartenspaces.com/; https://www.spacemakerai.com/; https:// www.ubicquia.com/simply-connected-simply-smart; https://www.urbansdk.com/; https://www.visionful.ai/; https://www.weride.ai/en/; https://zeleros.com/


Companies and use cases in SDG-11














## **References**


https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?pag e=view&type=400&nr=380&menu=1515. Accessed 17 Aug 2021


https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11. Accessed 3 Aug 2021


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **14 SDG-12: Responsible Consumption and Production**

### **Abstract**

SDG-12, Responsible Consumption and Production, strives to break the current cycle of economic growth, resource usage and environmental degradation, which has fuelled unsustainable global development for decades. While producing countries bear responsibility for natural resource depletion, pollution and other negative consequences of their production, wealthy countries' practical and legal responsibilities are signifcantly high due to their high consumption levels. An increase in consumption is often associated with an improved quality of life, which creates a confict between the pillars of sustainable development and the environmental well-being of the planet. This issue becomes more complicated since cross-border resource management methods are more controversial than cooperative. This chapter presents the business models of 46 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-12. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Responsible consumption and production · Sustainability

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are offered as a blueprint for transforming the activity on the planet towards sustainable development. The prominence of sustainable development in international environmental conferences and policies has aided in its global adoption as a conceptual framework for addressing environmental issues at a variety of policy levels. SDG-12 strives to break the current cycle of economic growth, resource usage and environmental degradation, which has fuelled unsustainable global development for decades. Additionally, the divide between developed and developing countries in terms of consumption and production widens. Hence, while producing countries bear responsibility for natural resource depletion, pollution and other negative consequences of their production, wealthy countries' practical and legal responsibilities are signifcantly high due to their high consumption levels. An increase in consumption is often associated with an improved quality of life, which creates a confict between the pillars of sustainable development and the environmental well-being of the planet. This

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Alaattin Canpolat, Zeynep Kaya, Zafer Güray Gündüz, Uğur Cem Yılmaz, Selenay Sonay Tufan, Yalkın Kızılkan, Zeynep Yaren Dabak, Buse Gönül Bostancı and Emre Koç in completing of this chapter.

<sup>©</sup> The Author(s) 2022

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_14

issue becomes more complicated since crossborder resource management methods are more controversial than cooperative. Thus, sustainable consumption and production are one of the most cost-effective and successful methods to accomplish economic development, minimise environmental consequences and improve human well-being (Amos and Lydgate 2020).

The foundations of SDG-12 go back to 1972, when the Club of Rome analysed a computer simulation of a planet with limited natural resources. According to this simulation, which examines the effects of economic and population growth on the planet, if there is no growth trend, the planet will show a sudden and irrevocable decline in terms of population and industrial production in 2072. This report, called The Limits to Growth (LTG), validated its data from 1972– 2000 with real empirical data (Monnet et al. 2014). The concept of responsible consumption and production gained importance over time and was promoted by international organisations. For example, the report "Our Common Future" (1987) by the Brundtland Commission (formerly World Commission on Environment and Development) underlined the importance of reducing global poverty, as well as the disparity in consumption patterns between wealthy and poor, allowing for debate on consumption levels (Gasper et al. 2019). Similarly, during the UN Conference on Environment and Development (known as the Earth Summit) in 1992, another call was made to "reduce and eliminate unsustainable production and consumption patterns" by The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Moreover, during the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, 10-year frameworks of programmes for the actions were introduced. As it was further elaborated during the 2012 UN Conference, "protection of the natural resources and following sustainable consumption and production" is essential to achieve global sustainable development (Gasper et al. 2019).

Sustainable development goal 12 calls for "responsible consumption and production". Global production and consumption are signifcant driving factors of the global economy but have led to the destruction of the planet's natural ecosystem and resources. To reach the objective of sustainable consumption and production patterns, people must quickly transform how societies produce and consume. SDG-12 promotes resource and energy effciency, the creation of sustainable infrastructure, increased access to green and decent employment and improved quality of life. These goals can be achieved through water management, waste management, sustainable products and services, sustainable supply chains and synergies with circular-based renewable energy systems (Khaw-ngern et al. 2021).

To ensure sustainable economic development for all, humanity must reduce its carbon footprint by changing its production and consumption habits. As highlighted in SDG-12, it is important to use natural resources effciently and to protect the environment from toxic waste pollutants (UNDP 2021). Encouraging industries, businesses and consumers to recycle and reduce waste is important since both of them have roles in transforming consumption into sustainable patterns by 2030 (UNDP 2021). Industries' water, soil and air pollution concerns can be exceeded by the "Rs" concept, which covers rethinking, reducing, redesigning, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, recycling and repurposing (Khaw-ngern et al. 2021). Figure 14.1 summarises the targets of SDG-12.

The transformation towards more responsible and sustainable consumption and production is essential to slow the effects of climate change and prevent further irreparable damage to the planet. The production of materials and goods has a range of environmental impacts, and we are already witnessing the profound effects of destructive production patterns. Unregulated production has led to mass deforestation, excessive waste and other ecological destruction. It also promotes an ineffcient use of resources. SDG-12 is signifcantly important for the success of many other goals due to their interdependent nature.

Responsible consumption and production can promote the transformation of a linear economy to a circular economy (CE) through sustainability and continuity. A circular production and con-

### **Fig. 14.1** Targets of SDG-12 (UNDP 2021)

sumption system prioritises the optimisation of raw materials to create sustainable products. These products can be easily maintained, reused, repaired, recycled and/or refurbished to extend their lifetimes and even create novel products. A circular system also promotes waste reduction at every phase in the extraction-productionconsumption cycle (European Investment Bank 2020).

Consequently, SDG-12 is one of the most effective goals that meet the CE action plan targets. To exemplify, a plan of action which says explicitly that CE is a system-wide solution aimed at fostering sustainable consumption and production methods has been released by the European Union and therefore helping to achieve the goals set by this particular SDG (Rodriguez-Anton et al. 2019; Dantas et al. 2021). Furthermore, excess resource use, energy and waste production are minimised through data collection and surveillance, indicating a convergence with the CE principles on the reduction of raw resource use and waste and pollution design (Andrews 2015; Inoue et al. 2020).

The frst function of the CE is smarter product use and manufacturing. Three strategies used to perform this function are reuse, rethink and reduce. A strategy of reuse could be explained as making a product redundant by eliminating or replacing its function with a new (digital) product or service. Rethink can be described as increasing the product usage intensity (e.g. sharing product). In addition, reducing refers to decreasing resource and material consumption by increasing product effciency. Extending the lifespan of a product and its parts is the second function of the CE. Reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture and repurpose are the fve strategies to fulfl the function. Reuse strategy is reprocessing of an abandoned product that is still in good shape and performed its original function by another customer. The strategy of repair can be described as the inspection and maintenance of a damaged product so that the original function can be prolonged. Moreover, the strategy of refurbishing is restoring and updating an outdated product. Remanufacturing is the use of scrapped products in the manufacturing of novel products with the same purpose. Repurposing is using the scrapped product's elements in a novel product with different purposes. The last function of the CE is the useful application of materials. Recycle and recover are the two strategies utilised to satisfy this function. The strategy of recycling is recovering waste materials for reprocessing into new goods, materials or substances. However, energy recovery and reprocessing into materials for use as fuels or backflling processes are not included. Finally, the strategy of recovery refers to incinerating waste materials to obtain energy recovery (Iordachi 2020; Al et al. 2021).

Responsible consumption and production are critical elements of a sustainable future. This is due to the intrinsic environmental impact of production processes and consumption patterns. In making these processes more responsible, the goal is to minimise the environmental impact of production and consumption while also ensuring that everyone has adequate resources. There is an ongoing debate as to whether it is the duty of consumers, businesses or governments to drive the change towards more sustainable consumption and production patterns. Consumers are often expected to drive this change through their individual choices and actions; however, they are extremely limited by several factors, including societal and economic norms and the market incentives of globalised capitalism. Sustainable consumption is likely to become more feasible when sustainable products and consumption trends are more mainstream and incentivised. Even if enough individual consumers could collectively change their consumption patterns, however, the environmental impact of production would continue to devastate (Stevens 2010). Businesses must also be held responsible for the shift to more sustainable production and consumption patterns. The productivity and effciency of businesses could apply to using the world's scarce resources more sustainably. However, competition between businesses with very limited regulation benefts business models that produce more at lower costs, typically at the expense of the environment (Tukker et al. 2008). With a largely unregulated market regarding environmental impact, the onus of sustainability then falls on governments. Governments can incentivise individuals and groups to consume and produce more sustainably. On the individual level, governments can encourage responsible consumption by subsidising sustainable products, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy sources (Stevens 2010). Governments can also discourage certain unsustainable consumption habits using taxes (Stevens 2010). Governments and international organisations can take similar approaches with corporations, rewarding them with subsidies for sustainable production methods and penalising overconsumption of scarce resources and excessive environmental impact.

By 2050, it is estimated that the natural resources required to sustain existing lifestyles will need the equivalent of nearly three planets at the current rate of population increase and consumption (McNeill 2020). Obviously, change is necessary, and everyone from the manufacturer to the ultimate customer must participate. This essential change will lead to new business areas such as reducing food loss at all stages of the food supply chain, reducing the amount of plastic waste, sustainable construction, decrease in fossil-fuel subsidies (production and consumption), etc. Also, this goal has affected people's daily lives by implementing a new phrase: "Circular Economy". SDG-12 can be named as "Starting Point of Transformation from Linear to Circular Globally". The fact of being a responsible consumer/producer will manage to be more circular from every aspect in the future. Being successful in this direction is not easy at all. This is a process that can be achieved with the whole world acting together since global material consumption is predicted to rise 15% by 2030 and 75% by 2060 to 167 billion metric tonnes. Growth in low- and middle-income economies aiming to equal high-income nations' level of living might be a major driver of material consumption (The Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2020, 2020).

A circular economy scenario is particularly essential given the region's economic importance of the extractive industries and poor recycling rates. Production and consumption trends are expected to alter signifcantly. For instance, in Latin America and the Caribbean, it is expected that by 2030, more than one million jobs would have been created in net terms, owing to an energy transition and efforts to keep global average temperature rise well below 2 °C over preindustrial levels (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean 2020). Job creation in industries such as metal reprocessing and wood reprocessing would more than balance the losses associated with the extraction of minerals and other raw materials in a circular economy scenario. This is because reprocessing's value chain is longer and more labour-intensive than mining's, and higher recycling rates would raise demand for waste management services.

The worldwide food waste management industry is one of the most important markets of interest to those who follow the SDG-12 agenda. Grand View Research estimated the market to be worth \$34.22 billion in 2019 and expects it to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7% from 2020 to 2027 (Grand View Research 2020). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has discovered that one-third of all food produced is wasted, necessitating supply chain improvements. Some of the current emerging developments in the industry include gasifcation for converting food waste into combustible gases, anaerobic digestion for extracting energy and nutrients from produce and AI systems that forecast demand (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2021).

Another important industry is the plastic waste industry. Plastic usage has increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Single-use plastics, including masks, personal protective equipment and sanitiser bottles, have been deemed necessary for controlling the spread of the disease. Disposable face mask sales have grown by 20,650% globally, from 800 million in 2019 to 166 billion in 2020, resulting in a massive increase in plastic waste and is expected to reach 750 billion by 2028 (Grand View Research 2021). Better plastic production and waste management techniques can lead to more responsible plastic consumption and production. Dematerialisation, substitution and improved biodegradability are some of the most popular plastic production techniques. An effective after-use plastics economy with the effcient collection and reprocessing is required to decrease leakage into natural systems for improved plastic waste management. From worst to best, three possible scenarios are discussed (Lebreton and Andrady 2019).


Governments and companies were undoubtedly working to decrease plastic trash before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, 188 nations agreed to amend the UN Basel Convention of 1989 to include plastic as a hazardous waste, and companies throughout the globe committed to increasing recycled plastic in packaging to 22% by 2025 (Global Commitment 2019 Progress Report 2019; Global Material Resources Outlook to 2060: Economic Drivers and Environmental Consequences | READ online 2019). Countries have the chance to "reset the clock" (The Atlas of Sustainable Development Goals 2020, 2020) and then continue their commitment to eliminating plastic and food waste as preparations to recover from COVID-19 evolve.

## **14.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 14.1 presents the business models of 46 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-12. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

https://www.toyo-eng.com/jp/en/; https://muratechnology.com/; http://threefold.io/; http://www.fuergy.com/; https://ampliphi.io/; https://bloombiorenewables.com/; https://diwama.com; https://effabrush.com/; https://energenious.eu; https://hexafy.com/; https://insights.sustainability.google/; https://loopworm.in/; https://lumitics. com/; https://pro.hydrao.com/en/; https://pulpoar.com/; https://recyclingtechnologies.co.uk/; https://seenons.com/ en/; https://sensoneo.com/; https://wandelbots.com/en/; https://www.acorecycling.com/; https://www.actandsorb. com/; https://www.amprobotics.com/; https://www. aquaai.com/; https://www.bambooder.nl/; https://www. bdwaste.com/; https://www.biopipe.co/; https://www.circulor.com/; https://www.deme-group.com/; https://www. ducky.eco/#; https://www.greentrash.nl/; https://www. greyparrot.ai/?hsLang=en; https://www.lignin.se/; https:// www.merckgroup.com/en/sustainability-report/2020/ environment/waste-and-recycling.html; https://www. norsepower.com/key-advantages; https://www.olleco.co. uk/; https://www.osram.com/os/applications/biometricidentifcation/index.jsp; https://www.relectrify.com/; https://www.plenty.ag/; https://www.samson-logic.com/; https://www.seeo2energy.com/; https://www.sensegrass. com/; https://www.smart-farming-system.com/; https:// www.thephaseshift.com/; https://www.upprintingfood. com/; https://www.wasteless.com/; https://www.eugeneapp.io


**Table 14.1**Companies and use cases in SDG-12








**Table 14.1**






# **References**


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **15 SDG-13: Climate Action**

# **Abstract**

SDG-13, Climate Action, aims to adapt to climate change by mitigating adverse effects and keeping the temperature rise below 1.5° by the end of this century and prepare low-carbon development plans. Investing in adaptation is critical for limiting the adverse effects of climate change on human society. Every effcient policy for combating climate change, on the other hand, must decrease emissions to prevent future warming while also adapting to the unavoidable effects of climate change. This chapter presents the business models of 52 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-13. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Climate action · Sustainability.

 The impact of climate change have been felt and experienced by many countries for many years. Today, greenhouse gas (GHG) is 50% higher than the levels in 1990. Global warming has caused climate change for a long time, and these irreversible changes threaten all countries if the countries around the world do not act. Economic losses caused by natural events due to this climate change are at the level of hundreds of billions of dollars. The nations aim to prevent permanent changes to be experienced in the climate system and to prevent economic losses due to this change. In this direction, the United Nations funds developing countries under SDG-13 to adapt to climate change and prepare lowcarbon development plans (United Nations 2021a). The work carried out to support sensitive areas within the scope of Goal 13 also helps to achieve other goals. It is aimed to keep the global temperature change below 1.5° with the work to be carried out within the framework of this purpose. In addition, the carbon dioxide emission rate in 2030 should be reduced by 45% compared to 2010, and net-zero is targeted for 2050 (United Nations 2021a).

Climate change manifests itself in every way nature acts. In the middle of 2021, Germany suffered one of the most fatal and devastating natural disasters in its history by receiving record rainfalls in 100, 500 and even 1000 years in some regions ("European Floods Are Latest Sign of a Global Warming Crisis" 2021). Moreover, wildfres worldwide drew attention in 2021, especially in Siberia, Mediterranean countries and Canada. Despite the cold climate of the northern regions of Russia, Yakutia hit 39 °C and experienced the driest weather since 1888 and suffered

<sup>©</sup> The Author(s) 2022

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_15

record wildfres, causing massive amounts of smoke and abnormal temperature rise (Magnay 2021). Human losses, property damages, internal displacements, outages of healthy water and electricity, deforestation and high carbon releases indicate that humanity is still not ready to cope with frequent and abnormal climate-related disasters (Die Welt 2021). By 2030, the UN plans to cope with wild disasters in every country adaptively. Deaths, injuries, internal replacements or homelessness due to disasters should be reduced as much as possible (United Nations 2021b).

To achieve future goals of reducing climate change, national governments and international institutions need to establish new policies and plans with climate change measures included. Indicators of this targeted focus on decarbonisation strategies and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (SDSN 2021). Contributor countries of the Paris Agreement on climate change prepared their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), which declare each country's plan on reducing GHG emissions and climate change impacts. In addition to NDCs, volunteer countries have begun to adopt new plans for protecting from the natural disasters caused by climate change, such as foods or cyclones (United Nations 2021c). However, some countries' declared targets are insuffcient, meaning that they can be satisfed without the adoption of new policies. Also, another group of countries adopted policies that cannot satisfy the insuffcient targets. This situation complicates the progress for the 2030 and 2050 targets. Therefore, the policies of the countries that make rapid progress should be imitated (Doni et al. 2020). Furthermore, policies must optimise benefts to different SDGs. For example, a regulation that bans fertiliser use totally to help climate action would decrease yields, and thus, it could increase poverty and hunger and contradict SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 2 (zero hunger). However, not having a policy that regulates fertiliser use could cause the overuse of fertilisers and damage the climate action (Campbell et al. 2018). Hence, the adoption of optimised policies is required to achieve the future targets of SDG 13. Also, revision of current policies and plans may be needed to strengthen the tools of governments against climate change. Figure 15.1 compiles the targets of SDG-13.

Climate change research in the built environment and related disciplines of transportation and utilities is still in its early stages. To plan effectively for the future, decision-makers require a signifcantly wider knowledge base. To accomplish this, academics and decision-makers must collaborate to generate this knowledge, which can then be used to develop effective climate change plans (EPSRC 2003). Some approaches, knowledge and skills are required to counteract climate change.

The course of adaptation necessitates adaptive management considering the evolving impacts of climate, the normative nature of risk tolerance and the tipping points between them (European Commission 2012; Wise et al. 2014). As emphasised by the UN, the importance of adaptation can be observed in the number of countries that have national adaptation plans and the fnancing of such plans. Recent reports identifed six least developed countries that have already implemented a national adaptation plan, while a grand majority of developing countries are prioritising and implementing one. Furthermore, the mean annual fnance for climate has been reported to be \$48.7 billion between 2017 and 2018, which is an increase of 10% from 2015 to 2016. Most notably, the target of fnancial support for climate has started to shift from mitigation action to adaptation as more and more countries show increased support for adaptation (United Nations 2021c). The importance of creating reliable frameworks as measures of adaptive capacity has been emphasised both by researchers and policymakers (Solomon et al. 2007). However, there is no template for what this should contain due to adaptation's context-specifc, process-based nature. Knowing how to adapt is deemed necessary to measure adaptive capacity, as it is highly related

# **Fig. 15.1** Targets of SDG-13.(UNDP 2021)

to further deciding factors (Klein 2014). Learning is becoming more important in providing insights into what constitutes effective adaptation, which we defne as improvements that minimise susceptibility to current and future climate change.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the international system for addressing climate change. The convention has been ratifed by a large number of developing as well as developed countries such as the USA. The convention aims to "Prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system." In spite of the high amount of support for the convention worldwide, obtaining this goal is contentious (UNFCCC 2021).

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognises the infuence of biological systems in determining when climate change should be ceased. Three felds of infuence against which the conventional criteria of "dangerous interference" are tested are agricultural production, sustainable development and environmental response. Climate change must be ceased in a period that allows ecosystems to "adapt naturally, does not prevent sustainable development, as well as maintains agricultural productivity", according to the convention (UNFCCC 2021). In the light of the fact that sustainable development keeps productivity in agriculture and electricity, developed, least developed and developing island states should promote mechanisms to raise capacity for planning and management while incorporating women, youth and localised organisations and communities.

In the context of essential reductions by industrialised nations, the EU is committed to lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 80–95% below 1990 levels by 2050. Several goals are determined for decarbonisation by 2050. In the shortmedium term, conventional fossil fuels such as coal and oil are planned to be replaced by lowemission fuels such as natural gas and hydrogen. Nuclear power is also a low-emission power technology and has a huge place in the long-term plans of the EU. Renewable energy sources are primarily preferred in diversifed energy supply technologies. With all these energy supply plans, obtaining high-energy effciency in the end-user area is also a crucial aim. Finally, carbon capturing systems are proposed in the long term to decrease the release of inevitably produced carbon gases into the atmosphere (European Commission 2012).

The time horizon in WEO-2019 is 2050, rather than 2040, as in previous editions, to refect announcements by various governments to attain carbon neutrality by 2050 and to model the possibility for new technologies (such as hydrogen and renewable gases) to be deployed at scale. As a result of continued CO2 emissions and advances in climate research, the interpretation of the climatic target included in the sustainable development scenario varies with time (IEA 2020).

Green Recovery's progress in biodiversity conservation, responsible production and climate action will be stronger by 2100 (90%, 94% and 84%, respectively) with a longer timescale and even more ambitious aims, with 12 out of 13 targets on track or improving (IEA 2020; Moallemi et al. 2020). The fossil-fuelled development path achieves the fastest improvements in socioeconomic indices, such as gross world product (GWP) per capita, by 2100 while fulflling moderate (and occasionally even aggressive) aims. However, in fossil-fuelled development, human and economic development leads to a signifcant increase in the share of fossil fuels in the energy supply, driven by rising energy demand from high-energy-intensity industries and services. In almost all 10,000 realisations of the fossil-fuelled development route, reliance on fossil fuels results in high climate consequences from energyrelated CO2 emissions by 2100 (Moallemi et al. 2020).

In 2009, the World Energy Outlook published the 450 Scenario, a detailed energy transition scenario. The scenario was named after the CO2 concentration of 450 parts per million (ppm), which was thought to be consistent with a 50% chance of keeping average global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius at the time (assuming that net-zero emissions were reached in 2100) (IEA 2020). More than half of the population in the region's major centres, where 1.2 billion new residents are predicted by 2050, live in low-lying coastal areas. As a result, more than 742 million urban dwellers are today exposed to several dangers caused by climate-related disasters, which pose a threat to infrastructure and communities (UNESCAP 2019).

Through their internal operations and supply chains, businesses are responsible for a large percentage of GHG emissions and resource use. Furthermore, items are frequently incorrectly disposed of and seldom enter a new life for future use due to a lack of end-of-use (EOU) planning. This contributes to global waste, pollution and a depletion of fresh material supply. As a result, companies play a critical role in collaborating with governments to limit global warming below 1.5 °C and develop resilience to present and future climate change consequences. Top businesses are taking this responsibility seriously today, offering innovative solutions to cut emissions, minimise effects across the value chain, enhance climate resilience and raise climate awareness. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including the publication of a sustainability action plan, the procurement of lowcarbon materials, the investment in on-site renewable energy, the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs), the construction of netzero factories and the return of products at the end of their useful lives (Bureau 2021).

Many of the adjustments required to establish a carbon-free world would have an initial cost on various economic sectors. When zero-carbon economy infrastructure is developed, and legislative incentives are implemented, high-carbon businesses are expected to lose market share throughout the transition. With the adoption of climate policies, a study by Malerba and Wiebe suggests that Germany will experience the highest job increase in the EU. However, some other countries worldwide, such as Japan and the USA, will have a higher increase of available jobs. The study also concluded that there is no correlation between poverty rates and proportional job increases. A country with a high portion of its population living in poverty may witness a high proportional job increase, while another country with similar population characteristics experiences a low proportional job increase. For example, Brazil experiences a high increase of 0.8%, and India experiences a low increase of 0.3% (Malerba and Wiebe 2021). Another study found that if the measures to restrict global warming to 2 °C become in charge, available jobs will increase 0.3% more compared to current measures (Montt et al. 2018). This study also found that Bulgaria, Indonesia and Taiwan will experience the highest proportional job increases of 0.9%. The study suggests that there will be 4.9 million new jobs created in China, one million in the USA and 1.3 million in India with the climate action measures. Since its economy relies mostly on fossil fuels and the industries that are expected to grow under climate action measures are not developed, the Middle East may experience job losses, unlike the rest of the world (Montt et al. 2018).

To reduce emissions, expenditure that belongs to individuals and the public must change. The government must develop new regulations that encourage individuals to spend their money in new ways, like using decarbonised heating for homes and using alternative modes of transportation such as electric automobiles and motorcycles. Simultaneously, changes in government expenditure and new fscal incentives are required to spur the development of breakthrough zerocarbon technologies, improve building energy effciency, modify farming methods and create sustainable energy grids.

Carbon emissions that originate from individuals or companies can be exposed to economic sanctions such as emission trading systems as well as carbon taxes. Even though this system can provide equal pay, low-incomers can be affected disproportionately by these measures (Abdallah et al. 2011). Favourably, this problem may be addressed by rebate programmes that return at least part of the collected earnings to lower-income individuals. Calculations of the precise future costs of adaptation generate a wide range of outcomes, as they are highly dependent on the level of future greenhouse gas emissions, how the climate system will respond to them in various locations and if they are effective. As a result, estimating the economic costs and benefts of adaptation is extremely challenging. However, adapting without attempts to mitigate climate change would be prohibitively expensive (Imperial College 2021).

According to the World Bank, developing countries can face economic damages of approximately 75–100 billion dollars per year because of the 2 °C warming until 2050. However, it is considered that these values are pretty low. In the meantime, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates this loss can approach 280– 500 billion dollars each year until 2050. If global warming continues to rise beyond this point, the costs of adapting will skyrocket (Fankhauser 2019; Olhoff et al. 2015; World Bank 2010).

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reducing global warming to 2 °C would lower yearly per capita global consumption growth by 0.06 percentage points relative to growth in a hypothetical future without climate change (Onencan et al. 2016). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on the other hand, claims that if climate change is taken into consideration in reform and budgetary plans, this consideration will create a 1% and 2.8% increment to GDP in G20 nations for 2021 and 2050, respectively (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2017).

Investing in adaptation is critical for limiting the adverse effects of climate change on human society. Every effcient policy for combating climate change, on the other hand, must decrease emissions to prevent future warming while also adapting to the unavoidable effects of climate change. According to the Global Commission on Adaptation, climate change will affect people despite the most effective strategies. As a result, reducing emissions is "the best form of adaptation" (Global Commission on Adaptation 2019).

# **15.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 15.1 presents the business models of 52 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-13. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://algaepro.no/; http://c-combinator.com/; http://fashforest.ca/; http://geopard.tech/; http://geyserbatteries. com/; http://mangomaterials.com/; http://spgroup.com. sg/; http://wingtra.com/; https://akercarboncapture.com/; https://biomemakers.com/; https://charmindustrial.com/; https://checkerspot.com/; https://deepbranch.com/technology/; https://emrod.energy/; https://en.vytal.org/; https://enervenue.com/; https://fullcyclebioplastics.com/; https://lignaenergy.se/; https://polyspectra.com/; https:// poseidon.eco/; https://sadako.es/; https://seabenergy. com/; https://solarfoods.f/; https://tech2impact.com/startups/utilis/; https://verv.energy/; https://www.aphea.bio/; https://www.bamomas.com/; https://www.bloomenergy. com/; https://www.bluenalu.com/about; https://www. business.att.com/products/multi-access-edge-computing. html; https://www.caire-solutions.com/; https://www. carbfx.com/; https://www.carbonclean.com/; https:// www.carboncure.com/; https://www.climatedatahub.io/; https://www.clingsystems.com/; https://www.crowd4climate.org/; https://www.divergent3d.com/; https://www. freightfarms.com/greenery-s; https://www.ge.com/gaspower/future-of-energy/carbon-capture-storage; https:// www.h2arvester.nl/?lang=en; https://www.harvest.london/; https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/energy-blockchain-labs-inc;https://www.meatable.com/; https://www. omniplytech.com/; https://www.ossia.com/; https://www. polybion.mx/materials/; https://www.raisegreen.com/; https://www.riversimple.com/; https://www.samsungsdi. com/business.html; https://www.space4good.com/; https://www.woodlandbiofuels.com/


15.1












15 SDG-13: Climate Action




## **References**


of pathways of change and response. Glob. Environ. Change **28**, 325–336 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/j. gloenvcha.2013.12.002

World Bank, *Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change: Synthesis Report* (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010) https://doi.org/10/01/16436675/economicsadaptation-climate-change-synthesis-report

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **16 SDG-14: Life Below Water**

### **Abstract**

Global systems and processes that assure the supply of rainwater, drinking water and oxygen are regulated by oceanic temperature chemistry, currents and life. Pollution, diminished fsheries and the loss of coastal habitats all have negative impacts on the ocean's sustainability. Such activities have severely impacted around 40% of the world's oceans. SDG-14, Life Below Water, aims to conserve marine ecosystems by establishing regulations for removing pollutants from the sea, decreasing sea acidifcation and regulating the fshing sector to ensure sustainable fshing. As a result, the major incentive for this goal is to protect and utilise marine ecosystem services sustainably. This chapter presents the business models of 36 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-14. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Life below water · Sustainability. Oceans covering nearly 3/4 of the planet's surface contain 97% of the planet's water and account for 99% of living space by surface area. Nonetheless, nearly 95% of the ocean remains unknown, 91% of oceanic species are still unclassifed, and a large number of fsh species (1851 as of 2010) are threatened with extinction. Even though human beings live mostly on continents, they are heavily reliant on the oceans. Oceanic processes and biodiversity generate various ecological functions, enabling many species to live on the Earth. Moreover, coastal and marine resources contribute a total of US\$28 trillion to the global economy on an annual basis. Noticeably, oceans absorb approximately 40% of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans, thereby mitigating the effects of global warming. Moreover, the oceans are the world's primary protein resources, with nearly 3 billion people relying on them. The estimated market value of such marine and coastal resources and industries is approximately US\$3 trillion per year. On the other hand, the quality and biodiversity of marine ecosystems are rapidly declining. Because of primarily human-caused activities, it may be too late to save the oceans if action is not taken quickly. As a result, countries must take precautionary measures to protect marine ecosystems and improve the quality of biodiversity beneath the sea.

Global systems and processes that assure the supply of rainwater, drinking water and oxygen are regulated by oceanic temperature chemistry, currents and life. Pollution, diminished fsheries and the loss of coastal habitats all have negative impacts on the ocean's sustainability. Such activities have severely impacted around 40% of the world's oceans. There is also the economic impact. Ocean fsheries are now generating \$58 billion less per year than they could be due to unregulated fshing (Pandey et al. 2021). Many of today's and future concerns, such as food security and climate change, as well as the availability of energy and natural resources, are recognised as dependent on the oceans (Franco et al. 2020). By increasing fsh catches, income and improved health are two ways that Marine Protected Areas help ease poverty. They also contribute to gender equality because women own many small-scale fsheries. The maritime environment is also home to a wide variety of magnifcent species, ranging from single-celled organisms to the world's largest animal – the blue whale. Moreover, coral reefs, which are among the world's most diversifed ecosystems, also lie within the oceans (Nicklin and Cornwell 2020). The utilisation of the sea and its resources for long-term economic development (blue economy), which contributes to today's and tomorrow's prosperity, is growing rapidly; however, the oceans are under stress. They are already overexploited, contaminated and threatened by global warming (Franco et al. 2020). Debris levels in the world's oceans are rising, causing a severe environmental and economic threat. Entanglement or swallowing of trash by organisms negatively infuences biodiversity, as it can kill or prevent species from breeding (Nicklin and Cornwell 2020). The ocean has absorbed a considerable amount of carbon dioxide as carbon emissions have gone up signifcantly, causing acidifcation. Rising sea levels and temperatures are causing biodiversity and habitat loss and changes in the composition of fsh stocks. Furthermore, approximately 20% of the world's coral reefs have been seriously damaged, with no signs of recovery. Due to human pressures, approximately 24% of the remaining reefs are in impending danger of collapsing, with another 26% facing a longer-term risk of collapsing (Nicklin and Cornwell 2020). In addition to the coral reef problem, overfshing and decreased fsh stocks are threatening future ocean development in many parts of the world (Franco et al. 2020). The value of lost economic gains from the fshing industry is estimated to be over \$50 billion per year. Poor ocean management practices are estimated to cost the global economy at least US\$200 billion each year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. Climate change will increase the cost of ocean damage by an additional US\$322 billion per year by 2050 if no mitigating measures are taken (Nicklin and Cornwell 2020).

SDG-14 aims to conserve marine ecosystems by establishing regulations for removing pollutants from the sea, decreasing sea acidifcation and regulating the fshing sector to ensure sustainable fshing. As a result, the major incentive for this goal is to protect and utilise marine ecosystem services sustainably. SDG-14 also intends to restrict fshery subsidies that lead to overfshing in specifc areas. Several fsh species are being rapidly depleted as a result of uncontrolled and subsidised fshing. There is greater competition in markets with limited resources to catch as many fsh as possible. Therefore, member states must develop and implement legislation to restrict fshing operations to ensure the fsh stock's long-term viability. States must coordinate to control fshing operations in regions where the coast is shared by more than one state. Pollution from land-based activities poses a danger to coastal life. If pollution from the land is poured into the sea without being treated, it will produce eutrophication, characterised by excessive algae development. While eutrophication may appear to be a natural process, it deprives the water of oxygen, which breaks the fsh bio-chain. As a result, eutrophication may result in the extinction of living species in the coastal area. Another major issue is ocean acidifcation. The origins and consequences of ocean acidifcation are still a source of scientifc dispute. However, it is impossible to predict exactly how the ocean food chain would be affected in terms of life. What we do know is that some micro-species are more susceptible than others. As a result, the future of these micro-species may be jeopardised. We need to develop immediate ways to mitigate abnormal levels of acidity as the rate of ocean acidifcation rises. According to the United Nations, at least 10% of marine and coastal habitats should be legally protected (Gulseven 2020). The long-term benefts largely compensate for the short-term costs of acting. However, while progress is being made, substantial obstacles remain. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, scaled-up efforts to sustain the global ocean need a one-time public expenditure of US\$ 32 billion and ongoing expenses of US\$ 21 billion each year. Apart from the need for considerable multi-year fundraising to reach the level of ambition, the ongoing negative aspect of climate change; inadequate industrial, agricultural and household waste management; chemical and plastic pollution; corruption; and a lack of effective governance activities, the alarming rate of biodiversity loss in ecosystems and wilful ignorance of scientifc evidence must all be resolved (Nicklin and Cornwell 2020). Imagine how powerful it would be if we collectively harnessed "the ocean in us" as a driving force to increase ocean ambition and enhance ocean action as our planet's "Blue Lung" as we need to see the nexus between the ocean and sustainable human, social and economic development (Nicklin and Cornwell 2020). Figure 16.1 summarises the targets and sub-targets of SDG-14 for 2030, which the United Nations present.

The oceans encompass more than 70% of the Earth's crust. Oceans create more than 50% of the planet's oxygen. They help regulate the climate and offer vital habitats for a wide range of marine and coastal organisms. Oceans also contribute to the global economy and regional life by serving as a means of transport and trading (Kan et al. 2020). Marine fsheries employ 57 million people worldwide and are the major protein source for more than half of the population in LDCs, with over 3 billion people relying on oceans and terrestrial biodiversity for a living. That's why the health of the oceans, the world's water resources and the life below water is important as a matter of being an economic resource and vital to many of the world's population. The yearly market value of coastal and marine sources and businesses is estimated to be \$3 hundred billion or approximately equal to 5% of total global GDP. Nonetheless, human activities, such as pollution, reduced fsheries and coastal habitat loss, are harming up to 40% of the seas. The oceans are the planet's largest source of protein, with over 3 billion human beings dependent on them as their main resource. Nonetheless, the proportion of stocks fshed at unsustainable levels was 28.8% in 2011: a slight reduction from the previous high of 32.5% in 2008 but still cause for concern. Fisheries, food, aquaculture and the tourism sector are particularly dependent on clean oceans and coastal areas. They play an important role in dealing with problems to the well-being of our oceans and coastal regions. Notwithstanding, if natural coastal food protection is destroyed or food security is jeopardised, all sectors may suffer, and all may contribute to reducing marine pollution or the maintenance of sustainable fsheries (PwC 2021).

The ocean is a massive economic resource. Ninety percent of the planet's commodities are traded throughout the seas. Millions of people operate in fshery and mariculture, shipping and docks, tourist industry, offshore energy, medicines and cosmetics, which all depend on marinerelated sources (Stuchtey et al. 2021). The ocean food industry itself supports up to 237 million employment, encompassing fshery, mariculture and processing. Thousands of people operate in other ocean industries, such as shipping, docks, energy and the tourist industry, and many others are indirectly related to the marine sector and economy. Coastal ecosystems protect millions of people, foster wildlife, detoxify pollutants that run off the land and serve as nursery grounds for fsheries, boosting food supply and giving jobs. They additionally serve as a source of money. Coral reefs on their own generate \$11.5 billion worldwide tourism each year, supporting more than 100 nations and giving food and employment to the locals (Stuchtey et al. 2021).

Investing in a healthy ocean economy benefts more than simply the ocean. They are a fantastic business prospect. Putting money \$2.8 hundred

**Fig. 16.1** Targets of SDG-14. (UNDP 2021)

billion presently within only four ocean-based solutions – offshore wind production, sustainable ocean-based production of food, international logistics, decarbonisation and mangrove restoration and production – would yield a real earning of \$15.5 hundred billion by 2050, a beneft-cost ratio of more than 5 (Stuchtey et al. 2021). One single source of stress, like overfshing event pollution, can cause signifcant harm. Moreover, single stressors regionally reinforce each other, with devastating effects on the ecosystem. If nothing is done, these issues might cost the world economy more than \$400 billion per year by 2050. The yearly cost might reach \$2 trillion by 2100 (Stuchtey et al. 2021).

The "Blue Economy (BE)" or "Oceans/ Marine Economy" has been extensively supported by a variety of relevant stakeholders in recent years as a paradigm or strategy for protecting the oceans and water sources. The notion of BE arose from the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. The concept "Blue Economy" is being used in a variety of contexts, and related topics such as "ocean economy" or "marine economy" are used without clarity (Lee et al. 2020).

Approximately 820 million people rely on fsheries for income, both directly and indirectly, to ensure food security (Steinbach et al. 2017). Furthermore, fsheries offer 20% of the protein consumed by more than three billion people. Fish accounts for 50–60% of total dietary protein in several regions of our planet, including South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Africa and SIDS (small island developing states). Over the last fve decades, the worldwide fshing sector has experienced tremendous growth. The yearly fsh caught globally increased from approximately 20 metric tonnes in 1950 to more than 90 metric tonnes in 2014. Annual per capita fsh intake increased from roughly 10 kilogrammes in the 1960s to nearly 20 kilogrammes in 2013. Production and consumption of fsheries have increased at a cost. According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), solely 11% of world fsh stocks were under-fshed in 2013. On the other hand, 58.1% were completely fshed, and 31.4% were fshed at biologically unsustainable levels. With a projected worldwide population of 9 billion people by 2050, overfshing has major consequences for the overall health of marine ecosystems, poverty reduction and food security. Millions of livelihoods might be lost if threats to oceans and the services they provide are not addressed, and many people could lose access to a food staple that they rely on to survive (Steinbach et al. 2017). Effects of the climate changes on the oceans, such as sea-level rise, storms and consequences on fsheries, are expected to cost between US 600 million and US 2 trillion dollars by 2100. SIDS and coastal communities in developing countries are threatened by climate change, which poses a threat to their well-being and survival. For example, the climate crisis is expected to boost the intensity and frequency of disasters such as foods and hurricanes, which has already started to cost several smallisland developing countries more than 20% of their GDP (gross domestic product). Almost a quarter of the world population is particularly vulnerable since at least 20% are still categorised as least developed countries (LDCs) (Recuero Virto 2018).

SDG-14 advocates for the sustainable use and conservation of marine resources, oceans and seas and achieving sustainable development (Steinbach et al. 2017). SDG-14 indicators rely on present short-term relationships. They will undoubtedly beneft society in the long run, while building marine protected areas, reducing harmful fshing subsidies and ending overfshing may incur short-term costs for individuals. Through suitable mechanisms, policies can be made to reduce these costs. As a result, these trade-offs may be spurious, and achieving decent work and economic growth does not always require giving up aquatic life (Gulseven 2020).

For the future, new data science and engineering approaches offer optimism that data will be acquired for a certain purpose in the frst place but subsequently used for various assessments other than the original one, following the principle of "collect once, use many times". By combining data from various old and new sources, researchers will be able to use artifcial intelligence techniques, such as machine learning (ML) to acquire fresh perspectives on ocean dynamics. New algorithms have become an effective and effcient tool for accurately analysing oceanographic and environmental datasets. Prediction of ocean weather and climate, habitat modelling, distribution, species detection, coastal water observation, marine resource management, identifcation of oil spills and pollution and wave modelling are the key applications of machine learning in oceanography. Nonetheless, future advances are projected to expand the number of users and lead to their integration into daily data administration (UNESCO 2020).

# **16.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 16.1 presents the business models of 36 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-14. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://apium.com/; http://usvcompany.com/; http://www. aquabyte.ai/; https://bureo.co/; https://calwave.energy/; https://digitaltwinmarine.com/; https://dronesolutionservices.com/wasteshark; https://econcretetech.com/; https:// marinelabs.io/; https://monitorfsh.com/; https://oceanium.world/; https://seakura.co.il/en/; https://shellcatch. com/; https://sinay.ai/en/; https://symbytech.com/; https:// theoceancleanup.com/; https://umitron.com/en/index. html; https://upstream.tech/hydroforecast; https://www. akualogix.com/; https://www.aquaponicsiberia. com/?lang=en; https://www.bioceanor.com/en; https:// www.blueoceangear.com/; https://www.blueplanetecosystems.com; https://www.cageeye.com/nb; https://www. ellipsis.earth/; https://www.icoteq.com/; https://www. oceandiagnostics.com/; https://www.projectbb.org/; https://www.ranmarine.io/products/datashark/; https:// www.reef.support/; https://www.saildrone.com/; https:// www.sofarocean.com/; https://www.vortex-io.fr/; https:// www.we4sea.com/; https://www.whaleseeker.com/; https://xpertsea.com/


**Table 16.1** Companies and use cases in SDG-14




**Table 16.1** (continued)



**Table 16.1** (continued)


465


**Table 16.1** (continued)


## **References**


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **17 SDG-15: Life on Land**

### **Abstract**

Population increases, industry, urbanisation, infrastructure development and agricultural expansion infuence landscapes, lowering total habitat size and quality and resulting in ecological degradation. SDG-15, Life on Land, aims to maintain, restore and enhance the utilisation of the terrestrial environment and forest management sustainably, struggle with desertifcation and stop and reverse land degradation, as well as the loss of biodiversity. This chapter presents the business models of 45 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-15. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Life on land · Sustainability

Population increases, industry, urbanisation, infrastructure development and agricultural expansion infuence landscapes, lowering total habitat size and quality and resulting in ecological degradation. Overall, the pace of extinction caused by human activities is so high that even conservative estimates suggest humankind has entered the sixth major extinction event (Bradshaw et al. 2021). Earth had had a nonaquatic environment throughout its geological history, except when its entire surface was covered with water. Non-aquatic generally means terrestrial environments. Nevertheless, even an entirely aquatic environment like lakes encompasses a broad range of mixed habitats where aquatic and terrestrial areas evolve and interact throughout time (Beraldi-Campesi 2013). Terrestrial ecosystems provide goods and various ecosystem services such as carbon capturing, preserving soil quality, protecting biodiversity, decreasing the risk of natural disasters by regulating water fow, controlling erosion and preserving agricultural systems. Therefore, protecting terrestrial ecosystems signifcantly contributes to tackling the climate crisis and adaptation efforts. In 2015 United Nations established SDG-15, which is about "Life on Land" to maintain, restore and enhance the utilisation of the terrestrial environment and forest management sustainably, struggle with desertifcation and stop and reverse land degradation, as well as the loss of biodiversity (Ishtiaque et al. 2020). These initiatives aim to ensure that the advantages of landbased ecosystems, such as sustainable livelihoods, are maintained for future generations (UNEP 2021). The notion that the management of terrestrial ecosystems, especially forests and varied biodiversity, is critical for long-term development has gained widespread acceptance. However, the demands of population expansion, development of the economy and greater consumption will only exacerbate the diffculties of maintaining life on land (Sayer et al. 2019). SDG-15 has a vital role in dealing with these problems. As shown in Fig. 17.1, there are 12 targets within the context of SDG-15, and they are measured with 14 indicators.

As explained earlier, SDG-15 targets preserving, restoring and encouraging the use of terrestrial ecosystems in a sustainable manner, sustainably managing forests, fghting desertifcation and preventing the loss of biodiversity and soil deterioration. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the ecological impact of agriculture has grown substantially. As a result, food production is a major contributor to these problems: Expanding agriculture has resulted in habitat loss for 80% of endangered animals (Måren 2019). More than 80% of the human diet is made up of plants, and up to 80% of people in developing nations' rural regions depend on traditional plant-based medicines for basic healthcare. Approximately 2.6 billion people rely directly on agriculture for their livelihoods, and about 1.6 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods; forests occupy around 30% of the Earth's surface, and they are home to nearly 80% of all terrestrial animals, plants and insect species (UNEP 2021).

Forests assist in preventing climate change by removing CO2 from the atmosphere; supporting the balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity in the atmosphere; and conserving watersheds, which provide 75% of the world's freshwater. Natural catastrophes, such as foods, droughts, landslides and other severe occurrences, are also reduced (Kleymann and Mitlacher 2018). The loss of forested areas has a detrimental impact on rural populations' lives since it leads to increased carbon emissions, land degradation (which affects 74% of the world's poor) and biodiversity loss ("SDG 15" 2021). Forests are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, supporting more than 80% of all terrestrial animal, plant and insect species. Forests have a crucial role in people's livelihoods and well-being, particularly among the rural poor, young and women. Forests support roughly 1.6 billion people, including over 2000 indigenous cultures, in addition to providing shelter, income and security for forest-dependent communities (Kleymann and Mitlacher 2018).

Member States of the United Nations stated at the Rio+20 Conference in 2012 that they recognise the social and economic importance of good land use planning, including soil, especially its help to economic growth, biodiversity, sustainable agricultural production, poverty eradication, women's empowerment, climate change mitigation and enhanced water accessibility. They highlight that desertifcation, land degradation and drought are worldwide concerns that continue to pose major threats to all nations' sustainable development, particularly developing ones. They also underlined the need of taking immediate action to reverse land degradation. In light of this, we shall work to build a land degradation-free world in the context of long-term development. This should operate as a catalyst for mobilising fnancial resources from both public and private sources (The future we want, 2012).

Forests and biodiversity will almost certainly face challenges in the future years. As a result of this issue, additional protective and long-term strategies should be developed – all efforts to achieve long-term sustainability infuence landbased life. The solution-oriented issues discussed will be a big step towards these challenges. There will be a decline in the use of wood for livelihoods, especially if the economy continues to expand, and therefore the problem of poverty may be reduced to a minimum. Health and education level will be positively affected by this situation. As long as forests and wetlands are protected, the services and opportunities offered will also result from these sustainable development goals. If plans progress as intended, the following will occur (Sayer et al. 2019):


**Fig. 17.1** SDG-15 targets and indicators. (UNEP 2021, p. 15)

will increase trees and forests and improve effciency (Laurance et al. 2013).

• As the purchasing power increases, the demand for agricultural products will

decrease, and the consumption of meat and dairy products will increase.

• To access mineral resources, infrastructure will be expanded into forest regions.


By 2030, signifcant progress will be made, even if these targets are not fnished. Ongoing studies and practices will ensure that life on land is protected (Sayer et al. 2019). When conducting these applications, an integrated and systematic strategy is necessary (Tremblay et al. 2020). The working principle of integration is used horizontally across policy domains, vertically from the global to the national and local levels and regionally across local governments (Kanuri et al. 2016). Localisation refers to the implementation of SDG practices at the local level. The methods adopted to accomplish global, national and subnational objectives and the process of monitoring these strategies are referred to as SDG localisation (Losada 2014). Although scientifc research on cities and SDGs is growing (Barnett and Parnell 2016; Bibri and Krogstie 2017; Graute 2016), there is still a knowledge vacuum about how to best apply them at the local level (Fenton and Gustafsson 2017; Krellenberg et al. 2019).

Together with SDG-15, it is aimed to integrate the international conventions and agreements made for the continuation of life on land with other targets (Sayer et al. 2019). Ecosystems and forests are important from an economic point of view. SDG-15.1 aims to protect ecosystems and their economic values (Dempsey 2016). Payments for ecosystem services (PES), an economic and environmental approach, aim to protect biodiversity by internalising the real value of biodiversity (Pirard 2011). With this approach, the protected ecosystem will provide more services and be good for both the economy and biodiversity in the long run (Pirard 2011). To sustain the business world fed by natural resources, it is necessary to protect the ecosystem. Since institutions take over ecosystems, the focus is on generating income from biodiversity rather than protecting it. The forestry sector is a good example of this situation. The environmental standards determined to protect the ecosystem in public institutions and companies have been stretched under the name of economic incentives (Lovera 2017). Current business models and economic approaches are not sustainable. Evaluating, optimising and minimising the effect and dependency of businesses on the land and ecosystems is a direct way for businesses to support life on land ("SDG 15" 2021). Integrating socio-economic development activities into protection plans as a method of ensuring long-term resource utilisation necessitates a thorough knowledge of the interconnections between humans and natural processes (Bridgewater et al. 2015).

## **17.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 17.1 presents the business models of 45 companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-15. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technolo-













gies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically1 .

# **References**


<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://internetoftrees.tech/; http://www.wipsea.com/; https://apic.ai/; https://dendra.io/; https://descarteslabs. com/; https://droneseed.com/; https://ecording.org/; https://en.greenpraxis.com/; https://hortau.com/; https:// jupiterintel.com/; https://landlifecompany.com/; https:// n2applied.com/; https://optirtc.com/; https://ororatech. com/; https://satelligence.com/; https://skymining.com/ en/skymining-en/; https://spinnova.com/; https://tesselo. com/; https://timbeter.com/; https://treevia.com.br/; https://virotec.com/; https://wastehero.io/; https://www. aeriumanalytics.com/; https://www.beewise.ag/; https:// www.breeze-technologies.de/; https://www.cloudagronomics.com/; https://www.covercress.com/; https://www. daumet.com/en/; https://www.desertcontrol.com/; https:// www.drylet.com/; https://www.greencitywatch.org/; https://www.nanofexllc.com/; https://www.nofence.no/ en/; https://www.projectcanopy.org/; https://www.robinradar.com/; https://www.robotto.ai/; https://www.seetree. ai/; https://www.spoor.ai/; https://www.sylvera.com/; https://www.terramera.com/; https://www.terviva.com/; https://www.tesera.com/; https://www.thebeecorp.com/; https://www.watergenics.tech/; https://www.xampla.com/


K. Nilsson, T. Randrup, J. Schipperijn, (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2005), pp. 81–114. https://doi. org/10.1007/3-540-27684-X\_5

UNEP, 2021. GOAL 15: Life on land [WWW Document]. UNEP – UN Environ. Programme. http://www.unep. org/explore-topics/sustainable-development-goals/ why-do-sustainable-development-goals-matter/goal-15. Accessed 18 Aug 2021

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **18 SDG-16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions**

### **Abstract**

Institutions and organisations must give due importance to the rule of law, the sanctity of human rights and the effect of stability to ensure sustainable development. SDG-16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, aims to strengthen justice and strong corporate culture to achieve sustainable development and social peace. Greatly reducing crime and confict through justice and strong institutions, upholding the rule of law and strengthening the presence of developing countries in global governance institutions are essential topics for SDG-16. This chapter presents the business models of eight companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-16. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Peace, justice and strong institutions · Sustainability

Institutions and organisations must give due importance to the rule of law, the sanctity of human rights and the effect of stability to ensure sustainable development. Societies that have grown and prospered in the last 300 years are those that adhere to the requirements of democracy, respect human rights and have adopted inclusive economic institutions (Acemoglu et al. 2012). In governments where peace and social reconciliation cannot be achieved, justice is jeopardised, and eventually, confict and fear dominate. In places with this order, where institutions and justice are not strong, violence and crime rates are high, abuse and exploitation are common, and corruption and bribery are common. This is a problem that exists in many places in the world and must be solved. In an increasingly globalised world, confict and instability in one region can also affect many parts of the world. SDG-16 aims to strengthen justice and strong corporate culture to achieve sustainable development and social peace. Greatly reducing crime and confict through justice and strong institutions, upholding the rule of law and strengthening the presence of developing countries in global governance institutions are important topics for SDG-16 (United Nations 2021).

The UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs defnes four different indicators that are observed as a crucial decrease in violence and related death rates worldwide, in Target 16.1. The frst indicator is the total number of intentional

### © The Author(s) 2022

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Ulaş Özen, Eren Fidan, Uğur Dursun, Büşra Öztürk, Asya Nur Sunmaz and Muhammed Emir Gücer in completing of this chapter.

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_18

homicide victims divided by the entire population, expressed per 100,000 people. The total number of confict-related deaths divided by the entire population stated per 100,000 is stated as the second indicator. Third, the total number of people who have been victims of physical, psychological or sexual violence in the past 12 months is a percentage of the overall population. The fourth indicator measures the percentage of adults who feel comfortable travelling alone in their community (The World Bank 2021a). These indicators are followed by the United Nations Offce on Drugs and Crime and the Offce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Three separate indicators are observed under Goal 16.2, which is to end child abuse, exploitation, traffcking and all kinds of violence against and torture of children. These are defned in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs metadata. The frst measure, the percentage of children aged 1–17 years who experienced physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the previous month, is now being defned as the percentage of children between the ages 1 and 14 years who experienced physical punishment and/or psychological aggression by caregivers in the previous month. The second indicator is defned as the ratio of total victims of human traffcking found or residing in a nation to the population resident in the country, expressed per 100,000 people. Thirdly, the percentage of young women and men aged 18–29 who had experienced sexual assault by the age of 18. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Offce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) both monitor these metrics (The World Bank 2021a).

Three different indicators are observed under Target 16.3, promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensuring equal access to justice for all. The UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs defnes these in their metadata. The frst indicator, the number of victims of violent crime in the previous 12 months who reported their victimisation to competent authorities or other offcially recognised confict resolution mechanisms, is a percentage of all victims of violent crime in the previous 12 months. Second, on a specifed date, the total number of persons held in detention who have not yet been sentenced is a percentage of the total number of persons held in detention. Third, by type of mechanism, the number of persons who experienced a dispute during the past 2 years who accessed a formal or informal dispute resolution mechanism is a percentage of all those who experienced a dispute in the past 2 years. These indicators are followed by the United Nations Offce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (SDG Tracker 2021).

Under the SDG-16.4 target, organised crime and terrorist organisations continue their existence by creating fear and insecurity in society. While organised crime organisations are for economic proft, the target of terrorism is ideological and political (Bovenkerk and Chakra 2004). Such organisations illegally fnance the revenue sources of their actions. For a stronger, more peaceful society, it is essential to have justice and strong security institutions. To achieve this, the security forces' fght against all kinds of crimes is one of the top priorities for social peace. This struggle has reached even more advanced levels with the development of technology, for example, Cybersecurity.

Under SDG-16.5, corruption negatively affects economic growth and society's trust in institutions (Brouthers et al. 2008). Corruption and bribery disrupt the functioning of an institution by doing what is asked instead of what needs to be done. Institutions that do not comply with such laws and regulations have an order dominated by the powerful. They cause an increase in inequalities and a loss of a sense of justice in society. This corruption in authorities and institutions causes a public reaction and damages the culture of democracy.

Under SDG-16.6, making participatory, inclusive decisions with the participants at all levels is one of the ideals of democratic culture. Participatory democracies can increase their understanding of politics and their dialogue with each other, no matter how diffcult it is to cope with today's challenges (Collins 2019). In a world where inequality is signifcantly reduced and women and minorities are more participatory, it is obvious that the decisions taken will be more permanent and more just and will serve more peace. For this to happen, a social consensus and social peace affect each other positively in a two-way manner.

Under SDG-16.7, birth registration implantation ensures that children can access justice and social services and protect children. However, data from 2010 to 2019 shows that one in four children in all populations who are under the age of 5 were never offcially recorded by states (United Nations 2021). In 2020, the registration rates of children under the age of 5 in sub-Saharan Africa (46%) and underdeveloped countries (44%) were well below the world average (74%) (UNICEF DATA 2021).

Under SDG-16.8, there is an aim to increase the voting power of developing countries. According to the World Bank, the USA, Germany, UK, France and Japan have 35.21% of all voting power in global economic institutions. However, developing countries don't have enough power in economic institutions (The World Bank 2021b).

Under SDG-16.9, human rights institutions ensure that justice systems are processed fairly in countries. In 2019, 40% of countries in the world had human rights institutions that audit the offcial institutions of governments. Human rights institutions comply with Paris Principles (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights 2012). Seventy-eight countries in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa still have diffculty accessing human rights institutions (United Nations 2020).

Under SDG-16.10, ensuring public access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms under national legislation and international agreements are focused on specifcally. SDG-16.10 tries to increase the extent of the state's respect and protection besides citizens' access to information rights (Bolaji-Adio 2015). To achieve the target, adopting and implementing constitutional, regulatory and political measures to guarantee public access to information is essential (Cling et al. 2018). Another indication of SDG-16.10 might be to evaluate if public offcers are completely and effectively using the anticorruption instruments and structures to combat corruption (Bolaji-Adio 2015). SDG-16.10 thus plays a key role in ensuring accountability in the context of the SDGs so that they may be effective.

Target 16.a is to strengthen relevant national institutions including through international cooperation, for preventing violence and combating terrorism and crime. In compliance with the Paris Principles, independent national human rights institutions could be stated as an instance for the target. Appraising the effectiveness of the national institutions in terms of the resources (human, fnancial and logistics) that have been involved in intra- and inter-state confict resolution supports the increase of such actions for the target (Bolaji-Adio 2015).

Target 16.b deals with promoting and enforcing non-discriminatory laws and policies. Undoubtedly, non-discrimination must be worked on for the welfare of the world and fair, equitable and timely access to justice. Promoting and protecting the rights of permanently disadvantaged or vulnerable groups, including but not limited to internally displaced persons, refugees and persons with disabilities, is the primary target of 16.b (Bolaji-Adio 2015). When identifying vulnerable groups, transparent, participatory and accountable processes leading would help achieve this target. Assessing the effectiveness of the measures and sharing details of any violation and reports available are important for the accurate determination of the next policies. Figure 18.1 illustrates the targets and sub-targets of SDG-16.

Achieving sustainable development goals requires peaceful, fair and inclusive communities (SDGs). Regardless of their race, religion or sexual orientation, people everywhere deserve to be free from fear of violence and feel secure going about their daily lives. Many studies have shown that peace and development go together. As an example, research by the World Bank and the

**Fig. 18.1** Targets of SDG-16. (United Nations 2021)

United Nations shows that instability and war are key development problems that can stall progress. According to the IEP, increased levels of violence have a detrimental infuence on economic growth by reducing international investment and the fnancial environment. According to the study's authors, this has an impact on poverty and economic development, expected lifespan and educational achievements and characteristics critical for long-term development, such as newborn mortality and availability of services.

The 2030 Agenda says and maintains that "there can be no sustainable development without peace". Along with people, wealth, the environment and cooperation, peace is regarded as one of fve essential areas for humankind. The 2030 Agenda emphasises the importance of building peaceful, just and inclusive communities centred around human rights (along with the right to improvement), an effcient judicial system and effective governance throughout all degrees while also transparent, effcient and responsible institutions. Political goals, such as guaranteeing inclusiveness, strengthening effective governance and ending violence, were seen as equally important as economic, social and environmental goals. It was then that the 2030 Agenda's SDG-16 arose as an "enabler". As a result, SDG-16 is a critical component of the transformational 2030 Agenda. This holds true for all objectives, including those linked to climate change, health, education, economic growth and so forth. Development achievements will be undone in the absence of long-term peace, which includes respect for human rights and the judicial system as well as the absence of violence. Inequalities in poverty reduction and socio-economic development will rise without having access to justice for all and inclusion, and governments' promises to leave no one behind will not be realised.

We may use one of the objectives as an example to show how important SDG-16 is in accomplishing the SDGs and attaining comprehensive sustainable development. Target 16.5 aims, for example, to "signifcantly eliminate bribery and corruption of any kind". An atmosphere of excellent governance, security and peace is ideal for sustainable development. On the other hand, corruption has a negative infuence on long-term growth and frequently results in civil unrest and insecurity. Overall, the empirical evidence and sustainable development measures demonstrate that countries with high rates of corruption have low rates of growth, average life expectancy, mean years of schooling and public policy effectiveness while having high rates of poverty as well as a high number of maternal deaths and high average child mortality rates per 1000 births (UNICEF DATA 2019). As a result, SDG-16 serves as a foundation for the other 16 SDGs, which all depend upon inclusive institutions which can have a responsibility towards public demands in an open and accountable manner. The SDG-16 targets refect human rights commitment, accountability, transparency and justice, which would be essential for an environment where people can have liberty in life and be safe and prosperous. SDG-16 impacts many elements of society and the 2030 Agenda, from anticorruption and the judicial system to participatory policy planning, violence minimisation and peace encouragement.

By 2030, the blue planet we live on will not keep up with the increasing population and crisis. As stated by Wahba, 80% of the world' inhabitants will be living in diffcult and dangerous conditions (Wahba 2019). The need for SDG-16 will increase further in the coming years. According to Sugg, investment in SDG 16+ should be viewed and emphasised as an investment in the 2030 Agenda as a whole. Civil liberties are dwindling worldwide, with 181 limitations put on non-governmental groups in 82 countries since 2013. Failure to address these issues and invest in SDG16+ leads to further violence, injustice and exclusion. This will result in a reversal of development progress in all SDGs, such as education, health and climate action.

SDG-16, among other things, entails a variety of measures aimed at improving the lives of people with disabilities. Metropolitan areas are predicted to house around 6.25 billion people by 2050, with 15% of them being disabled people (DIAUD 2018). Governments began to create conditions to eliminate discrimination between people and create an inclusive society. According to Radović (2019):

It is informative to mention positive examples from practice related to the New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016–2026, developed by the Offce for Disability Issues in consultation with other government agencies and the disability sector (supported by an Outcomes Framework and a Disability Action Plan), and the Australian National Disability Strategy which includes trend data indicators against each of the focus areas and reports every two years.

It is on the agenda to apply machine learning (ML) while making SDG-16 reach its future goals. According to Dasandi and Mikhaylov, given the limited resources available to help poor and developing countries achieve the SDGs, understanding the interrelationships between the many parts of SDG-16 and other SDG objectives is particularly crucial (Dasandi et al. 2019). If these links are appropriately identifed, further country-specifc assistance to SDG success can be targeted. Supporting success on some aspects of SDG-16 in one nation, for example, might result in advances on other SDGs in that country. Machine learning may be used to assist and better grasp such linkages in a variety of ways. This will enable the identifcation of SDG-16 indicators that infuence the changes in other SDG indicators such as those related to health, education and poverty. Second, multilayer network models may be utilised to uncover causal linkages between indicators for SDG-16 and other SDG objectives. In other words, thanks to machine learning, it can better understand how governments and institutions affect issues such as health and education (Dasandi et al. 2019).

Like the SDG's aims, their fnance must be long term if their goals are to be realised, particularly in developing nations. According to Kempe Ronald Hope Sr., funding is critical for the implementation and success of the 2030 Agenda, as it is for other development programmes (Kempe Ronald Hope Sr. 2019). To begin with, data on SDG-16 objectives shows that violence and war (including persecution and human rights abuses) resulted in the forced relocation of roughly 70.8 million people globally by 2018, with the global economic cost of violence projected to be over \$1 trillion. In purchasing power parity terms, it will be \$14.1 trillion, or 11.2% of world GDP. Second, according to the Economic Impacts of Child Marriage project's most recent research, child marriages would cost more than \$560 billion in welfare losses by 2030. Finally, the International Monetary Fund estimates that bribery costs US\$1.5–2 trillion, or around 2% of GDP, with far higher economic and social costs when other kinds of corruption are considered (The World Bank 2017). Overall, both developed and developing countries will face considerable resource constraints because of the SDGs. Estimates range from US\$3.3 trillion to 4.5 trillion for basic infrastructure (roads, railroads, and ports; power plants; water and sanitation), food security (agricultural and rural development), climate change mitigation and adaptation, health and education. Only in undeveloped nations does it fuctuate between US Dollars (Kempe Ronald Hope Sr. 2019).

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and others, there is a total yearly fnance gap of roughly US\$2.5 trillion in impoverished countries with present levels of public and private investment in SDG-related industries. Considering the global GDP of over US\$115 trillion and what attaining the SDGs entails for unlocking human and economic potential and ensuring planetary security, closing such a gap is a massive task (UNCTAD 2014). In the United States, funding for public goods and key services is unquestionably critical. By pursuing fscal reforms, African nations, for example, might increase their fscal space by 12–20% of GDP. Fiscal policy in the form of taxes has been a critical component for long-term growth and equity in the Asia-Pacifc region. However, both wealthy and developing nations' public fnancing sources are insuffcient to meet the SDGs. As a result, private fnance is a critical component of the 2030 Agenda's funding. To address the SDG-16 funding gap, governments must reallocate resources from crisis response to violence prevention while boosting investment in justice and inclusion and lowering resources wasted due to corruption and illicit fows (UNCTAD 2014). Improved governance will boost local resource mobilisation while also improving the effciency of using resources on the SDGs.

# **18.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 18.1 presents the business models of eight companies and use cases that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-16. We should highlight that one use case can be related


**Table 18.1**Companies and use cases in SDG-16


**Table 18.1**

to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically.1

## **References**


(Global Network on Disability Inclusive and Accessible Urban Development, 2018). Available at: http://disabilityrightsfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ The\_Inclusion\_Imperative\_\_Towards\_Disability-Inclusive\_Development\_and\_Accessible\_Urban\_ Development.pdf. Accessed 2 Nov 2021


<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlinks on the company names or follow the websites here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

http://blackbird.ai/; https://e-resident.gov.ee/; https:// id2020.org/; https://jigsaw.google.com; https://justicechatbot.org/; https://kleros.io/; https://www.bitgivefoundation.org/; https://www.provenance.org/

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **19 SDG-17: Partnerships for the Goals**

### **Abstract**

Global partnerships have been rapidly increased due to the transition to digitalisation, and an event at one end of the world causes different circumstances in many other regions. SDG-17, Partnerships for the Goals, fundamentally calls for strengthening the global cooperation on sustainable development goals in the agenda 2030. SDG-17 has a crucial role in advancing the global partnership and implementation tools in reaching the solutions to social and ecological problems. This chapter presents the business model of one company and use case that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-17.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development goals · Business models · Partnerships for the goals · Sustainability

Global partnerships have been rapidly increased due to the transition to digitalisation, and an event at one end of the world causes different circumstances in many other regions. The cause of consequences such as wars, natural disasters, climate disasters and humanitarian crises does not come from a single location, but it is a global cause. In this respect, world leaders are now meticulous about whether a problem is local or global. It was accepted that global partnership and cooperation in line with such sustainable development goals can only be achieved through close solidarity (MacDonald et al. 2018). At this point, developed countries have committed to helping other countries where they are strong. They even aim to increase development aid to enhance growth and welfare in many countries. Based on these, the development of international trade and fnancial restructuring of less developed countries can be given as examples to implement the global partnership for the goals.

SDG-17 fundamentally calls for strengthening the global cooperation on sustainable development goals in the agenda 2030. SDG-17 has a crucial role in advancing the global partnership and implementation tools in reaching the solutions to social and ecological problems. Regarding the goal, partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society are planned to be deepened and coordinated. Additionally, the need to ensure the consistency of the policies of the sustainable development goals at the domestic and international levels is met within the SDG-17. SDG-17 could be considered a bridge for achieving all SDGs. In other words, it is extremely necessary to fulfl the

The author would like to acknowledge the help and contributions of Ulaş Özen, Eren Fidan, Uğur Dursun, Büşra Öztürk, Asya Nur Sunmaz and Muhammed Emir Gücer in completing of this chapter.

objectives and goals of SDG-17 for successfully advancing and executing the SDGs at all levels (Franco and Abe 2020). SDG 17 has 19 selected targets to be achieved upon the 2030 agenda. While the 19 targets covered a vast range of affairs, these are mainly associated with the targets from SDG-16 and SDG-9 (Maltais et al. 2018). This relation is in terms of enhancing the quality of government and public administration and access to technology, respectively. To increase the possibility of implementation of the targets, the objectives of SDG-17 are classifed into more detailed key themes in the studies. Revitalising global partnerships in fve broad categories such as fnance, technology, capacity building, trade, policy and institutional coherence is the most common classifcation for targets of SDG-17 (United Nations 2017). Finance, encompassing targets 17.1–17.5, focuses on developing countries partnering with and assisting developing countries in revenue collection, mobilising aid, long-term debt sustainability and promoting investment.

The targets of SDG-17 between 17.6 and 17.8 are about technology which focuses on the technological distinction between North and South. The divide includes enhancing global partnership, improving coordination to accessing technology and innovation and improving sound technologies to enhance information and communication technology usage. According to World Bank data, the average world fxed broadband subscription per 100 people is 15.87. However, the average of the least developed countries is 1.39 per 100 people (International Telecommunication Union Database 2020). So, it is understood that people of the least developed countries cannot regularly reach an Internet infrastructure. But fxed broadband subscriptions are increasing year by year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet connection has been crucially important for people. A lack of Internet infrastructure has a high cost for the least developed and developing countries, especially in health, economic and social life.

Under the SDG-17.9 target, it aims to build capacity in developing countries and enhance international support for adapting their national plan to sustainable development goals. According to OECD, offcial development assistance (ODA) has reached 161 billion dollars in 2019 (OECD Statistics 2021).

Trade targets 17.10–17.12, draw attention to the importance of rules-based and equitable trading and seek to increase the share in international trade by developing countries through the use of multinational organisations and frameworks. Targets 17.13–17.15 focus on policy and institutional coherence to enhance macroeconomic stability and sustainable development, intertwined with an approach that respects country-specifc modalities. Targets 17.16 and 17.17 address the necessity of multi-stakeholder partnerships for coordinating and sharing resources, knowledge, expertise and technology in support of the SDGs, in developing countries. Targets 17.18 and 17.19 cover data, monitoring and accountability, supporting and enhancing countries' capacity to increase the availability of high-quality data and developing countries' statistical capacity (United Nations Sustainable Development 2021). Figure 19.1 presents the targets and sub-targets of SDG-17.

While introducing all the sustainable development goals, achieving the goal in collaboration stands out as the real challenge. The core of the UNDP SDGs is reducing a variety of inequalities within different nations and areas while trying to keep the world healthy and able for the next generations who will be suffering from past and current mistakes of humanity about the world and the environment. Sustainable development goals from 1 to 16 all try to achieve this core philosophy while focusing on different needs and grounds. Goal 17, on the other hand, acts as the backbone for all others. To fully integrate sustainable development goals into real-life functioning improvements, establishing partnerships among governments, both the public and private sector and the society itself, is crucial. At all degrees that SDG applications take place, strong and mutually generated partnerships are required that evolve around prioritising people and the environment (Earth Changers 2020).

This sustainable development goal aims to secure the collaborative act of these partnerships

**Fig. 19.1** Targets of SDG-17. (United Nations 2021)

mentioned above where they do not have to perform or handle the possible crisis about poverty and environmental degradation by themselves. As well as promoting collaboration at all degrees (global, regional, national and local), SDG-17 also promotes the need to obtain new fnancial resources to accomplish the rest of the SDGs. It would be very hard to execute the other 16 SDGs without signifcant progress on SDG-17.

Governmental collaborations with a range of public, private and civil society associates might help raise funds for various developments and encourage greater inclusivity all through their execution (ICLEI 2015). The nature of the goal might be explained as: It encourages wealthier nations to take on more responsibilities, such as infuencing cohesive decision-making (SDG-17.14), endorsing infrastructure construction in developing states (SDG-17.9) or enhancing developing states' access to sustainable and greener technology (SDG-17.9) (ICLEI 2015).

In a world where working together has become more important in recent years, it was inevitable for the SDGs to work together. The globe is more interconnected than ever before because of the Internet, travel and global organisations. The need to act together to combat climate change is becoming increasingly obvious. The sustainable development goals are also a big deal. 193 nations agreed upon these goals. The ultimate objective establishes a framework for nations to collaborate to obtain all other goals (United Nations 2021). Transformative change is needed around the globe and by multi-stakeholder partnerships. Many partnerships have emerged expressly to solve international problems in recent years, resulting in literally hundreds of multi-stakeholder collaborations worldwide. Finding and developing transformational collaborations provides the best chance to tackle these issues and drive signifcant shifts successfully.

Consequently, the United Nations has called 2018 the "Decade of Action" devoted to delivering on the 2030 agenda and SDGs (Li et al. 2020). We need fresh dedication and investment to achieve the SDGs and take meaningful action on climate change. Nevertheless, multi-stakeholder partnerships can only be effective if they are willing to take on the task of beginning a transformative journey. The need for global collaboration has never been more conspicuous than in the year 2020. The spread of the COVID-19 virus was global, and its effects were felt globally, but this virus shed light on the interconnectedness of the world. Goal 17 of the sustainable development goals, the necessity of partnerships for the goals, was further highlighted by the crisis. Partnering with governments, the business sector and civil society is a requirement for the frst 16 objectives, according to SDG-17 (Pierce 2018; European Commission 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark warning that achieving the 2030 agenda would need a concerted and cooperative effort. Today, multilateralism and global cooperation are becoming more and more vital.

The SDGs can only be accomplished via strong global partnerships and collaborations; thus, the SDGs must collaborate. "A successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships—at the global, regional, national, and local levels—built upon principles and values, and upon a shared vision and shared goals placing people and the planet at the center" (United Nations Sustainable Development 2021). Many nations require offcial development aid to boost growth and trade. Nonetheless, assistance levels are declining, and donor nations are failing to achieve their pledges to boost development money. For nations to recover from the pandemic, rebuild properly, and accomplish sustainable development goals, strong international collaboration is needed today more than ever before.

The European Union (EU) is the world's largest source of offcial development aid (ODA), providing more than half of all ODA to developing nations. In 2018, the EU's total ODA was \$74.4 billion. The EU and its member states raised their assistance for local revenue mobilisation in developing countries considerably in 2016, boosting pledges from €112.7 million in 2015 to €197.9 million in 2016 (European Commission 2021). The EU and its member states promote sharing information for tax reasons, anti-corruption, tax evasion and illicit fows. With its contribution to the World Bank's Debt Reduction Trust Fund, which funds the High Debt Poor Countries program, the EU stands at the forefront of debt relief. Until the end of August 2016, the EU's collective funding accounted for 41% of the overall contribution throughout this time. In absolute terms, remittances constitute a far greater source of development funding than ODA. There is a concerted effort by the European Union and its member states to boost the impact of remittance. As a result, remittance fees are reduced. The European Union also encourages research and development. A Research and Innovation Partnership in the Mediterranean Region has been formed to strengthen cooperation with emerging nations on research, technology and innovation. It supports sustainable food systems and integrated water management through creative solutions. In 2017, the EU established the EU-CELAC policy advisory mechanism in research and innovation to assist Latin American and Caribbean nations in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (European Commission 2019). Facility for policy discourse E-READI supports EU-ASEAN scientifc and technology collaboration. Capacity building is an essential component of nearly all development cooperation. The EU helps developing countries build their capacity to create and execute inclusive sustainable development policies at the national level and improve accountability and sensitivity to their populations. The EU has created dialogues with partner nations to debate and evaluate progress on the SDGs. The success of the SDGs depends on the development of multi-stakeholder partnerships that exchange information, experience, technology and fnancial assistance. Therefore, SDG-17 is essential to accomplishing all 16 SDGs and the aims of Addis Ababa's2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (European Commission 2021).

## **19.1 Companies and Use Cases**

Table 19.1 presents the business model of one company and use case that employ emerging technologies and create value in SDG-17. We should highlight that one use case can be related to more than one SDG and it can make use of multiple emerging technologies. In the left column, we present the company name, the origin country, related SDGs and emerging technologies that are included. The companies and use cases are listed alphabetically1 .

<sup>1</sup>For reference, you may click on the hyperlink on the company names or follow the website here (Accessed Online – 2.1.2022):

https://www.stambol.com/



## **References**


**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **20 Conclusions**

### **Abstract**

This chapter brings a concise conclusion for the book by presenting the list of 34 emerging technologies, 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), countries and number of companies that are included in this book, the distribution of 650 companies in the world, emerging technology use cases per each sustainable development goal, the share of emerging technology use cases and the share of sustainable development goals number of applications. The chapter also includes a brief discussion about the fndings of this book.

### **Keywords**

Sustainable development · Emerging technologies · Value creation · Use cases · Business and Model

Tackling climate change, building a sustainable future, protecting economies and creating new jobs are the common desires of academia, industry, business and policymakers. We all know that this is not an easy task. There are numerous challenges and barriers to achieving this radical transformation from a traditional carbon-based economy to a sustainable one. At this point, emerging technologies step forth as remedies for this challenge. On the other hand, entrepreneurs foster innovative solutions and utilise these emerging technologies to create novel products and services to support sustainable development. Some traditional jobs and businesses will be phased out and replaced by these novel ones. At this point, we believe it is imperative to present "a guidebook" to illuminate how all these efforts came true so that others can learn, refect and even advance in the business development with emerging technologies to help contribute to a sustainable future.

This book frst presents an in-depth assessment of the innovation concept, funding and fnancing, supporting mechanisms for innovation and an impact assessment from various perspectives. The second chapter includes information on 34 different emerging technologies with market diffusion. This means we deliberately excluded the technologies either in the research and development phase or the ones not commercially available in the market. We then continue with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With each SDG, we present a brief introduction about the concept and then provide a company and use cases table. The tables include companies worldwide that utilise 34 emerging technologies and create economic, environmental and social value to reinforce sustainable development. The 34 emerging technologies and 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable

<sup>©</sup> The Author(s) 2022

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0\_20


**Table 20.1** List of 34 emerging technologies

**Table 20.2** List of 17 United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs)


Development Goals (SDGs) that we review are listed in Tables 20.1 and 20.2, respectively.

We made a comprehensive review and market scanning and inspected thousands of companies worldwide. Finally, we managed to compile 650 noteworthy and innovative companies from 51 countries. This does not mean that the companies presented here are the only interesting and innovative ones in the world. Indeed, we cannot claim that we reviewed all companies in the world due to time and labour constraints. Moreover, there are many companies, which have similar business models to the ones on our lists. We had to exclude these due to the space of the book. Table 20.3 shows these countries and


Country and number of companies


**Table 20.4** SDGs and number of companies


the corresponding number of companies. Similarly, Table 20.4 gives the SDGs and num-

**Fig. 20.1** Distribution of 650 companies in the world

ber of companies that are inspected in each feld. Figure 20.1 illustrates the distribution of these companies on a world map. Figure 20.2 summarises the emerging technology use case distribution per each sustainable development goal on a matrix. Figures 20.3 and 20.4 are pie charts showing the distribution of use cases per emerging technologies and sustainable development goals

The USA turned out to be the most innovative country on our list by far, with 245 companies out of 650. The UK and the Netherlands follow the USA, and Nordic countries also perform exceptionally well. All these countries are well-known for their vivid innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystems. There is no surprise that these countries take the lead in adopting emerging technologies and converting these into business cases. Perhaps we should mention Germany here as one might expect a "better performance" in business and value generation with technology. However, we might state that there is an ongoing debate about Germany's success with digitalisation in general. Thus, we might claim that Germany could and should do much better, especially with digital technologies. We acknowledge that the distribution of companies worldwide might be "western biased" as most of the use cases are located either in North America or in Europe, especially in Western and Northern Europe. Language could be one of the barriers. For example, we wanted to inspect one Japanese company to see how they work on innovative solutions by using advanced materials and biotech and biomanufacturing. Nonetheless, the company's website does not provide suffcient information in English; thus, we did not include any of the products or services from them.

The matrix shown in Fig. 20.2 summarises our fndings in this book. We can see each technology's number of use cases per SDG here. Artifcial intelligence (AI) tops as the most utilised emerging technology with 473 use cases. Similarly, SDG-9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure is the most preferred feld with 240 applications. On the other hand, Internet of Behaviours and SDG-17: Partnerships for the Goals have the least number of use cases. This matrix shows which technology is concentrated in what feld and which technologies have no application in what felds. To better articulate these fndings, we prepared the following fgures.

As seen in Fig. 20.3, more than one-third of all use cases are done with AI, IoT (Internet of Things) and big data. One might argue that these technologies are no longer emerging ones;


**Fig. 20.2** The emerging technology use cases per each sustainable development goal

instead, they are mature technologies. However, we should remember the defnition of emerging technologies: "development and application areas are still expanding rapidly, and their technical and value potential is still largely unrealised". We are positive that AI, IoT and big data's application areas are still expanding rapidly, and their technical and value potential is still largely unrealised. We will be seeing fascinating and promising developments with these 34 technologies, some of which are still at their initial stages of market diffusion.

Figure 20.4 shows us that some SDGs are popular among technology companies, whereas some have limited applications. These are SDG-7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG-9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG-12: Responsible Consumption and Production and SDG-13: Climate Action. Of course, it is unrealistic to expect an even number of applications at each SDG. However, we hope that the technology providers will focus more on SDG-5: Gender Equality, SDG-10: Reduced Inequality and

**Fig. 20.3** The share of emerging technology use cases

SDG -16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

This book attempts to compile as many relevant innovative business models as possible in employing emerging technologies to create value for sustainable development. However, it is impossible to present all valuable companies and use cases here. Besides, our aim is not to advertise technology companies. Instead, we solely focused on the value captured by technologies rather than the companies' revenue models. This way, entrepreneurs and other companies who wish to expand their businesses into one of the sustainable development goal felds can check and inspect how emerging technologies create value for fostering sustainability in general. We hope that this book will be helpful as a guide for those interested in innovation, emerging technologies, new business models, value creation and sustainable development.


**Fig. 20.4** The share of sustainable development goals number of applications

**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

# **Index**

### **A**

Affordable and Clean Energy, 2, 305, 506, 508

### **B**

Business model, 1, 2, 4, 5, 9–15, 35, 36, 43, 58, 138, 153, 155, 195, 214, 233, 259, 282, 293, 310, 335, 336, 345, 353, 377, 386, 390, 412, 414, 421, 434, 458, 464, 472, 492, 502, 506, 509

### **C**

Clean water and sanitation, 2, 289–303, 506 Climate action, 2, 419, 429–450, 478, 491, 506, 508

### **D**

Decent work and economic growth, 2, 280, 331–346, 457, 506

### **E**

Emerging technologies, 1, 2, 5, 36, 41, 53, 54, 58, 87, 90, 108, 112, 117, 118, 120, 124, 145, 195, 214, 233, 259, 268, 278, 282, 293, 310, 329, 335, 353, 377, 383, 390, 414, 434, 458, 472–485, 492, 495, 502, 505–509

### **G**

Gender equality, 2, 256, 258, 277–287, 332, 352, 454, 506, 508 Good health and well-being, 2, 229–252, 506

### **I**


**L** Life below water, 2, 230, 290, 453–467, 506 Life on land, 2, 230, 469–485, 506

### **N**

No poverty, 2, 191–208, 230, 282, 430, 506

### **P**

Partnerships for the goals, 2, 497–504, 506, 507 Peace, justice and strong institutions, 280, 487–495

### **Q**

Quality education, 2, 144, 255–274, 280, 381, 506

### **R**

Reduced inequalities, 2, 280, 371–383, 506, 508 Responsible consumption and production, 2, 410, 412, 427, 506, 508

### **S**

Sustainabilities, 1, 22, 23, 26, 28, 31, 35, 75, 144, 192, 197, 201, 204, 210, 214, 226, 256, 258, 268, 272, 292, 324, 332, 341, 345, 346, 364, 374, 376, 386, 387, 389, 393, 396, 402, 404, 410, 413, 418, 433, 436, 442, 454, 470, 481, 498, 509 Sustainable cities and communities, 2, 385, 386, 506 Sustainable development, 1, 2, 7, 70, 75, 144, 210, 212, 213, 229, 230, 232, 255, 256, 258, 278, 290, 292, 308, 332, 336, 349, 351–353, 374, 385, 386, 389, 409, 410, 432, 457, 470, 487, 491, 498, 501, 502, 505, 509 Sustainable development goals (SDGs), 2, 7, 16, 19, 24, 30, 36, 109, 192–195, 210, 213, 214, 230, 232, 233, 255, 256, 258, 259, 277, 278, 280–282, 289, 290, 293, 305, 308, 329, 332, 333, 335, 350, 352, 353, 371, 374, 376, 377, 383, 385, 386, 389, 390, 409, 410, 412–414, 416, 430, 434, 458, 470, 472, 488, 489, 491, 492, 495, 497, 498, 501, 502, 505–510

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2022

S. Küfeoğlu, *Emerging Technologies*, Sustainable Development Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07127-0


### **Z**

Zero hunger, 2, 209–227, 430, 506