How is Wedia supporting digital sobriety?

Climate responsibility has now become an important part of companies’ global strategies, particularly as governments and various international bodies are establishing requirements that mean they must transparently report on their carbon footprint. At Wedia, building up our understanding and knowledge of digital sobriety is one of our priorities, as we work to make our solution more sustainable and help support our clients with their own more environmentally-focused strategies.

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Discover more about how Wedia is supporting digital sobriety throughout this article.

The European Union (EU) for example implemented the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in November 2022 which requires companies to report on their sustainability information, contributing to the EU’s aim to be climate neutral by 2050. 

As organisations look to reduce their carbon footprint across a number of different areas, one area which concerns the work of Wedia is their digital carbon footprint. 

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Indeed, according to several studies, digital technologies emit nearly 4% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) worldwide, which is more than that of the aviation sector. This figure is set to rise to 7% by 2040 if action is not taken to curtail the increase. 

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While public awareness of certain ways of reducing GHGs is fairly high, the idea of how digital technology can be a source of emissions remains relatively unknown. This is despite the fact that there are now around 5.16 billion web users (equal to over 64% of the world’s population) and 14.4 billion connected devices. 

According to The Shift Project, video alone generates almost 60% of world data flows, the equivalent of 300 million tons of CO2 a year. 

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As such, the need to introduce and implement digital sobriety strategies across all sectors of activity is becoming ever more pressing, as both companies and individuals are beginning to understand the importance of such measures. With digital communication only set to grow, how can corporates invest in digital transformation whilst being mindful of the planet? 

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Wedia’s commitment to sustainability

As a software supplier for a range of large, international brands, Wedia is also committed to supporting and providing solutions to reduce global GHG emissions and focus on digital sobriety plans. 

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Wedia’s business lies in digital transformation and the storing, organising and managing of media assets and content. Through its Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform, Wedia provides a solution for enterprises to streamline their marketing assets and their distribution. Connecting with other software such as a Content Management System (CMS) or a Product Information Management (PIM), DAM establishes a Single Source of Truth (SSOT) for companies that enable them to track and analyse their content across multiple teams, markets and channels, allowing them to scale media production. 

As a supplier for companies, who are themselves working to establish sustainability strategies, Wedia works to provide a solution which supports these endeavors, whilst also integrating sustainability commitments into our own core values. 

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Prioritising ways of combating climate change

Taking the necessary steps to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions is an important part of Wedia’s own strategy. Favouring green servers, working with partners who are also committed to this mindset and working to update our DAM solution with new measures to cut back on a company’s carbon emissions are all some of the ways Wedia is engaged with the subject. 

With each new release of our DAM, we aim to develop innovative approaches to consider digital sobriety. From providing information concerning the most sustainable types of files to transparently reporting on the storage that we use, steps are being made to ensure that our DAM works as a tool to promote digital sobriety. 

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Building a DAM solution that promotes digital sobriety

Wedia’s DAM platform has been built to support corporates with their marketing and communication strategies, but also in their drive to reduce their carbon footprint. With digital transformation being an important part of how companies interact with audiences, understanding how to work in a way that considers the environment is likely to become an important axis within corporates’ sustainability strategies. 

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As such, using a tool such as DAM is a way to invest in digital sobriety, as companies become more aware of their digital footprint and look for approaches to reduce it. 

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How then does Wedia’s DAM support digital sobriety? 

Ability to understand, update and clean your media

Certain companies have large amounts of photos, images and videos stored within the DAM environment. However, not all of the media is used, for example photos of certain products or projects will become outdated and slight changes to the brand will mean assets such as templates become obsolete. 

Thanks to Wedia’s DAM, companies are able to understand which of their assets haven’t been viewed or downloaded in a while and therefore take up unnecessary storage (and as such contribute to a larger carbon footprint). Once these assets have been identified, companies can remove them from the DAM and free up space. 

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Tracking and analysing content

With digital communication growing in importance, brands know that they must invest in various online channels to reach their customers. But instead of blindly adding content into the ether just for the sake of updating their digital channels, brands must understand how their content is performing. 

By using Wedia’s DAM, companies are able to track the success of their content and understand the relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will govern whether or not that content is worth keeping, recycling or adapting. Understanding how a piece of content performs allows corporates to harness the power of their assets and remove assets which don’t speak to their audience. 

With the ability to monitor the success of content over multiple platforms, DAM makes it easier than ever to truly understand how one piece of content is being interacted with. 

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Single Source of Truth

A DAM solution is a means of bringing together a brand’s media assets and streamlining how they are used across multiple platforms such as a CMS, PIM or social media sites. Acting as a central hub, the result is that duplicates are avoided and media assets get deleted or updated in real time, across multiple platforms. This frees up storage space and also means that files aren’t having to be constantly transferred between teams or external agencies.  

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🤔  Did you know? 

According to Science Focus: 

Sending 65 emails is roughly equivalent to driving 1km in a car. In a year, an average person in the developed world adds 136kg of CO2 to their carbon footprint from the emails they send and receive. This is equivalent to an extra 320km driven in a car. Globally, the world’s email usage generates as much CO2 as having an extra seven million cars on the roads.

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Working with Reforest’Action to help restore forests

As well as working to integrate sustainable actions into the heart of our product, Wedia has also backed projects which help to reduce carbon emissions across the world. 

Partnering with Reforest’Action, Wedia is supporting reforestation projects in France and Guinea. Offering each client the number of trees that will work to offset the CO2 related to storage in their DAM environment, the project works to help combat climate change and promote biodiversity and soil maintenance. 

This initiative has been carried out by Wedia for two consecutive years and has so far resulted in: 

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• 11,650 trees planted by Wedia since the launch of the campaign
• 1,747 tons of CO2 stored
• 34,950 animal shelters created
• 46,600 months of oxygen generated
• 11, 650 hours of work created

A solution which supports digital sobriety

The impact of digital transformation is going to affect companies across all sectors of activity and reinforce a brand’s phygital presence. This will not be without challenges though as companies work to balance the increased use of digital content with ever-demanding sustainability requirements. 

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As a committed player in this field, Wedia is working to help support companies in the drive to reduce their carbon footprint. From increased transparency, to understanding our clients’ concerns, Wedia aims to build a DAM solution that takes on these challenges and offers a veritable solution. 

Interested in finding out more about digital sobriety? Read more articles on the subject.

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