Oceanic Pharmachem: Redefining Responsible Business for the Digital Age

Oceanic Pharmachem Private Limited (OPPL) believes that a rapidly progressing digital revolution requires a change management in CSR thinking to safe-guard sustainability.

The rapid immersion of new digital technologies in all areas is bringing society to a crossroads. One path leads to improved productivity, connected services and economic gain. Digital transformation offers an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put purpose and sustainability at the heart of businesses.

For every positive story, some will draw dystopian contrasts: of machines taking jobs, distrust over the use of personal data and people marginalised because they don’t have access to digital skills.

Even though, a possibility of a “general AI” future is bleak, the digital revolution is forcing to question the direction of technology and its path. The good news is that a deliberate human choice exists to ensure that the digital revolution serves society and digitisation works for all.

This calls for a responsible business in the new digitised world, which makes the right choices. Opportunities exist to take positive action and to manage the unintended consequences of digital revolution.

The first priority is for businesses to focus on rebuilding customer relationships through simple and transparent data practices, making them feel safe online and empowering people to access the internet and make better choices.

The next priority is enabling people to transition from traditional jobs to jobs of the future. This includes anticipating automation to harness digital to augment existing work processes that complement the workforce. This will definitely help in improving the overall productivity and reduction in the error rate.

The third priority is to use technology as a force for good to solve global environmental and social issues such as cutting waste and improving health and education. Design with purpose is the message to deliver technology solutions that benefit society.

Finally, there should be a drive to create more transparent, inclusive and productive value chains, by using technology to empower suppliers, source 100 per cent renewable energy and to track and trace goods to prevent corruption and exploitation.

With the digital revolution upon, and the impact on business and society in the balance, these are priorities and key actions that need to be addressed. The window in which to make these choices is remarkably small and if companies want this revolution to be inclusive and sustainable, active steps must be taken through a proper CSR strategy at the earliest.