Here at ACT | The App Association, we know that small businesses drive innovation and sit at the forefront of new and up-and-coming technologies. As we see technology companies playing a role in efforts to combat climate change, we’re once again seeing the companies that make up our community leading the charge. The small business impact on the green and digital transition extend beyond energy and conservation transition initiatives. In addition to their contributions to green technology, our small business members are also at the forefront of connected agriculture, an industry bringing farming practices and procedures online, leading to a reduction in waste and harmful farming practices, and improved outputs for farms around the globe.
By the Numbers
Our members may have already started to create this critical technology, and now governments are catching up. In fact, governing bodies around the world have issued a call for action by beginning to transition to energy systems that fully leverage renewable and low-carbon resources. Digital technologies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 percent by 2050 in high-emitting sectors such as energy, mobility, and materials. The green technology and sustainability market is expected to reach over $44 billion by 2028, and the potential for this market is projected to spike rapidly in developing economies and emerging markets in the coming years.
And that is just technology’s potential to address conservation. A 2020 report from McKinsey & Company suggests that “by the end of the decade, enhanced connectivity in agriculture could add more than $500 billion to global gross domestic product.” But that number relies on the deployment of reliable broadband around the globe.
Staying Connected
Broadband access is just one of the policy decisions governments will need to make as this transition continues to fully leverage small business innovation, including minting new public-private partnerships, enhanced funding research and development, consistent tax credits, and opening the green energy sector to new entrants and competition through coordinated regulatory reforms. The small businesses and startups we represent are essential to a successful green and digital transition and the mitigation of disparities. They deserve a seat at the table as policies around this critical shift are discussed.
But don’t just take it from us. Learn more below about the small businesses fighting to save our planet and the kinds of technologies and industries they are addressing.
Better Decisions Using Environmental Data to Save Energy and Reduce Carbon Emissions
Blue Maestro, a custom internet of things (IoT) software company based in the UK, uses their sensors to deliver app-based data management that measures temperature, humidity, air pressure, and dew point. Their sensors are utilized across industries, from art and history preservation to animal welfare management and in agriculture, ensuring that produce is kept fresh from farm to market. Blue Maestro’s Tempo Discs are placed in enclosures with zoo animals or artwork to monitor the environment allowing for these sites to reduce their overall spikes in the use of energy-draining devices like air conditioning and heaters, lessening their overall power drain.
Sustainable Education Tools for Children
Based in California, Playper creates AR-enhanced toys made entirely from PlayperBoard™, a recyclable, plastic-free material. Their flagship product, Curious Kingdom, comes with a free app that lets kids bring their sustainable toys and “Magic Stickers” to life through augmented reality. The app also includes learning fun through games and interactive animated stories that let kids propel the story forward.
Smarter Agriculture and Farming
SwineTech, based in Iowa, creates farming technology tools that empower farmers to provide food production animals with high-quality care, while also increasing farm profitability. Their primary tool allows farmers to create a less stressful, more efficient environment for pigs and farmers that, in turn, creates improvements in overall livestock mortality. By using data and analytic insights to manage the care of the pigs, farmers not only reduce accidental deaths of their livestock but also reduce the impact of farming on their surrounding land. Other products and services include a biocompatible liquid bandage made specifically for pigs, a device that detects distress in piglets by measuring and analyzing the waveforms and frequencies of a piglet’s squeal, and Wi-Fi installation.
North Dakota-based Bushel built a digital ecosystem that powers APIs, apps, websites, and digital payment solutions to support agribusinesses and build digital infrastructure for the agriculture industry. Supporting more than 2,000-grain facilities with 40 percent grain origination in the United States and Canada, the Bushel platform strengthens relationships between grain processing facilities and farmers by enabling both to complete transactions quickly, safeguard important data, share information faster, and create a more complete picture of businesses.