Connecting Cities to be Cleaner, Safer and Stronger

This is where we can use technology in revolutionary ways. AT&T is teaming up with companies to deploy innovative solutions throughout cities, making them “smarter.” We’re also developing connected solutions to help cities improve the way they use resources and take care of their citizens. But what if we could use the efficiencies created by this technological revolution to understand a city’s environmental impact — and improve it?

Last summer we teamed up with the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Climate Corps program to host one of their research fellows who helped us calculate the potential environmental savings of technology in “smart” cities. Chandana Vangapalli, an MBA student from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, worked closely with AT&T’s Smart Cities team to help build a new measurement framework.

The work we started with Chandana through the EDF program is helping us reach our “10x” goal. By 2025, we seek to enable carbon emissions reductions for our customers that are 10x the amount produced by AT&T’s operations. This goal includes reducing our own emissions while helping our customers leverage our technology to do the same. We are collaborating with experts from Carbon Trust and BSR to expand upon Chandana’s research and develop a consistent and repeatable methodology so we can get the full picture of how technology benefits the environment.

With the increased visibility that smart technology provides, we can help cities address widespread challenges so they can become cleaner, safer and stronger. Read more about our efforts at www.att.com/csr.

This sustainability perspective originally appeared in the 2016 edition of the AT&T Annual Sustainability Update. Read more about our efforts here.