The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken global trade and forced companies to redesign their supply chains. We are now witnessing a new industrial revolution: Industrial Revolution 4.0. It has propelled us to rethink our future. It’s been an eye-opener to most companies globally. It has given us late lessons from early warnings. Particularly affected were the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and their recovery in the post-pandemic era. SMEs today are confronted with the twin challenges of sustainability and digital transformation. Can they emerge as winners in the Race to Zero, or will they be left behind? Will the SMEs have a smooth transition through the convergence of sustainability and digitalization? Can the nations achieve their shared vision of climate neutral and resource efficient economies without empowering SMEs, or will it remain a pipe dream? This requires learning, unlearning and relearning in the face of a new wave of advanced technologies which are underpinning the scope of competitive sustainability of SMEs.

In this webinar presented by Dr Ashish Sharma (Founding CEO, Sustainability Alternatives Ltd UK), he will demystify some promising technology solutions and summarise broader takeaways from such pressing issues. This talk will also highlight the importance of building resilience to the future for SMEs via intelligent use of cutting edge technologies for business agility and tools, such as digital transformation, business model innovation and integration of structured ESG (environmental, social and governance) reforms. This will conclude with key takeaways and considerations for the entrepreneurs/C-suite executives with the selected analysis of the global best practices.

About our speakers

Dr. Ashish Sharma is a Founding Director and CEO of an environmental sustainability consulting firm, Sustainability Alternatives, registered in England and Wales (UK). Also, he is engaged as a Principal Research Scientist at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. He holds a PhD in civil and environmental engineering from The University of Surrey's Global Centre of Clean Air Research (GCARE) and double masters in environmental engineering from GIST (South Korea) and Macquarie University (Australia). He is a highly analytical, internationally experienced air quality and sustainability research scientist with 9+ years of research and consulting experience within the environmental sector. 
 
During his research career, he worked with some of the prestigious research groups overseas at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST, South Korea), The University of Toledo (USA), Macquarie University (Australia), and IIT Delhi (India). His PhD research project – mitigating air pollution exposure to young children (MAPE) – developed novel exposure control methods for in-pram babies by creating a 'clean air zone' around them. His research interest lies in broader themes related to environmental sustainability, air pollution management in urban environments, life cycle sustainability assessment and economic and health impact exposure studies. 
 
At Surrey, he published very high impact scientific research articles which got wide international media coverage, including from the BBC, Telegraph, UK Daily mail and Huffington Post to name a few. He is an enthusiast of Entrepreneurship, Management and Global Leadership programs and also a graduate of Global Leadership Programs at Macquarie University, Australia and University of Toledo, USA. His other interests include writing and talking about Climate Change, Sustainability, Startups, Technology, Disruptive Innovation, and Positive Psychology. He loves travelling and exploring new places and people via cross-cultural meet-ups. He is a philanthropist, and stands for the cause of fighting against cruelty towards animals, mitigating anthropogenic climate change, and racism.