New S&P Global Market Intelligence report commissioned by Eaton assesses the intersection of digital transformation and energy transition across building, data center, industrial and utility markets

        Results shows businesses want new energy sources, but more investment in digitalization is required to make it happen

       Fifty percent of companies surveyed are executing a digital strategy, while the remainder are still in the consideration stage or have not yet set a strategy

Energy transition in digital transformation planning for power-critical businesses. Commissioned by Eaton, this S&P Global Market Intelligence report – The Intersection of Digital Transformation and the Energy Transition – highlights that although 77 per cent of companies surveyed expect to transition away from their current power sources, only half are currently executing the digital strategies needed to navigate this shift. In addition, less than a third of companies track key sustainability and energy intelligence metrics, and even fewer (17pc) have digitally enabled legacy systems.

“We identified a major gap in how businesses are applying digitalization to realize decarbonisation goals and this research is a wakeup call, shedding light on the opportunities for businesses to focus investments and make a bigger impact,” said Aravind Yarlagadda, executive vice president and chief digital officer at Eaton. “Businesses need to move far faster on digital transformation. The good news is that the time for action is now, and tools like our Brightlayer digital foundation help businesses gain deeper energy insights that are essential to evaluate worthwhile investments. Our industry-specific software suites are already helping customers meet these challenges.”

The study included 1,001 respondents who are involved in digital transformation efforts across four power-critical business sectors in the UAE, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Nordic countries - the involved sectors are buildings, data centers, industrials and utilities.

“Until now, enterprise transformation projects have focused primarily on optimizing business processes. The coming energy transition will impact digital best practices and processes and will prove an important competitive differentiator for firms that are first to embrace that approach,” according to Rich Karpinski, senior analyst, 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.