SINGAPORE - A social enterprise’s use of vocational training to help people with disabilities secure jobs and a company’s programme that taps data analysis to cut food waste were among 25 projects lauded on Nov 21 for their significant positive impact on stakeholders, society and the environment.
The companies and social enterprises behind the projects were recognised for doing well by doing good at the Steward Leadership Summit, which is into its second year.
The projects were submitted by for-profit organisations from industries such as financial services, transportation, agribusiness, food and beverage, biotechnology and real estate.
The 25 projects that made the list were chosen by the Stewardship Asia Centre (SAC), in conjunction with graduate business school Insead’s Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society, advisory firm WTW and The Straits Times.
The organisations had demonstrated actions to drive profitable growth by addressing the social and environmental challenges that threaten humanity, and the impact of the projects spanned 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, said SAC.
About 400 people from about 20 countries attended the event, which was held at the Shangri-La Singapore hotel.
There are nine honourees from Singapore, in industries spanning food and beverage, financial services, commercial and professional services, transportation and telecommunication services.
One of them was social enterprise Project Dignity. Its project is an integrated platform comprising a full-fledged hawker food centre, culinary training centre, social outreach programmes and up-cycled book stalls.
“The idea was to create jobs for people who are physically, mentally or intellectually challenged,” said Mr Koh Seng Choon, founder and executive director of Project Dignity. He added that the project aims to provide people with disabilities and those who were disadvantaged with gainful employment and sustainable livelihoods.
Another honouree was facilities management and food services company Sodexo. Its project is a sustainability programme, which it launched in Singapore in 2016.
The programme, named WasteWatch, deploys technology to track and analyse food waste data, enabling chefs to make decisions that eliminate excess food waste produced in kitchens and the food discarded by diners.
“Sodexo’s future plans involve leveraging data captured by WasteWatch to develop adjacent initiatives... using this data, we can implement strategies such as zero-waste recipes,” said Mr Abel Ariza, managing director for Malaysia and Singapore at Sodexo.
Technology and artificial intelligence can help to cut down time spent on tasks, but the risks include misinformation from data, said participants of a panel discussion at the summit. The panel was moderated by Mr Jaime Ho, editor of The Straits Times.
Ms Ilaria Chan, chairperson of Tech For Good Institute, said that while companies will have to be discerning to detect any misinformation, industry-specific approaches are important as well, such as the risk framework by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for the use of generative artificial intelligence for the financial sector. A White Paper detailing the risk framework will be published in January 2024.
Mr Rajeev Peshawaria, chief executive of SAC, said: “It takes more than just rules, incentives and reporting to bring about transformational change for the planet and humanity. We hope that these 25 (projects) will inspire people worldwide.”
Dr Veerathai Santiprabhob, chairman of the executive board of Mae Fah Luang Foundation who unveiled the list of projects at the summit, said sustainability is a journey that requires stewardship from the top and needs to be incorporated into business strategy so that companies can grow well by doing good.
