Created in 2006 as an independent community for international HR and Mobility professionals, the RES Forum specialises in global mobility survey data, forecasting and analytics. The forum utilises its expert membership base to conduct extensive research into all aspects of Global Mobility and produce detailed research papers to serve the sector. Its latest paper, Technology in Cross-Border Working, examines the growing role of technology in facilitating international business travel.
Covering the range of ways in which technology impacts global mobility – both on an individual level and a departmental/company wide scale – the research paper also provides a ‘digital maturity’ self-assessment tool. Apprising the level of digital involvement in differing aspects of a given company’s global mobility programme, such as international assignee digital instrumentation and the utilisation of digital applications in cross-border work, the assessment enables companies to gauge the areas of their global mobility approach which could benefit from further digitisation.
The paper also features several ‘Expert Perspectives’, including that of SilverDoor’s Chief Information & Technology Officer, Hanish Vithal. Hanish has been instrumental in leading SilverDoor’s technology towards digitisation and sustainability; indeed, his expertise and leadership was recently recognised by the 2021 CIO Top 100. For the latest RES Forum research paper, Hanish provided his views of technology's role in supporting sustainable transformation within the global mobility industry.
On the subject of whether sustainability presented a challenge to the Global Mobility market - specifically with regards technology - Hanish said: "The challenge is how to address this in GM. Knowing that digital transformation such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and cloud computing has rapidly provided competitive advantages to organisations, does the sustainability piece not hamper progress? In our view, no. It doesn’t." Drawing on SilverDoor's investment in green technologies, Hanish said: "For instance, AI and ML allow organisations to lower emissions and run greener operations. At the same time, many cloud computing providers are moving to a carbon negative strategy, making technical services and apps more sustainable." Furthermore, Hanish recognised the 'shift in global attitudes', with "customers wanting to purchase or use services and products that have a positive impact on the environment", something the Global Mobility industry must embrace in order to grow.
SilverDoor's technology integrations with various institutions and accreditations has further enhanced our sustainability offering. Our partnership with Trees4Travel (its technology integrated with our Orbi platform) enables our clients to move their business one step closer to carbon neutrality - a goal that ultimately harmonises business travel with the environment. Furthermore, thanks to our use of green technology and commitment to a reduced carbon footprint, we have been accredited by both REST and albert, which both recognise the steps we have taken, both within our own organisation and within the wider business travel sector, to achieve and promote sustainability.
Read more about how technology is shaping the future of Global Mobility by downloading the free RES Forum research paper.
