Poland’s IT industry is only just learning ESG

Over the last quarter of 2021, the consulting company INSPIRED in cooperation with Sebastian Kulczyk’s InCredibles carried out a pioneer study on sustainability at companies from Poland’s IT sector. The developed report shows that the activities executed by most Polish IT businesses are unsystematized and thus may not meet the relevant legal and social requirements. Polish technology companies do not trace their carbon footprint, most of them transfer data to third parties without users’ consent and have not implemented any anti-corruption measures. It clearly indicates that the Polish IT sector is facing a serious challenge. Especially since it constitutes 7.6% of the EU market, and Poland is ranked fifth among European countries in terms of the number of registered companies from the ICT sector and seventh in terms of growth dynamics.  

Starting from 2023, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will be implemented across the European Union, expanding and elaborating the non-financial reporting obligation to all companies that meet at least two of the following criteria: revenue of 40m euro net, 20m euro in assets, 250 or more employees. The number of ESG regulations on investment markets grows exponentially, therefore it is already clear that sustainability is not a trend, but rather a new paradigm reshaping the rules governing the economy.

“Modern economy enforces new rules of the game. Without a comprehensive and authentic ESG strategy, it will be more and more difficult to acquire further financing rounds, loans and customers, win international tenders, build global consortia, transfer know-how, or attract the most valuable employees” – says Sebastian Kulczyk, the initiator of InCredibles – a mentoring program for the most innovative start-ups from Poland.

The challenges associated with environmental, social and governance issues, altogether referred to as ESG, are of even greater importance in the case of technology companies, since this sector is characterized by a very limited scope of regulations in that respect. Considering that, on the initiative of INSPIRED and Sebastian Kulczyk’s InCredibles program, a study titled “Polish technology companies in the face of global challenges” was conducted at the end of 2021, the result of which is the first report of that kind in Poland – “Opportunities and Threats: Social and Environmental Responsibility of IT Companies”.

The report focuses on different ESG aspects, including the impact of IT businesses on the environment and society. It also explores the subject of governance and data security. It presents model solutions, examples of activities as well as future prognosis. The study proves that such overviews are much needed, as merely 11% of Polish IT companies use a strategic approach to ESG, while 45% of them remain unaware, meaning that they have not implemented any activities resulting directly from their willingness to introduce a positive social change.

The entire report can be found at: https://reportesg.inspired.cr/pl