Innovation and sustainability do not follow two separate paths, but are increasingly interconnected. True innovation, in fact, is not merely the addition of digital elements, but ensuring that this produces tangible, concrete and positive effects. In other words, it must be sustainable and, at the same time, contribute to sustainability. And on this journey – which is now strategic for businesses – communication also plays an important role. We discussed this and other topics in this interview with Michelangelo Suigo, Group Chief Public Affairs, Corporate Communication & Sustainability Officer at Engineering and a member of the Steering Committee of the Foundation for Digital Sustainability.
Sustainability and innovation must go hand in hand
As Michelangelo Suigo explains, for Engineering, sustainability and digital transformation are not two separate spheres: they form part of the same sphere of activity.“For over forty years, we have been designing platforms and services for sectors that underpin key functions of the country’s life: public administration, energy, utilities, finance and manufacturing. In these areas, digital technology does not merely serve to make processes more efficient; it can also improve the quality of services, make better use of resources, protect data and make it easier for citizens and businesses to access information. For this reason, when we talk about sustainability, we start with the way technology is integrated into real-world contexts. A platform can help an energy network reduce waste, or a public body to interpret data more effectively and offer more accessible services. The key is to ensure that innovation produces tangible results: lower consumption, more sound decisions, services that are easier to use, and risks managed with greater precision.”
He emphasised that this trajectory is clearly set out – with measurable indicators – in the company’s Sustainability Reports, which are guided by the 2024–2026 ESG Strategic Plan.“I’ll mention just a few figures from the recently published 2025 Sustainability Report: the Group’s total energy consumption has fallen by 7 per cent compared with 2024; almost all the electricity consumed by our offices in Italy comes from renewable sources; and the efficiency improvement programme for our three data centres, located in Pont Saint Martin, Vicenza and Turin, is continuing. The Pont Saint Martin facility, in particular, is a true example of a Green Data Centre; since 2011, it has been equipped with a hydronic cooling system which, through a closed-loop system, utilises water from the underlying aquifer – which maintains a constant temperature of around 12°C – to cool the servers and provide air conditioning or heating for the offices, before returning it to the environment without waste and without altering the ecosystem. The Turin data centre is also achieving excellent energy performance, to the extent that by 2025 electricity consumption had fallen by 37 per cent compared with the previous year. These figures are significant because they demonstrate in concrete terms the principle that sustainability must be integrated into business operations, processes and day-to-day decision-making.”
The lens of digital sustainability
Ensuring that technology has a genuinely positive impact means only one thing: ‘managing’ it with a view to digital sustainability. In other words, looking at it from two perspectives.“For us, digital sustainability means using technology to generate environmental, social and economic benefits, whilst at the same time managing the impacts of the technology itself,”explained Michelangelo Suigo.“The first part is the most intuitive: platforms that help a water network identify anomalies, systems that make a utility more efficient, digital public services that reduce barriers to access, and GenAI solutions that support complex decision-making.”
Keeping the impacts of technology under control requires greater discipline. Artificial intelligence, for example, can generate enormous benefits, but it consumes computational resources, energy, data and organisational attention. This is why it must be designed with efficiency, security, verifiability and accountability in mind. In our work, this means not treating AI as a passing fad or a commodity, but understanding where it is truly needed, which activities it changes, what data it uses, who oversees it, and what limits it must have. This is important because Engineering operates within digital infrastructures that have a direct impact on everyday life.”
Engineering’s approach
This vision, Michelangelo Suigo went on to say, is reflected in our day-to-day work and in the support we provide to the Group’s clients as they tackle the challenges of digital sustainability.
This support takes shape, in particular, across three areas: data and measurement, the integration of technologies into processes, and the governance of impacts.
“The first concerns the ability to design digital solutions that make complex problems measurable. Without reliable data, it is difficult to reduce consumption, prevent inefficiencies, manage risks or improve a service. This applies to an energy network, a public body, a healthcare facility or an industrial enterprise. The second is to integrate technological expertise into real-world processes. AI, the cloud, cybersecurity and Digital Twins only generate value when they are incorporated into workflows, people’s responsibilities and the systems already in use.”
The third pillar concerns governance – that is , the rules, responsibilities and controls that enable complex technologies to be used safely. It is in line with this approach that, in 2025, we published the AI Governance Strategy Policy, in implementation of the European AI Act and the commitment made under the AI Pact. For customers, this approach translates into solutions designed to be secure, auditable and consistent with regulated environments.”
The power of communication
For a company committed to digital sustainability, communication is also a key driver.“In my work, digital sustainability, communication and public affairs intersect on a daily basis, because the department I lead is responsible for aligning external communication, institutional relations and the ESG agenda with the Group’s business objectives. This translates into one very practical thing: ensuring that innovation and sustainability do not remain two separate narratives.”
For companies, it is a matter of credibility: and to be credible, one must start with some very concrete choices.“The first is to base oneself on facts: results, case studies, limitations, verifiable indicators,” explained Michelangelo Suigo.“Sustainability cannot be treated as a narrative separate from the business. It must be integrated into the strategic plan, into decision-making and into the way the company measures its impact. This also applies to communication: if it does not start from verifiable elements, it becomes fragile. The second decision is to use technology to enhance quality, effectiveness and impact, without oversimplifying the narrative. AI is a key lever, including for making internal operations and complex services more efficient, but it must be explained without resorting to slogans. Explaining it properly means clarifying where it is truly needed, what data it uses, what responsibilities it entails and what results it produces. The third choice is to build consistency between what the company does, what it communicates and the way it engages with stakeholders. Public Affairs, corporate communications and sustainability serve precisely this purpose: to bring together institutional relations, reputational positioning and ESG priorities. Communication does not end there. It helps to chart the course, because it translates technical language into understandable language, and public priorities into operational decisions.”
The value of the network
Digital sustainability is a field that is as complex as it is important, in which collaboration is not an option but a genuine necessity. This is the principle that drives the work of the Foundation for Digital Sustainability and its network, of which Engineering has long been a member.“The main value we see in being part of the Foundation’s network is the exchange of ideas. Digital sustainability is a field in which no single organisation can go it alone: we need research, standards, institutional dialogue, practical applications and specialist expertise. The Foundation provides a forum where these elements can come together on an ongoing basis.”
Michelangelo Suigo emphasised that, for Engineering, this is particularly useful for at least two reasons.“The first concerns our industrial role: we operate in many sectors that are critical to the country and can bring concrete examples, client needs and expertise in AI, data, the cloud, cyber security and public processes to the table. The second relates to our institutional role: we have an interest in contributing to a mature discussion on how digital technology can foster sustainability, and on the conditions needed to ensure its responsible growth.”
I also see a very practical focus in the Foundation’s working groups. Topics such as digital sovereignty, AI and sustainability, or the Digital Trust & Reputation Lab, are consistent with the challenges we face.
I am thinking about the need to make AI more verifiable and inspectable: it is not enough simply to use advanced models; we need to understand how they are designed, what data they process, what controls they activate and how their impacts are measured. This is the context for initiatives such as IS-IA, the Engineering framework designed to make artificial intelligence solutions more controllable and traceable, and EngGPT 2, GenAI’s internal environment developed to support people’s work within business processes. These are useful examples because they shift the focus from AI in the abstract to the way it is adopted within an organisation: with rules, accountability, controls and a focus on the quality of responses.
Finally, I am also thinking about communication on digital sustainability, which needs to be more rigorous, less self-referential, and more useful to businesses, institutions and citizens. A network of this kind helps us to test ideas and practices, with stakeholders who view the same issue from different perspectives.”