The Bristol Technology Festival returns this week, celebrating the vibrant tech industry in the South West through an array of interactive seminars, workshops and activities across the city.
This year, each of the five days of the festival has a different theme, and this blog marks the first in our series deep diving into each of these.
Up first is Monday’s focus: purpose.
People are always looking for ‘purpose’ – it forms who we are. And this is no different when it comes to the world of work. Both companies and employees alike need purpose. A company’s purpose might be to deliver fantastic products or software to customers. An employee’s purpose might be to keep their team and customers happy.
However, there are more widely significant purposes too. This is where Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) comes in, creating a set of standards for your socio-environmental impact. By focusing on ESG, you can create projects and initiatives that go above and beyond.
From tree planting to supporting people during a crisis (such as in Ukraine), both companies and employees seek a purpose that helps others and transcends business goals.
People, profit and planet
To truly fulfil this bigger purpose, concepts like Corporate Social Responsibility – the business model used for activating ESG aims – shouldn’t just form an ambition for the future, but represent an organisation’s way of working that’s embedded into its company culture today. And that’s exactly how Amdaris operates.
It’s all about generating a positive and beneficial impact beyond software development, grounded by a commitment to the triple bottom line: people, profit and the planet.
The war in Ukraine of course counteracts everything that this triple bottom line stands for. While it’s hard to directly impact such events, we were immediately determined to offer our support to the Ukrainian software community both now and in the future, through alternative employment, relocation and acting as an emergency supplier. Amdaris is committed to returning to Ukraine to help its people grow back their economy by rebuilding the country’s thriving software-development sector.
We’ve also been planting ‘trees for hope’ in an attempt to provide symbols of resistance and hope, with some Ukrainian refugees helping these efforts. It’s a small contribution intended as a signifier of our ongoing unity with Ukraine.
Amdaris’ goal to be carbon neutral
A focal point of this triple bottom line is Amdaris’ pledge to become carbon neutral. Our forest planting initiative currently happening in Moldova and Romania is an integral component of this ambition.
Amdaris has also aligned all of its activity to the Environmental Protection Initiative. The organisation encourages the conscientious use of natural resources. This includes concepts such as waste-sorting culture, eliminating plastic and going paperless.
Promoting and facilitating sustainability in all the locations, workplaces and communities we operate in is a key Amdaris goal, and we look to inspire other companies to follow suit.
Community initiatives
People are what form communities. Companies should always strive to understand the areas they’re operating in, the people who live there and the local businesses. Again, supporting these communities through localised initiatives is paramount to CSR and something Amdaris is strongly committed to.
For example, we’ve collaborated with the Technical University of Moldova to open a state-of-the-art training and amphitheatre space, donated refurbished laptops and computers to Moldovan schools to give children an equal opportunity to learn, and set up ‘Hackathons’ to inspire the next generation of tech enthusiasts.
Alongside education and career opportunities, good health is one of the most important things we can look to promote. From donating to blood donation centres in Romania to helping to purchase technical devices to supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it’s our way of supporting local health services and raising awareness.
Going above and beyond
When dealing with such an uncertain socio-economic climate, it can feel harder to commit to finding purpose – but such situations only enhance the need to go above and beyond.
There’s always room to enhance the work we do, both inside and outside of Amdaris, to try and achieve positive change. But with a people, profit and planet bottom line woven into our company philosophy, we can be certain that we’ll continue to make small, positive contributions to the world at large.
And the more small contributions that are made by each business, going above and beyond in their purpose, the bigger the wave of positive change.