Feedback #11 | Lisa Legrand, Senior Consultant

25/04/2022 par INR

Lisa Legrand, Senior Consultant at ngage, share with us the company’s commitment to Sustainable IT in action.

| First of all, could you introduce us to ngage?

ngage is a management consulting boutique, founded in 2009 and counting over 75 consultants, based in Brussels and Wavre.

ngage’s mission is to execute strategies, combining industry and functional expertise with the art of business transformation. We aspire to be recognised as management consultants with a human twist. Our three core values “Human-centered”, “Excellence-driven” and “Enjoyment-minded” guide us in every decision and actions we take.

We are active in multiple sectors, but mainly Utilities, Mobility and Services. We help companies in their digital and sustainability transformation at their core, with a focus on structure, culture and people.

| Why did you sign the Sustainable IT Charter?

The signature of the NR Charter represents for us an opportunity to express our commitment to sustainability, both in our daily activities and in the business world. Furthermore, we witness more and more initiatives taken towards sustainable transformations which makes our commitment even more relevant as we want to be an active actor of this transformation.

To us, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword. It is deeply rooted in all our decisions and has been part of our strategic pillars along with Technology. The combination of those naturally brought us to consider and hopefully contribute to sustainable IT. Through these strategic pillars and the signature of the NR Charter, ngage wishes to better understand its impact and recognize its responsibility to thrive to sustainable practices and limit its impact by taking real actions to reduce it. On top of that, we wish to accompany other companies in their transition towards more sustainable IT strategies and operations.  

| How is your commitment to sustainable IT reflected in your CSR policy?

We measured that almost 25% of our carbon footprint is related to our digital footprint, which makes it a fundamental pillar for CO2 reduction (along with our mobility).

Our commitment for sustainable IT has a major place within our own Sustainability strategy (Sustngage). There is a person in charge with clear objectives, a roadmap and tangible actions. 

On the other side, we realize that many of our clients are in a similar situation in regards to their carbon footprint. This represents a great opportunity for us to include Sustainable IT in our core business, the transformation project at 

The structural partnership between ngage and the Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT also reflects the importance of our commitment.

| What are the main difficulties you encounter ?

We are currently facing two major difficulties: convincing stakeholders to make Sustainable IT a priority and measuring our impact. 

Although the awareness around Sustainability is growing every day, we notice that it remains a low priority for lots of our IT stakeholders. Convincing them to experiment and implement sustainable IT best practices represents a major challenge. 

Internally at ngage, our major challenges today are to measure our real digital impact and to educate our employees about the importance of acting on it. Our company size is indeed relatively small, and the quantified impact can thus seem relatively low. However, it is essential to look at it in proportion of the number of employees and take effective actions in consequence.

| How does your organisation contribute to the dissemination of sustainable IT issues and good practices to your external stakeholders ?

After a year of gaining knowledge and defining actions for ngage, we now intend to spread the word and support our stakeholders in their sustainable IT transition.

The partnership with the Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT as well as our commitment are already major steps for external impact.

We also plan to organize events in the coming months to share knowledge and best practices on Sustainable IT with our stakeholders. 

| What sustainable IT actions have you put in place that you are particularly proud of?

Over the last year, ngage started undertaking a series of actions to gain more expertise on the topic of sustainable IT. For example, several ngage employees got certificated in Sustainable IT Knowledge and an internal knowledge sharing session was organized. We also starting sharing tips and tricks for our employees at the office. 

ngage then started taking actions to improve its digital environmental and social impact; a carbon footprint analysis (including digital activities) was conducted, old computers are now recycled and/or repaired for people in need (retirement homes, schools,…). We also participated to the Cyber World CleanUp Day, cleaning up an amount of data and collecting an amount of smartphones equivalent to 6145 KM travelling by plane.

| What next actions do you plan to take to advance your Sustainable IT approach?

The Sustainable IT roadmap for ngage is already very ambitious, with various actions we intend to take. From an internal point of view: 

  • We are implementing new longer-term data cleaning rules
  • We plan to redesign our website, considering eco-design best practices.
  •  We will extend the number of ngage employees certified on the topic of Sustainable IT
  • …

To raise awareness and help our external partners to improve their impact, we also plan several external activities: 

  • We are participating to the redaction of two chapters of the “Cahier du Digital”, in collaboration with HEC Liège and the Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT, that should be published in June. 
  • We plan to organize an external event with experts and interested participants. 
  • …

| Finally, do you have any advice to give or a strong idea to pass on to the signatories of the charter or those who would like to commit themselves?

The more members of the Institute we are, the more visibility and positive impact we can have. Each small or big step matters, so take a commitment now and join us in this positive adventure ! 

Discover ngage: https://ngageconsulting.com/


Interview by Bastien DUCRUEZET
Responsible for the animation of the network of signatories of the Sustainable IT charter