June - SDG no. 9 “Industry, innovation and infrastructure”

The success of SDG no. 9 depends on how good we are at helping each other. It is especially difficult for the least developed countries to contribute as they do not have the same resources to accelerate a development to meet the target by 2030. Least developed countries are known as low-income countries that struggles with poor infrastructure and sustainable development in general.

On the contrary many European countries are categorised as more developed countries and that means we have an obligation to help prosper achievement of SDG no 9 in other countries with less opportunities.

A good example is the internet. Many people take the internet for granted. Think for a second how much time you spend daily being online? But there are still countries where it is not even an option. During the last year with Covid-19, we have seen how access to technology has made the difference in whether teaching, remote work, meetings, etc. have been maintained in some parts of the world, and in others not at all. Imagine how other countries can help by investing in innovation and technological ideas. Investments in research and development are growing but not fast enough. Together, with a good and comprehensive infrastructure the industry can prosper and accelerate in time to meet the targets.

Mazars has an ambition to innovate with a sustainable mindset constantly in all countries represented by our presence. That includes less developed countries and by that contributes to the shared target.

Our initiatives at Mazars globally include, among others:

• In 2020, we sourced over 100 ideas from 40 countries across all seniority levels, from interns to country managers. To support this effort, we have a committed network of innovation ambassadors around the world, leading initiatives and spurring a culture of innovation in the way we work and our client services.
• In 2018, we created our first Tech Hub in Paris, to turn our ideas into actual solutions that are transforming the way we serve our clients. We now have seven Tech Hubs across the world and aim to reach ten by the end of 2021.

At Mazars in Denmark, we have a local Innovation officer staying on beat with ongoing development and by that way ensuring we are up to date on our systems, way of working and solutions. This is in close cooperation with our Sustainability officer so everything we implement are sustainable in the long term.

Locally, for Mazars in Denmark we do the following:

• Participate in training and development of new systems.
• Use IT tools for routine tasks, and focus on a personal approach to identify findings, thereby providing tailor-made solutions to our customers and creating better and more fun development opportunities for our employees.
• Further implement the digital workplace creating possibilities and advantages for employees working from home or externally ensuring sustainable employee conditions, work life balance and reduce the need for travel.
• Implement the new systems and procedures developed with the Group Hubs where relevant in order to capitalize on the knowledge resources of Mazars worldwide. This includes in many cases integrated support functions and feedback functionalities that ensures the best development of group tools benefitting the entire group.

We must remember to have a creative mind and see solutions in everything we do, it will do our day-to-day lives better and help us achieve SDG no. 9.