Vanguard Magazine

50 DECEMBER 2017/JANUARY 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com Technology WatCh people with disabilities or employ a certain number of women." A wider lens It often feels as if there are two oppos- ing forces – one that is trying to drive the economy forward and one that is trying to support our societies and local community. I believe we are finally at the intersection where doing good will lead to more profit- ability. I have written about specific topics in the past, such as driving procurement oppor- tunities to Aboriginal-owned businesses and to small businesses through Govern- ment procurements, primarily defence procurements, but I am now of the opin- ion that we can think about this through a much wider lens. One where corporations will care about where they buy and hire from for more strategic reasons. We are working with organizations that emphasize impacts from their hiring activi- ties, as well as tracking socio-economic im- pacts in lower supply chain tiers. Through identifying lower supply chain tiers, con- tractors can gain full insight into the ben- efits that they are bringing to different communities, as well as the potential risks within their supply chain. greater traceability Eric Miller, the President of Rideau Po- tomac Strategy Group, elaborated on the need to understand who is really deep within your supply chain. "Over the past 25 years, supply chains have lengthened and grown more com- plex. For much of this period, the com- panies for whom products were ultimately being made knew steadily less about how and where they were being produced," he said. He explained further that in the past few years, this has begun to change. Brand holders, retailers, suppliers and customers are starting to demand substantial trace- ability throughout supply chains. This shift is not just for affirmative reasons, such as when a product is deemed 'fair trade' or "ethical." Companies also are leery of brand risk that comes with uncontrolled subcontracting. He highlighted the example of the 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangla- desh, in which dozens died while making clothes for the world's top apparel brands. "Yet," he said, "What will truly drive traceability into everything are the con- cerns about jobs and national security. The Trump Administration is proposing to substantially increase the use of traceabil- ity in the new NAFTA automotive rules to ensure that 'deemed North American production' is actually 'real North Ameri- can production.' In addition, NATO Al- lies have started to more carefully monitor how their weapons systems are made, with a view to minimizing the risk that counter- feit or malicious components make their way into frontline technology." Miller explained that governments have a big role to play in encouraging greater traceability and driving forth an agenda of supply chain visualization. If governments partner with companies on implementing this agenda, everyone can end up with both better supply chain security and more trade facilitation. A risk or an opportunity? I also spoke to Trent Mell, the President and CEO of First cobalt. He is a responsi- ble for cobalt mining, an ingredient that is critical in lithium-ion batteries for electric President of SAP Ariba, Alex Atzberger, speaking at the "Business with Purpose" event in October 2017 in New York. Padmini Ranganathan, SAP Ariba VP Products & Innovation: the author; Rod Robinson, CEO of ConnXus, and Andrew Almack, Founder of Plastics for Change.

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