The most important development of the fourth industrial revolution in terms of sustainability is the increased ability to generate, capture, and transmit data, especially from the internet of things (IoT) and from related devices. The aim of this study is to identify the role that the IoT plays in the sustainable performance of companies and to demonstrate the role that IoT technology can play in improving disclosure of sustainability. The study found that IoT technology helps to strengthen sustainable performance by maintaining available resources and efficiently allocating them, improving energy consumption, improving sustainable practices of the supply chain, and considering the environmental impact of activities and products. At the same time, the IoT plays a major role in strengthening its quality by helping in the compilation of required data for sustainability reports (SR). It is simplified and automated in the process of collecting data for real-time human sustainability. Automation and analysis of sustainability data are assisted by various artificial intelligence tools, automatic updating of sustainability reporting laws and standards, and the IoT helps improve the quality of information published in the sustainability report, providing information that helps compute both financial and non-financial metrics for assessing the performance of sustainable businesses, and automating the process of sustainability reporting.
Top1. Introduction
In the spirit of preserving the environment and protecting the rights of society, the concept of sustainable development has emerged, which focuses on the important fact that concern for the environment and society is at the heart of economic development. The combination of economic, environmental, and social responsibility, when applied, will lead to a break between the traditional concept of social responsibility, which focuses on maximizing the profitability of shareholders, and the transition to the modern concept of social responsibility, which focuses on the economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Environmental, social and governance disclosures provide a greater opportunity to understand non-financial corporate reporting, as non-financial information helps corporate managers achieve their strategic goals (Albitar, et al., 2020).In addition, according to agency theory, companies must adopt a long-term and valuable long-term view of sustainability, with stakeholders taking an interest in the company's ESG factors to see where the company invests and how the company manages its business (Atan et al., 2018). Therefore, the way to report environmental and social performance has changed to report on the three dimensions of sustainability: an economic dimension, environmental dimension, and social responsibility dimension, to demonstrate confidence in the ability of companies to achieve sustainable development (Awan, et al, 2018).
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations are a key consideration for companies when it comes to investing in technology, and it is more important than ever to understand and leverage the power of data and technology in sustainability reporting. With the spread of consumer-centered Internet culture, as well as advances in information and communication technologies. Therefore, organizations must take advantage of modern technological developments, including the IoT. The term IoT has become not only related to laptops and smartphones, but rather to anything that has an on/off switch linked to the Internet (Elmaasrawy & Tawfik, 2024). The IoT refers to a group of connected devices and technological means that facilitate communication between devices and the cloud and that can collect data and transmit it over a wireless network without human intervention, in addition to transferring it between the devices themselves (Madakam et al., 2015). Thus, the “thing” in the IoT might be a person wearing a pacemaker, or wearing a device that measures heart rate and number of steps per day. In general, it is possible to assign an Internet Protocol address to any object and it can transmit data over the Internet(Samhale et al., 2022: Palattella et al., 2020; Khatua, et al., 2020; Irfan & El-Sappagh, 2023). IoT aligns with ESG and sustainability principles as it aims to create a more sustainable and responsible future. IoT devices can monitor and measure environmental impact, promote social responsibility, and improve governance practices. IoT technology helps companies collect and analyse environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data accurately and efficiently and present their ESG findings meaningfully, increasing transparency and accountability (Forlee, 2023). Figure 1 shows IoT applications that contribute to environmental sustainability.