Oracle and Zogix team up to provide carbon insight

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our or .

| Sourced From |

New software plugs into travel expenses systems to provide instant data on carbon emissions

Oracle will today become the latest business software vendor to bolster its credentials in the emerging carbon reporting market, when one of its partners launches a suite designed to help firms automatically track carbon emissions arising from employee travel.

The software giant has been working with UK start up Zogix for two years on the development of a new Carbon Management Platform that integrates with Oracle’s various business software applications and extracts existing data that can be used to calculate a firm’s carbon footprint.

“Most organisations have the data they need to report their carbon footprint hidden somewhere in their business applications,” explained Ajay Vohora, commercial director at Zogix. “Our software takes that data and presents it to employees at an individual desk level.”

The first product from Zogix, which has recently completed beta testing with 30 UK customers, will integrate with Oracle’s expenses and procurement software, allowing firms to automatically calculate emissions from employees’ corporate travel.

“Because you are using data that is already put in when people file their expenses, it is not disruptive to the business,” said Vohora. “You can then show them how big their carbon footprint is, allow them to model the effect of a trip on their footprint and even integrate it with employee reward systems to provide the best performers with bonuses for lowering emissions.”

Deborah Shakespeare, director of service oriented architecture for Oracle in the UK, said that while a number of software companies had launched carbon reporting software in recent months the fact that the new Zogix software built on existing Oracle infrastructure already deployed by many large firms meant that it represented a “highly cost effective” means of accessing carbon data.

Vohora said that Zogix would extend the platform later this year with the launch of functionality designed to help firms report emissions from their buildings and supply chains, and report carbon data in line with the requirements of the government’s new Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) emissions trading scheme.

He added that because the software was integrated with existing Oracle applications it could provide firms with a healthcheck on their emissions within 48 hours, providing them with a real time insight into their carbon footprint.