Deutsche Telekom Publishes 2016 CR Report
Digitization offers new opportunities for shaping how to live together on this planet; it is a central key to sustainable development. Already, many of Deutsche Telekom’s products, services and activities contribute to this goal. Entitled "Act responsibly. Enable sustainability.", the 2016 CR Report provides information on the progress the Group has made and the challenges it faces as a responsible company.
The report not only describes Deutsche Telekom’s ecological and social commitment, but also seeks out dialog with its readers. They can give feedback directly on selected topics in the online report. Deutsche Telekom experts are available to respond to their questions and comments. With fun questions on the homepage like "Has anyone ever turned off the entire Internet?" or "Do polar bears benefit from ICT?" readers are invited to engage with Deutsche Telekom’s sustainability topics.
Topics for the report were selected using a comprehensive materiality process. As in previous years, sustainability aspects which are especially important to the telecommunications industry received special focus. An external assurance engagement has verified the proper execution of this process. Deutsche Telekom’s sustainability reporting is conducted in line with the internationally recognized Global Reporting Initiative (G4) guidelines.
During the 2016 reporting year, major progress was achieved in the following projects, among others:
- Climate reporting commended. Deutsche Telekom made it onto the A list in the most significant international climate protection ranking, the CDP ranking, for the first time in 2016. The CDP commends companies that report their CO2 emissions extremely transparently and in detail.
- CO2 consumption in German data centers reduced. Thanks to an ongoing consolidation process, Deutsche Telekom was able to further improve the energy efficiency of its data centers. The key indicator of this is the PUE (power usage effectiveness) factor. Deutsche Telekom was able to reduce the average PUE factor at the T-Systems data centers in Germany from 1.85 to 1.54 between 2008 and 2016 (1.63 in 2015).
- New Smart City project started. The goal of the EU-funded "my SMARTLife" project in Hamburg is to imagine how cities will function in the future and find out how to live in those cities in a more sustainable way. Core issues include the mobility of the future and smart parking systems, as well as public safety.
- Switch to IP technology advances. Deutsche Telekom reached a key milestone at the end of 2016 when half of its lines – around twelve million – had been migrated to IP.
- Refugee aid expanded. After providing initial support, the next step is to integrate refugees into the labor market. Deutsche Telekom joined forces with other companies to found the initiative "Internship PLUS direct entry." With this initiative, the company is making a contribution to improving opportunities for refugees on the labor market in the long term.
- Second round of training program for potential supervisory board members concluded. Deutsche Telekom has trained a total of 64 potential supervisory board members up to the present time. Eight women who have completed the program were appointed to supervisory boards.
- Media skills reinforced. Deutsche Telekom’s Teachtoday initiative "Media sure! But secure." encourages safe and competent media usage. For example, around 150 children discussed the topic of data privacy at the 2016 Summit for Kids. The media magazine Scroller was also recommended by "Stiftung Lesen" (The Reading Foundation).
Deutsche Telekom has been providing its stakeholders with information about its environmental and social commitment in regular reports for twenty years. The current report provides comprehensive information about the Group's major activities together with the Annual Report and the Data Privacy Report.
The CR report is available at www.cr-report.telekom.com
